Amal Abou Zeid (born 12 June 1953) is a former Member of the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

. He was a member of the National Commission for Economy, Trade, Industry and Planning in the Lebanese Parliament. He served as the advisor to Lebanese President Gen. Michel Aoun for the Lebanese-Russian Affairs between 2016 and 2022.

Biography

Born in Mlikh, Abou Zeid completed his education at Good Shepherd School, then moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to pursue his academic studies where he obtained his master's degree from The

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

. Amal Abou Zeid established his first investment company in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

under the name of “ADICO Investment Corporation” in 1980. Abou Zeid expanded the business of “ADICO Investment Corporation” in 2000, through establishing the company in Moscow – Russia and worked on enhancing the Business & Economical relation between the Russian and Lebanese Diaspora. In 2001 Abou Zeid co-founded and then became a Member of the American Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, an official non-profit organization aiming at facilitating and developing business and trade relations between Lebanon and the United States. He also became a member of the International Chamber of Commerce -Lebanon, in 2002. Amal Abou Zeid is an activist in the Maronite community. He was appointed in 2009 member of the Lebanese Maronite diaspora Foundation which aims to reconnect Lebanese Maronite emigrants around the world with their native country through continuous communication and cooperation, management of important emigration affairs and by pushing non-registered Lebanese emigrants to register themselves and their families with the Lebanese state to obtain citizenship. Moreover, in 2010, Abou Zeid was elected President of the “Maronite Rural affairs committee” in “The Maronite League”. The committee handles, in cooperation with various organizations and municipalities around the country, the development of certain projects in Maronite rural areas in the goal of encouraging Maronites to stay in their villages and prevent their migration to the capital Beirut or to outside Lebanon. In 2011 the Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai appointed Amal Abou Zeid as board member in The Maronite Social Fund Council, a non-profit organization established by the Maronite church in the goal of raising money to develop low-cost housing projects to accommodate young Maronite couples or under-privileged Maronite families. In 2014, the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Mr.

Gebran Bassil Gebran Gerge Bassil (; born 21 June 1970) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement since 2015 and leader of the Strong Lebanon bloc in the Lebanese parliament since 2018. A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-l ...

appointed Abou Zeid as advisor for the Lebanese-Russian affairs in the ministry. In 2015, Abou Zeid was appointed board member at OTV, one of the famous TV stations in the country.

Awards and honors

Amal Abou Zeid is the first Lebanese holding an Honorary Doctorate from the

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (), formerly Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is a Russian research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Af ...

, awarded to him in 2015. Abou Zeid was also decorated, in 2015, with the

Order of Saint Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See. The honor is b ...

with the papal benediction of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

as an act of recognition to his role in building a better society in Lebanon. In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin decorated him with the Russian Order of Friendship in appreciation for his role in strengthening the Lebanese-Russian relationship politically, culturally, clerically, and economically.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeid, Amal Abou 1953 births Living people Lebanese politicians Lebanese Maronites Free Patriotic Movement politicians Alumni of London Business School