His Excellency Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari is State Minister with the rank of Deputy Prime-Minister. He is a Qatari diplomat, statesman, and intellectual. He was the Minister for Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar from July 2008 to January 2016. He was previously the Ambassador of Qatar for France, the United States, the UNESCO and the UN.
Dr. Al-Kawari was Qatar’s candidate for the post of UNESCO Director General. He led the vote in pole position for 4 rounds and lost the fifth for a single vote, with 28 votes against 30 for the French candidate. Dr Al-Kawari is currently the President of Qatar National Library.