Khalid Al Rumaihi — Chief Executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board
Mr. Khalid Al Rumaihi was appointed as Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) in March 2015. He was appointed the Chairman of the Bahrain Development Bank in March 2016. Mr. Al Rumaihi currently serves as a Board Director of the National Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority and National Authority for Qualifications & Quality Assurance of Education and Training. He remains a Board Director of the EDB. Mr. Al Rumaihi previously spent more than 10 years at Investcorp as a Managing Director, a member of the Management Committee and Head of the Institutional Placement Team covering Investcorp’s clients in the Gulf. Before joining Investcorp, Mr. Al Rumaihi spent 9 years serving at J.P. Morgan as head of the private client group in the Gulf. He Chaired the Board of Bahrain Airport Company and held previous Board positions at Gulf Air and Securities Investment Company (SICO). He holds a Masters degree in Public Policy, specializing in Economic Development, from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Sam Barnett — Chief Executive Officer, MBC Group
Sam Barnett heads a team of over 3000 people based across the Middle East that produce content and broadcast channels that dominate the viewing habits of audiences in the region. Working for Chairman, Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, Barnett joined the Group in 2002 as it moved from London to Dubai. In the following decade the management team launched TV channels, radio stations, websites, a video on demand platform, mobile applications, production and drama studios and network of licensing, franchising and events companies – that have made the Group a diversified media platform that touches the lives of 120 million people each day. Pioneering and popular content from global music formats, to historical drama and political satire makes the Group a strong pan-Arab brand. In recent years, the team produced more local content and has launched channels such as MBC Egypt – adding local depth to the Group’s regional footprint. Barnett comes from a management consulting background and is proud of the strong commercial organisation that has become a pillar of MBC’s growth. His executive team, drawn from across the region, are leaders in their respective fields and employ a staff from 65 different countries. This diversity combined with the dynamism of the region and the strong MBC corporate culture continues to make the company an exciting place to work. Barnett grew up in New Zealand and the UK. He is a graduate of Cambridge (History and Economics) and INSEAD (MBA). He worked in East Africa, India and the UK prior to joining MBC.
Frank Kane — Senior Business, Columnist Arab News
Frank enjoyed a 25 year career in British business journalism, with such world-leading titles as the Financial Times, Independent, Telegraph, Guardian, and Sunday Times. When he stepped down as business editor of The Observer in 2006, he moved to the UAE and has since been involved in media with the government of Dubai, Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, and now Arab News of Jeddah. He has launched newspapers, websites and radio programmes, and is recognised as an authoritative voice in the UAE’s business scene. At Arab News, he writes about Saudi and Gulf business and finance, with an emphasis on the economic changes under way in the Kingdom. In 2016 he received the Excellence in Journalism Award from Citibank and Columbia University, NYC, only the second time it has been awarded in the UAE. He is involved in media training, public speaking, broadcasting and consultancy across the region.
Nasser Bin Sulaiman Al Nasser — CEO, STC
Group CEO Eng. Nasser Bin Sulaiman Al Nasser holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering, He has extensive experience in the telecommunications sector started with the launch of mobile services in 1996, where he played a key role in the establishment of the mobile network and its expansions. He then moved to CITC. During that period, he played a key role in opening the market and issuing mobile and data licenses. He also worked for Mobily in charge of the network and information technology sector. In 2015, he moved to Saudi Telecom Company as s senior VP for technology and operations. In 2018, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Saudi Telecom Company, and currently, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of STC Solutions and a member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Telecommunications Company, and the Turkish company Avia. Nasser Al Nasser has many specialized courses in communications and networks, as well as advanced courses in finance and leadership.
Elisabetta MARTINI — Consulate General of Italy
Consul General of Italy in Jeddah. Born in Rome on the 3rd June 1985. Graduated at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 2008, with a Master in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences. After working for the Institute of International Affairs (IAI) and at the Senate of the Italian Republic, she enters the diplomatic career on the 17th December 2012. Her first assignment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, in the General Directorate for Political and Security Affairs, was as head of section for European defense and Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union in the CFSP/CSDP Division, spending a training period at the Permanent Representation of Italy upon the European Union in charge of Common Foreign Affairs dossiers in Brussels. She was, then, assigned to the Middle East and Arab League Office of the Directorate General for Political and Security Affairs, dealing with the Syrian conflict. In February 2014, she took service at the Unit for the preparation of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU reporting directly to the Director General for the European Union, with the task of drafting both the Program and the Executive Summary of the Italian EU Presidency, ensuring the coordination of the whole Italian Administration involved. In January the 20th, 2015, she is designated as Consul General of Italy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and as Italian Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). She is the author of several papers on the Reform of the United Nations’ Security Council.
Mustafa Kheriba — Group Chief Operating Officer, Abu Dhabi Financial Group
Mustafa Kheriba is the Group Chief Operating Officer of ADFG, and Executive Director of the Company's Investment Manager, ADCM Ltd. Mustafa manages the investment activities, business development and control aspects of ADFG and its subsidiary companies. He also oversees deal origination, fund raising activities and directly manages key investments for the group. He also currently serves as Executive Director of Integrated Alternative Finance, Spadille Ltd, Northacre Plc, Reem Finance, and Integrated Securities, in addition to being Non-Executive Director at Qannas Investments Limited. Mustafa is also currently a board member and Managing Director of Gulf Finance Company in the UAE and KSA. Furthermore he serves on the board of Shuaa Capital, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Gulf Finance House as well as ADCorp. Mustafa previously held senior posts in financial services and investment companies in the GCC, USA and Canada. He has been named among the top 50 MENA Fund Managers in the 2015 and in 2016 annual survey conducted by MENA FM Magazine. Mustafa holds a BA from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from Ohio Dominican University with Magna Cum Laude honors.
Mohammed Hassan Ali Abudawood — Company Chairman, Mohamed Ali Abu Dawood and Co. for Industry
Mohammed Hassan Ali Abudawood represents the second generation of the Abudawood family in modern day business, working in joint ventures dealing with retail FMCG products, such as Clorox from the USA, or institutional cleaning products like Ecolab or Arpal. He has also dedicated many years to public service. He was selected by the council of ministers to be a board member of Jeddah Urban Development and Regeneration Company (JUDREC), representing the private sector from 2006 to 2015. This company was the first public-private partnership to develop the old city. He was also a board member in Akhuzam Real Estate, a joint venture between Dar Alarkan (SAR17 billion publicly traded project) and Judrec. Internationally, he was an advisory board member at Harvard University on many boards, and on the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East, the Harvard Journal and the Harvard John Kennedy School of Government’s dean advisory board. He studied at the University of Arizona and at the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Khaled Al Maeena — Managing Partner of Quartz, Quartz Communication Company
He has held a broad range of position in Saudi media for almost thirty years, including CEO of a PR Firm, Saudi Television news anchor, talk show host, radio announcer and journalist. Almaeena also held a series of senior positions in Saudia Airlines. As the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, the largest English-language news paper in the MIDDLE EAST, Almaeena steered the paper through the Gulf Crisis and pioneered bringing the newspapers back to a liberated Kuwait. Under his direction, the paper was first in 2003 to send a Saudi reporter to Iraq to report extensively from the front lines. Arab News was the only Saudi newspaper to have a reporter in Tahir square during the Arab spring. As a journalist, Almaeena has represented Saudi Media at Arab summits in Baghdad, Morocco and elsewhere. In 1990, he was one of four journalists to cover historic resumptions of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Russia. He also traveled to China as part of this diplomatic mission. Highly regarded for his views, Almaeena’s political and social columns appear in Gulf News – Dubai, Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Eqtisadiah, Arab News, Times of Oman, Asian Age, Al Arabia, Makkah and the China Post and the Saudi Gazette. His interest in sports attracted him to the successful promotion of squash and tennis tournaments .in the Kingdom. In 1982, Almaeena became the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News. He stepped down in 1993 to head the Saudi Public Relations Company (SRPC) a position he held for five years. He returned to the tops editor’s post of Arab News in 1998 and continued until October 2011. In April 2012, He joined as the Editor in Chief of Saudi Gazette, English daily published from Jeddah and continued in the position until the end of April 2014. Mr. Almaeena was awarded the highest civilian Awards Sitara-e-imtiyaz (Star of Excellence) by the government of Pakistan in January 2009 and a Doctorate in Humanities from Mindanao University in the Philippines in 2009. He is visiting non resident scholar at the University of Central Florida.
Maryam Al Mheiri — Chief Executive Officer, Media Zone Authority - Abu Dhabi (MZA) and twofour54
Maryam Al Mheiri is the Chief Executive Officer of Media Zone Authority – Abu Dhabi (MZA) and twofour54. Maryam is responsible for leading and MZA’s strategic agenda, aiming to build a sustainable media industry that contributes to the economic and cultural development of Abu Dhabi and positioning the Emirate as the regional hub for media and entertainment. In her role as CEO of twofour54, Maryam leads engagement between local government and the private sector to grow and develop the media industry, and encourages public private partnerships with the international industry to serve the needs of the growing Middle Eastern market. Maryam is a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council’s Economic Development Committee, which is responsible for developing the overall economic sector in Abu Dhabi and encouraging local and foreign investment. Maryam is also a member of the Abu Dhabi Investment Committee, and the higher committee that was established to oversee the Special Olympics in 2019 which will be held in Abu Dhabi. Maryam has held senior positions in a number of UAE entities including Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication Company and the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research. Maryam holds a Global Executive MBA jointly issued by NYU Stern, LSE and HEC Paris and completed her undergraduate studies in Accounting & Business Administration with distinction and honours at the UAE's Higher Colleges of Technology.
Yasser bin Faisal Al-Sharif — CEO, Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC)
Mr. Yasser bin Faisal Al-Sharif is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC). Prior to joining JODC he was CEO & MD of various multinational companies in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Yasser Al-Sharif joined JODC in March 2016 and leads to oversee the team that delivers the trade mark hospitality of the Arab World through its projects in Makkah Al Mukarramah. He has chaired a number of companies, and also assumed leadership positions in the investment and risk management. In addition to serving as Board of Director and Members of Executive Committees of several listed (on Tadawul) and private companies and also educational institutions, while Mr. Yasser is currently the Chairman of Central District Cooling Company (CDCC). Mr. Yasser Al-Sharif holds a General Management Program (Executive) degree from Harvard Business School, a Master's degree in Risk Management from the New York University (NYU), and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the King Abdulaziz University (KAU). In addition to the above, he had attended many executive finance courses and received professional certificates from local and international universities and relevant authorities with a focus on Financial Engineering, and Asset, Investment and Risk Management.
Dr. Maliha Hashmi — Executive Director for the Health & Wellbeing NEOM
Dr. Maliha Hashmi is the Executive Director for the Health & Wellbeing at NEOM. Dr. Maliha Hashmi also served as the Executive Director for Strategic Partnerships at NEOM. Dr. Maliha Hashmi has also served as an Executive Director, Senior Legal Advisor, Director for Research Programs, Partnerships & Legal, and Legal Consultant for various sectors and globally renowned non-profits organizations, companies, foundations, think tanks, firms, startups, hospitals, research centers, and universities including but not limited to the Massachusetts General Hospital, Emaar the Economic City, Red Sea Foundation, KFCRIS at the King Faisal Foundation, DLA Piper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the United Nations. She has assisted healthcare and technology startups legally and strategically to develop, grow and become sustainable globally. Dr. Hashmi played a lead role for the United Nation’s Wellbeing efforts for the World Food Program’s Freerice initiative in collaboration with the Harvard Law School’s Berkman Klein Center of Internet & Society. She is an expert in Strategy, Strategic Planning, Healthcare, Food and Drug Law and Education. In a Senior Advisory role, Dr. Hashmi has advised on multiple International Telemedicine initiatives. Dr. Hashmi has globally engaged in strategic partnerships in four continents with eminent scholars and world leaders. Dr. Hashmi is also a CEO of an Educational Consultancy Firm in Bahrain. Dr. Hashmi received her Doctor of Law & Jurisprudence Degree from Harvard Law School, and her Masters degree in History of Medicine & Ethics from Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Her concentration has been on Healthcare systems, Healthcare law, Public Health Law, Healthcare regulations, and Innovative Health Solutions. Furthermore, she also has a Master’s degree in Systems Design Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering and MIT Sloan School of Management. She has authored various publications in the research, academic and corporate sector. She was listed as one of the Top Twenty College Women in the Nation in United States of America making it into the Who’s Who in America List.
Jassim Alseddiqi — Chief Executive Officer Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG)
Jassim Alseddiqi is the Chief Executive Officer of ADFG. He has been at the helm of the company since its establishment in 2011, transforming it into one of the leading and fastest growing investment management companies in the MENA region. Alseddiqi is known for his dynamic and innovative approach, having pioneered investment strategies in the region. Alseddiqi is the Chairman of SHUAA Capital, Gulf Finance House (GFH), Eshraq Properties, Khaleeji Commercial Bank and The Entertainer. He also serves on the boards of the following companies: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Abu Dhabi Capital Group, ADNOC Distribution and Dana Gas. Alseddiqi holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He has also served as a noted lecturer at the Abu Dhabi-based Petroleum Institute.
Fatimah Baeshen - GCC Socioeconomic & Political Strategist
Fatimah is a socioeconomic and political strategist. Her focus areas include: Strategy & Planning - Entrepreneurship & Innovation - Women Economic Empowerment - Civic Engagement - Islamic Finance - Geopolitics - Private Sector Development. She obtained her Master's degree from the University of Chicago's Center for Middle Eastern Studies with a focus in Islamic finance and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is from Saudi Arabia originally, born, as well as, raised in the United States. She resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tal Hisham Nazer — Chief Executive Officer, Bupa Arabia
Tal Hisham Nazer has been the Chief Executive Officer of Bupa Arabia since 2008. Under his leadership, Bupa Arabia has become one of the fastest-growing and successful health insurance companies in KSA. Bupa Arabia is an associate of Bupa, the global healthcare company with 29m customers in 190 countries. Mr. Tal Nazer is a Board member of Arabian Medical Marketing Co. Ltd Nawah and a member of the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency (SAMA) Insurance General Committee, The Chairman of Health & Life Insurance Sub-Committee. He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and Young Global Leaders (YGL). Mr. Tal Nazer holds an MBA from The Wharton School, Pennsylvania, USA (in Finance and Buyouts, 2001) and a BA in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles (Dec 1996).
Amr M Khashoggi — Omar Kasem Alesayi & Co (OMACO)
Saudi, graduated from Yale University School of Management, Connecticut, USA with an MBA in 1979, and Menlo College, California, USA with a B. Sc. in 1977 VP HR & Group Affairs, Zahid Group which has 14 subsidiaries offering products and services for the construction, mining, oil and gas, agricultural, transport and finance sectors Chairman & CEO of Amkest group, a holding company with interests in building materials manufacturing & services, packaging of food, hygienic and medical products, provider of e-business and IT services & solutions Chairman and Partner of Global Gypsum Company Ltd (3G), a joint venture between a distinguished group of Saudi investors and Lafarge Gypsum International, a leading French company and the 3rd largest producer of Gypsum in the World. 3G launched Gypsum Plaster plant in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia mid 2007. The plant was inaugurated by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz September 2005 Board Member of Alahli Takaful (Insurance Provider), Chairman of the Investment Committee Chairman of the Qaderoon Business Disability Network – nationwide non-profit organization, Saudi Arabia – enabling employers to include persons with disability as equal effective members of the workforce Member of the Advisory Board of Effat University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Simon Galpin — Senior Advisor formerly Managing Director, Bahrain Economic Development Board
Dr. Simon Galpin was appointed Managing Director of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) in February 2016. Previously, Dr Galpin was the Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Government Department responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment into Hong Kong, and helped establish the Department as one of the world's leading investment promotion agencies. With senior management experience in both the private and public sectors, Dr. Galpin was also actively involved in promoting Hong Kong’s expanding start-up ecosystem. Prior to joining InvestHK, Dr. Galpin spent ten years with Scottish Enterprise – at that time Europe’s largest economic development agency. He was initially posted to Hong Kong in 1992 but also worked in Glasgow, Taipei, Sydney and London. Dr. Galpin holds Masters degrees in Business Administration, Local Economic Development and International Business Law and recently graduated as a Doctor of Juridical Science.
Julien Hawari — Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mediaquest Corp
Julien Hawari is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of MediaquestCorp, one of the region’s leading publishing houses. He took up his role in 1997, becoming Co-CEO alongside Alexandre Hawari. For almost two decades, he has worked to make the Mediaquest Group the benchmark organization that provides unique insights into the Arab world through a diverse range of media. In 2014, Mediaquest launched a new milestone in the luxury industry – the arab luxury world conference. The concept was Julien Hawari’s brainchild and he spearheaded this successful premium event. Mediaquest’s mission is to inform, educate and entertain audiences in both the Arab world and the West, providing unbiased analysis of the issues that matter most to the region. Mediaquest’s publications and websites include Trends, Communicate, Saneou Al Hadath, Gulf Marketing Review, Arabies, Haya, Marie Claire, ameinfo.com and dotmena online network. The company’s events include the Mena Effie Awards, Marketing to Women, Top CEO and arab luxury world, among others. Hawari holds a BA in Economics and has completed his studies in Paris and the Northwestern University, Evanston, USA.
Fahad M. Alturki, Ph.D. — Chief Economist and Head of Research, Jadwa Investment
Dr. Fahad M. Alturki is the Chief Economist and Head of Research at Jadwa investment Company in Riyadh. He is also a member of its Executive Management Committee and a chairperson of its Public Funds Board. Dr. Fahad manages the economic research department and publishes regular reports on issues related to the Saudi and global economies and the world oil market. He frequently presents at a number of high profile local, regional, and international conferences and roundtable discussions in addition of being a domestic and international media figure. Dr. Fahad has a proven track record in the economy field with an experience up to 20 years. Prior to joining Jadwa, Fahad was the Chief Economist at Barclays Saudi Arabia with similar responsibilities. Previously, Fahad was an Economic Specialist at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority where he worked for 11 years in the Economic Research and Statistics Department and before that Fahad was an Economist at the International Monetary Fund at the Middle East and Central Asia Department. Dr. Fahad graduated with a BA in Business Administration (majoring accounting) from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, and has a Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in economics from University of Oregon (Eugene, USA).
Debbie Chien - Principal, SFO Global
Debbie Chien has been working with family offices in Asia for over 10 years. She is a Principal at SFO-Global, a family office based in Singapore and Hong Kong, focused on wealth management, opportunistic global investments, and family office solutions. Investments are across real estate, public and private equity, securities, technology, infrastructure, and lifestyle with a focus on alternative and collaborative investments. Debbie started the Society of Family Offices Network as a global platform for wealthy families and its family offices to discretely engage various topics including investments, market intelligence, strategic business partnering, legacy succession, and philanthropy. It holds over 20 private roundtables globally in a rotational 8 countries and runs a private deal list. Previously at Credit Suisse and JPMorgan in New York, London, and Hong Kong, she worked in derivative products for institutional and HNWI/family offices. Debbie has an MBA from INSEAD, BA Economics from Johns Hopkins University and MM in Music from Peabody Conservatory. She studied culinary arts at Cordon Bleu and is the Brand Ambassador for Recettes de Vie, a charitable culinary initiative benefitting conflict displacement in the Middle East.
Anand Vengurlekar — Global Innovation Process Consultant
Anand is an innovation process consultant working with global brands. His most recent projects have focused on combining emerging technologies with new unique consumer experiences. This has included Islamic Fintech, Luxury retail, medical device apps, Government innovation policies, Smart City initiatives. He travels regularly around the GCC and especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to give keynotes and moderate workshops for Boards on innovation strategy. Recently, he was Chief Communications Officer at INSEAD Business School, at which he led and managed a global team in all aspects of the marketing mix. During this time, he coordinated different departments to refresh the global brand identity in marketing mix. This included redesigning critical elements of the consumer journey leading to a boost on social media from 15k to over 1M hits. He was previously responsible for the conception and execution of the brand strategy for Samsung in Scandinavia over 9 years. Tasked with making the company the no.1 brand in several major product categories, he recruited a team to achieve this goal well before the target of 5 years, beating such locally powerful brands such as Bang & Olufsen and NOKIA. His approach to drive the Samsung brand to the number one position was a refinement of his major consumer marketing experiences at SONY and LEGO, and his user driven innovation experience from IDEO. At IDEO, he was based on the East Coast, USA, working closely with Fortune 50 companies on product development projects, including consumer brands such as Target, J&J, Pepsi, GM, GE, Wyeth, and Mahindra. At LEGO, Anand was recruited to take on a new Director of Future Branding position at an internal think tank, VISIONLAB, where he worked with a team on future scenario research and the result’s implications for brand equity and product development. Because of his experience in innovation & branding, He regularly teaches the processes to corporate teams and at global business schools such as in INSEAD and is a member of faculty in the IE/FT partnership. He completed his EMBA in 2013 and has been lucky enough to live in ten countries, the latest being the UAE, Dubai.
Khadija Al Bastaki — TECOM
Khadija Al Bastaki is the Director Business Development of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Production City In this capacity she oversees the business and strategic development, client relations and operations across the Media Parks in TECOM. She is responsible for overseeing client portfolio management for the Media industry full range of regional and international clients. Her professional career began in 2005 at DPW- Dubai Port World. For international consultancy services at Djibouti Free Zone. She also served as VP for global sales in Jafza. Khadija received an MBA in Strategic Management from Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi and a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering Technology from HCT of Dubai.