His Excellency Mayor Omar Maani was appointed by Royal Decree in April 2006 as Mayor of Amman.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Maani was the founder and Chairman of Maani Group, a private sector manufacturing group where he has been engaged for the past 25 years.  Mr. Maani completed his BSc in Civil Engineering from the United Kingdom and MSc in Construction Management from the United States. Mr. Maani has been active in the reform process in Jordan and the region more generally, serving as a member of various boards and civil society associations. In Jordan, he was appointed Vice-Chairman, Vocational Training & Employment, for the National Agenda in 2005.  From 2002-2006 he served as a Board Member of the Social Security Investment Fund, with the mandate to act as a trustee of the peoples resources.  As a committed businessman and entrepreneur with the vision that economic growth can contribute to the well-being of the country, Mr. Maani served from 2000-2002 on the Board of Directors for the Amman Chamber of Industry.  He also was among a small group of founding members of the Young Entrepreneurs Association and is a board member of INJAZ, an association that brings business skills to youth in the region. Mr. Maani has made the development of Ammans master plan and the strategy behind it his signature initiative.  In addition to being the capital of Jordan, Amman is a rapidly growing urban metropolis with over 2 million inhabitants comprising roughly 50% of Jordans population.  A recent influx of citizens from neighboring countries has placed extraordinary new pressures on the city to absorb and provide services for the citys growing population.  Ammans master plan initiative, which began in June 2006, is a proactive response to these new challenges and has subsequently received the 2007 World Leadership Award under the planning category.  In addition, the city of Amman was awarded the "2007 Asia-Pacific City of the Year Award" by the World Leadership Forum.