Yarom Ariav is a senior economist with expertise in macroeconomic policy. He served as the Director General of the Israeli Finance Ministry for 3 years until the end of 2009.

Since the end of his work at the Finance Ministry, Mr. Ariav has been involved in the development of a variety of projects for the Israeli economy and Israeli society. He is the chairman of Lavi Capital LTD, an investment bank specialized in infrastructure related to the Israeli and the European markets. Mr. Ariav also serves as the chairman of the Executive Committee of Ben Gurion University, the Chairman of Lod Foundation and of the investment committee of the Jewish Agency pension funds, is a member of the boards of Hadera Papers LTD, Tzur Shamir LTD, Sonol LTD and Mishkey Hanegev.

Previously, Mr. Ariav served as Director General of Israel's Ministry of Finance for 3 years until 2009. During his tenure, he successfully led the Israeli economy through the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, and was responsible to set and implement Israel’s macroeconomic policy. Mr. Ariav chaired the steering committee for Israel’s accession to the OECD, and was a central figure in the Israeli administration. He headed the committee responsible for implementing the government's socio-economic agenda.

Prior to his government service, from 1993 through 2006, Yarom Ariav served as a senior executive for ICL Fertilizers, a segment of the Israel Chemicals Group traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The numerous positions that he held included ICL Representative in South America and Director at SQM in Chile; Vice President of Marketing of the Rotem Amfert Company; Senior Vice President of Marketing of ICL Fertilizers, and President and CEO of ICLFE, the European operation of ICL Fertilizers (2002–2006).

From 1985 to 1993 Mr. Ariav served the Government of Israel in several positions, including deputy director of Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, where he was directly responsible for the budgets of various governmental ministries.

Ariav holds a B.A. and M.A. (cum laude) in Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he is a guest lecturer at the Federmann School of Public Policy and Government.