Ali Salman

Ali Salman is the founder and Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an independent economic policy think tank in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has served as CEO of Malaysia’s prominent independent think tank, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) from 2018-2020. As a policy adviser, Ali has made contributions in the areas of long-term planning, economic governance, digital policy, industrial policy, innovation policy, cleantech, education policy and youth policy in Malaysia and Pakistan. He has developed a unique perspective on public governance by bringing in a three-dimensional focus on business, public finance and economics in the policy frameworks.

He holds doctorate in Policy Research and Practice, from the University of Bath, UK, where he wrote thesis on “Policy discovery through a complexity lens: case studies of economic reforms and policy practice in Malaysia and Pakistan. Ali holds master’s degrees in economics, Public Policy, and Business Administration. He is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, Royal Netherlands Fellowship and Charles Wallace Fellowship. He has conducted training workshops in Pakistan and other countries. He writes op-eds for Express Tribune, a partner publication of the New York Times. Ali has taught courses on Economics and Entrepreneurship as an adjunct faculty in the Government College University Lahore.