Professor Zafar Mueen Nasir

Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir is Professor of Economics at Synergy University Dubai, where he leads programmes in global economy and sustainability. He is an economist of international standing with a distinguished career spanning academia, policy, and public service across Pakistan, the United States, and the Gulf.

He holds a PhD in Economics from Kansas State University, United States (1997), where he specialised in International Economics and Human Resource Development, and an earlier Master’s degree from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Prior to his current position, he served as Vice Chancellor of the University of the Punjab, Chief of Research at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Dean at the American University in the Emirates, and Visiting Scholar in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C. He has held senior policy positions in the Government of Pakistan, including Director Policies in the Policy Planning Cell and Director on the Board of NTDC, and served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Employment (2022).

Dr Nasir has published over forty peer-reviewed articles in journals of international repute, contributed to edited volumes, and led research projects financed by the World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, UNICEF, ILO, UNHCR, UNDP, and IDRC.