Draft:Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi

Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi (born 22 February 1968) is a Kuwaiti diplomat and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council since 2023. Albudaiwi has represented Kuwait in diplomatic missions to the United States, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Republic of Korea.

Education
Albudaiwi has a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He also possesses a Diploma in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford in England.

Career
Albudaiwi's diplomatic career began in 1991 when he served as a Diplomatic Attaché in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait. He was Third Secretary at the Embassy of Kuwait in Japan, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Kuwait in Austria and the Permanent Mission of Kuwait to the United Nations in Vienna, and First Secretary at the Embassy of Kuwait in the United States.

In March 2007, Albudaiwi was promoted to Counselor, followed by an appointment as Deputy Chief of Mission in 2011. In 2012, he was appointed Deputy Director in the Department of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait.

Albudaiwi's ambassadorial appointments include serving as Ambassador of Kuwait to the Republic of Korea from 2013-2016, Ambassador of Kuwait to Belgium, Luxembourg, as well as Head of Mission of Kuwait to the European Union and NATO from 2016-2022 and Ambassador of Kuwait to the United States from August 2022 to 2023.

He represented Kuwaiti delegations to events such as the Yemen Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting, the International Donor's Conference on Albania, and the International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee & Migrant Crisis. He served as a member of the State of Kuwait Negotiation Team for the Trade and Investment Agreement (TIFA) with the United States of America from 2003 to 2008.

On 1 February 2023, Albudaiwi was appointed the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Recognition
Albudaiwi received the Best Ambassador Award at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. Additionally, he received the Distinguished Patron Award from the Asia Society Korea Center in 2014.