AL ROUAD ROUNDTABLE

Now an annual highlight and always a talking point at Leaders in Dubai Business Forum is the Al Rouad panel debate. The roundtable is made up of some of the most respected business personalities from across the Middle East, who have extensive knowledge of what makes business tick in this region, plus the effects of an ever changing and increasingly globalised economy. These renowned individuals will help shape thinking across the Middle East business environment, as well as drive debate, new thinking and business leadership that will, in turn, encourage best practices and the development of a new generation of Middle Eastern business leaders.

A Regional View on a Global Crisis:
• How severe are the consequences of the global financial crisis on the Middle East and it’s current growth model. Do the underlying fundamentals of regional economies remain strong to withstand the worst crisis since the great depression?
• Has the notion that emerging markets could decouple from the global markets proven futile?
• Should regional governments find a common policy and act collectively in tackling uncertainty and regional effects of the credit crunch?
 • How will the current crisis affect the local GCC consumer and the real economy and how should regional companies adjust to a potential global recession?
• Is this the end of capitalism as we know? What regulatory and institutional changes should be made to avoid a repeat of such a crisis in the future?
• What is the true exposure of banks and sovereign wealth funds to asset write-downs; is this exposure being acknowledged by regional banks and governments or have the banks been too conservative with their estimates?
• Should Sovereign Wealth Funds take advantage of ‘bargain’ purchases abroad or instead consider investing locally to ease liquidity issues, prop up local capital markets and return confidence to their local economies.  Plus, addressing western governments concerns regarding SWF and their role within the world’s financial markets.
• What is a ‘fair price’ for oil and is the current drop in price a spur for governments to open new economic sectors in the Arab World for foreign investment beyond oil related activities.
• What role will the young, booming Middle East population play in insulating the region from the global downturn and what needs to be done by both the public and private sector to ensure regional employment for the next generation?

Moderated By: Nadine Hani

Nadine Hani is an anchor for Al Arabiya News Channel based in Dubai, where she presents and co-produces the highest rated financial news programmes in the Arab world, "Al Aswaq Al Arabiya".

During the course of her work in Al Arabiya, she has interviewed some of the most influential decision makers in the Arab business world, and internationally, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick, Chairman of Kingdom Holding company H.H. Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the Saudi minister of finance Dr. Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf and Lebanese central bank governor Dr. Riad T. Salameh.

Nadine Hani anchored Al Arabiya's special coverage of the major GCC markets' correction that wiped up to 50 percent of the market capitalisation of GCC stocks at the beginning of 2006. Her experience however goes beyond the newsroom to the field, where she has carried out investigative reports from major Arab cities.

Panellists:

   Sameer Al Ansari
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dubai International Capital LLC

Sameer Al Ansari founded DIC in 2004. He was previously Group Chief Financial Officer for The Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, where he was responsible for the management of various projects.

Under Mr. Al Ansari, Dubai International Capital has emerged as a leading global investment company with an outstanding reputation and a superb track record. By the end of 2007, DIC had approximately US$ 13 billion of assets under its management primarily in Private Equities, Large Cap Public Companies and Emerging Markets opportunities.

Mr. Al Ansari is a board member of various companies including DIC's parent company Dubai Holding, Sama Dubai and the Dubai International Financial Centre. He also sits on the boards of some of the DIC owned companies such as Doncasters, Travelodge, and Mauser AG. He is Chairman of Ishraq, a US$ 150 million investment company that has been formed to bring the Holiday Inn Express brand of hotels to the region, and also is Chairman of Jordan Dubai Capital.

  Fadi Ghandour
Founder and CEO, ARAMEX International

Fadi Ghandour is Founder & CEO of Aramex International, a position he has held for the past 26 years. Aramex, one of the leading logistics & transportation companies in the Middle East and South Asia, was the first company from the Arab world to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. After five years of  successful trading on it, Aramex returned to private ownership and, in June 2005, went public again on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Ghandour is a Founding Partner in Maktoob.com, the world’s largest Arab On-Line community, is a member of the Board of Abraaj Capital, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Between 2003 and 2005, he was the Middle East and North Africa Area Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Ghandour is actively involved with community and NGO work. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jordan River Foundation (www.jordanriver.jo), Chairman of “National Microfinance Bank” in Jordan (www.nmb.com.jo), and founder of Ruwwad Development (www.ruwwad.net), a region-wide corporate social responsibility initiative.

Ghandour is married to Rula Atalla and has two sons, Bassel and Fares.

   Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Jasser
Vice Governor
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Riyadh – Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser was born in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia in 1955.  Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser received his B.A. degree in Economics with honor from San Diego State University in 1979 and M.A. in Economics from the University of California in 1981.  In 1986 he received his doctorate degree in Economics from the University of California.

Dr. Al-Jasser started his career at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy of Saudi Arabia as Head of Financial & Economic Analysis Unit in the Budget Department in 1981.  At the Ministry of Finance and National Economy he also supervised the operations of the World Bank Mission in the Kingdom in 1981-1983 and 1986-1988.  He also participated in many intra and inter-ministerial committees.  He was appointed as Acting Deputy Minister of Finance and National Economy for Budget and Organization in 1995.

International Monetary Fund (IMF):

Dr.  Muhammad Al-Jasser joined the IMF as Economic Advisor to the Executive Director for Saudi Arabia in 1988 and was promoted as Alternative Executive Director in 1989.  In 1990 he was selected as Executive Director at the IMF, the post he held until 1995.  During this period, he participated in the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF.  He prepared a large number of research papers and studies on fiscal and monetary policies.  He took part in a number of permanent committees formed by the Executive Board of the IMF, namely, Budget Committee, Committee on relations between IMF and the WTO, Committee on Administrative Policies, Committee on Admission to Membership of countries of former Soviet Union, Committee of Eritrea’s membership, etc.  During Dr. Al-Jasser’s stay at the IMF he participated in many conferences and symposia on economic issues.

Since his appointment in 1995 as Vice Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency-SAMA (central bank of Saudi Arabia), Dr. Al-Jasser is also the Vice Chairman of the Board of SAMA.

Besides that Dr. Al-Jasser has been a member of the Saudi Arabian Negotiation Team on the accession of Saudi Arabia to the WTO and chairman of the WTO Services Group; Member of the Committee of external experts to conduct a Review of the Quota Formulas of the IMF (QFRG); and Chairman of the “Technical Saudi Negotiating Team” for negotiations with the International Oil Companies;. Member of the Board of Saudi Public Pension Agency

Presently Dr. Al-Jasser is the Chairman of the Board of the Arab Investment Company; Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Saudi Telecom Co.; Chairman of the Fund for Supporting Research and Educational Programs at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals; Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships Nominating Committee for Saudi Arabia; Member of the Board of Saudi Arabian Mining Co.; Member of the Board of Trustees of the Centennial Fund; Member of the Board of Saudi Arabian Airlines; Member of the Consultative Council of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector; and Member of the Higher Committee of King Saud University Endowment.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser was honored with King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Order for his services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

   Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar,
Chief Operating Officer, Etisalat

A 22 year veteran of the telecommunications industry, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar has worked in various roles at Etisalat. He has been responsible for a large number of the company’s innovations and initiatives. As COO, he has overall operational responsibilities over the Engineering, Marketing and IT departments, and all the regions of Etisalat’s operations.

Career Path: Mr. Julfar joined Etisalat in 1986 as a graduate trainee in the Access Network Planning Section. He has worked in many departments throughout the Corporation, and as a result, has developed strong competencies in Telecommunication Network Planning, Installation and Operations Activity, as well as Customer Service.

Prior to becoming COO, Mr. Julfar was the General Manager of Etisalat’s Dubai Region and eCompany, the Internet arm of Etisalat. At eCompany, he spearheaded the launch of the comprehensive eBusiness initiative and the e4me online portal.

 

John Sfakianakis
Group Chief Economist & General Manager, Saudi British Bank

John Sfakianakis currently holds the position of Group Chief Economist and General Manager of SABB (The Saudi British Bank) based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the past he held the position of Senior Financial Advisor at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, he was also the Chief Regional Economist with Samba Financial Group.  He also held positions as an economist at the World Bank, in Washington D.C and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York.

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