Bourse & Bazaar Foundation

The Bourse & Bazaar Foundation is a think tank committed to economic development, economic diplomacy, and economic justice in the Middle East and Central Asia. Established in October 2020 as a non-profit entity in the United Kingdom, the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation began as a blog website of the same name in 2015. Between 2016 and 2020, Bourse & Bazaar operated as a media company, publishing original research and organising events and meetings focused on Iran’s economy. Among these events was the Europe-Iran Forum, a conference held in London (2014), Geneva (2015), and Zurich (2016 and 2017) that became the leading annual gathering for business leaders and policymakers active in trade and investment between Europe and Iran. Over time, Bourse & Bazaar’s research and related events became more policy oriented, as government officials and business leaders in Iran, Europe, and the United States sought to understand Iran’s economy and its place in the wider region in more detail. Beginning in 2019, work began to structure Bourse & Bazaar as a think tank—a process that culminated in the creation of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation. The foundation is unique in its efforts to foreground economic issues in policymaking in the Middle East and Central Asia.