Yousef Al-Saadoun

Yousef Trad Al-Saadoun (born in 1958) is a former member of the Shura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he served from February 26, 2018, to September 6, 2024. He is the Director General of the Private Sector Programs at the Institute of Public Administration. He was also the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Cultural Relations between 1999 and 2018.

Yousef Al-Saadoun enrolled at King Saud University in Riyadh. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1977, before pursuing his graduate education and eventually obtaining a master's degree in economics from the University of Colorado Boulder, in the United States of America, in 1982. He also enrolled at Indiana University, in the USA, where he received a doctorate in economics in 1990.

Until 1996, Yousef Al-Saadoun taught several subjects in economics within the framework of preparatory and training programs during his term at the Institute of Public Administration. He was also appointed as a lecturer in economics at the institute. He assumed the position of the Director General of the Private Sector Programs, the Director General of International Organizations Affairs at the Ministry of Trade, the assistant to the Deputy Minister for Economic and Cultural Affairs, the supervisor of the developmental plan, the supervisor of the Deputy Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Specialized International Affairs, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Cultural Relations.

Yousef Al-Saadoun headed the Saudi delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. He also headed the Saudi delegation to the forty-third session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He was a member of the Saudi delegation to the Paris Donors' Conference to support the Palestinian Authority. He was a member of the Saudi delegation to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and a member of the Saudi delegation to the Round Table on South-South Cooperation in New York in 2015.

Al-Saadoun also participated in the OPEC summit in 2000 as well as the one held in Riyadh in 2007. He also took part in the conferences of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit and those of the Islamic Summit.

Yousef Al-Saadoun served on several committees. He was a member of the Saudi negotiating team for Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization and follow-up of membership affairs. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Fund for Development, a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), a member of the Saudi negotiating team with international oil companies regarding the Saudi Gas Initiative, and a member of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities (formerly). In 2008, he served as a member of the Ministerial Committee for the King Abdullah Initiative for Overseas Agricultural Investment.

During Yousef Al-Saadoun's term with the Shura Council, he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Yousef Al-Saadoun has several publications, including a joint research paper for the Arab Towns Organization (ATO) General Conference, held in Riyadh, in 1986, a research paper for the International Institute of Administrative Sciences Roundtable Conference, held in 1992, and a working paper for the Fifth Conference of General Agents of the Saudia in Jeddah. He also wrote the book entitled "The World Trade Organization: Past, Present and Future." He wrote a chapter of the book entitled "Public Administration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," entitled "Public Finance Institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." The book was published in 1995.