Morial Shah
Special Economic Zones and
Foreign Direct Investment
Morial Shah is a policy consultant, legislative drafter, law professor, lawyer, and mediator focusing on Special Economic Zones (SEZs), trade, investment, and digital innovation.
Morial has helped companies, international organizations, and governments with SEZs in over eight jurisdictions in North America, MENA/ Arab Gulf, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, and the Asia-Pacific region.
She helps clients design regulatory strategies, create regulatory frameworks, draft policies and regulations, conduct feasibility studies, evaluate trade and investment measures, enhance public-private partnerships, integrate AI & Blockchain technology, and broadly support overall development.
In particular, Morial has focused on ecotourism SEZs and World Trade Organization (WTO) and trade policy matters (MENA/Arab Gulf), blockchain & AI technology (USA), enhanced local autonomy (Latin America), and sustainable development generally (SEZ projects in Africa and Asia).
Please see Morial's CV and projects profile for more details on her work.
Areas of Expertise: special economic zones, legislative drafting, blockchain and digital assets, AI & innovation, sustainable and inclusive development, public international law and policy, public-private partnerships, foreign direct investment, international trade and WTO matters, international economic law and policy, environmental policy, decentralization and local government, negotiation, mediation, healthcare law and policy matters, and corporate and commercial law reform.
Organizations Assisted: World Bank, United Nations, Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Global Compact, UN Population Fund, UNICEF, private companies, law firms, public-private partnership companies, and governments.
Previous / Other Positions:
Columbia University Law School, USA (LL.M., Harlan Fiske Stone Award), University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, UK (BA and MA (Cantab.), Law) and Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, USA (BSFS, International Politics)
Education: Columbia Law School, LL.M. (Stone Scholar); Cambridge University, Law (honors); Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (summa cum laude). International Law Institute Certification in Legislative Drafting
Professional Affiliations: Attorney admitted to New York State Bar and mediator satisfying NY Court requirements
Other Positions: Asst. Professor of Corporate Law, Business Law, and Governance – IBA Karachi (long leave).
Publications: Dissertation on honor killings and forthcoming publications in Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and Science and Intellectual Property Law Review
Media: op-eds and feature stories for Dawn, Express Tribune, and The News; appears on Pakistani TV Channels including Samaa TV, Sindh TV, KTN, IBN-TV
Languages: English (fluent), Urdu (fluent), Sindhi (fluent), Punjabi (spoken), Seraiki (spoken), Persian (basic), and Arabic (basic)