Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, Samir Huleileh holds a master’s degree in economics from the American University of Beirut. He was a major participant of the team that negotiated with Israel during the bilateral and multilateral talks from 1992 until 2014. He served as the undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry between 1994 and 1997, and later joined as government secretary in the years 2005–2006. He then became CEO of PADICO Holding from 2008–2017, and is an active board member of various private companies and public institutions. He is now chairman of Maalchat, a private company for mobile e-payment methods