Agenda

Michael R. Bloomberg, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions; Founder, Bloomberg LP & Bloomberg Philanthropies; 108th Mayor, New York City

Micklethwait is the Editor-In-Chief of Bloomberg where he oversees editorial content across all Bloomberg platforms, including its news, newsletters, magazines, opinion, television, radio and digital properties, as well as its research services including Bloomberg Intelligence.

Before joining Bloomberg in February 2015, Micklethwait was Editor-in-Chief of The Economist where he led the newspaper into the digital age while expanding its readership and enhancing its reputation.

He joined The Economist in 1987 as a finance correspondent and served as Business editor and United States editor before being named Editor-in-Chief in 2006. Micklethwait began his career in banking at Chase Manhattan in London after studying history at Magdalen College, Oxford.

He is the co-author of six books, most recently The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State. In 2010, Micklethwait was named Editors’ Editor by the British Society of Magazine Editors. He is a trustee of the British Museum.

Zain Verjee is one of the world’s most respected and recognized journalists, with an action-packed background and experience as a storyteller, entrepreneur, communicator, and interviewer. She is well known as a former CNN anchor and correspondent, and has made a successful transition into the world of communications and creative entrepreneurship.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, she created covidHQafrica.com in partnership with MasterCard Foundation, which is a storytelling, data and information site for Africa.  

Her communications firm, Zain Verjee Group, has worked with a deep lineup of organizations and entities such as Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Pfizer Inc., Equity Group Foundation of Kenya, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization, General Electric Africa, Morocco’s OCP, The Aga Khan Development Network, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on their communications and public relations delivery and strategies via advisory, consulting, and content production. She is a highly sought after facilitator and interviewer, and has spoken on platforms such as TED and Africa House.  She is a senior fellow (non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Africa Program.  She is a guest opinion columnist on African issues for The National, UAE. 

Zain is also a startup founder and content creator, co-founding aKoma Media, a continental network of workspaces for Africa’s creative and cultural economy, in 2015. Her other ventures in the creative space include Amplify, a content creator fellowship with participants from East/West Africa and the US, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation. In addition, with her former colleague and CNN anchor Isha Sesay, Zain launched Rouse, an immersive three day gathering event for a community of women in Africa and the diaspora in 2019. Zain is a key member to the media advisory committee for Africa No Filter, and also Board Chair for the Kenya-based conservation organization, Wildlife Direct.  

Zain resides in the Los Angeles area and Nairobi, Kenya. Her versatility and charisma have been a great asset for her in her post anchor life and entrepreneurial ventures. She enjoys creative writing, swimming butterfly, riding horses and is currently training for a half marathon.

His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani assumed his duties as Amir of the State of Qatar on 25th June 2013, following the announcement of His Highness The Father Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in an address to the Qatari people, of his decision to hand over power to his Heir Apparent and the pledge of allegiance to HH Sheikh Tamim by the Qatari people as the new Amir. 

Birth and Study

HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was born on June 3rd, 1980 in Doha, Qatar, where he received his primary and secondary schooling. He then joined Sherborne School in the United Kingdom, where he continued his secondary schooling and graduated in 1997.

His Highness then pursued his higher education in the United Kingdom, where he attended the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, graduating in 1998.

After graduating from Sandhurst, His Highness joined Qatar’s Armed Forces, combining both military academic study and practical and on the field experience.

As Heir Apparent

On August 5, 2003, His Highness was appointed Heir Apparent and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. During his tenure, he chaired a number of bodies and supreme councils in different fields, such as the Supreme Education Council, the Supreme Council of Health, the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves, the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, Board of Directors of Qatar Investment Authority, Supreme Committee for Development Planning, Board of Trustees of Qatar University, and the Qatar Leadership Center

HH had a remarkable and constructive contribution to Qatar National Vision 2030, as he was entrusted by HH The Amir at the time to chair the Supreme Committee for planning the vision of the country until launched in 2008. HH The Amir is still following up the implementation of the vision at the present.

Believing in the importance of future generations to be knowledgeable of the history of Qatar and the feats and eternal values of its founding ancestors, HH The Amir oversaw the launch of Qatar National Day. It is considered one of the most prominent things overseen by HH during his tenure as the Heir Apparent, aiming that future generations will incarnate, preserve and keep echoing those values.

HH The Amir contributed as well to the launch of the National Sports Day as he believed in the importance of health for the individual and society.

As for the political and diplomatic affairs, HH The Amir played a major role in bridging views among several disputing political parties through political dialogues hosted in Doha and carried out under personal auspices of HH The Amir.

As Amir of the State of Qatar

Upon assuming his duties as Amir of the State of Qatar, His Highness became the Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, in addition to his chairmanship of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, and the National Security Council.

During his tenure the state of Qatar obtained high ranks in the international and regional indicators. It is ranked the first in capital flows, political and legislative areas, gross domestic product per capita and low unemployment rate.

On the regional level, Qatar has ranked the first in the Higher education Quality report, humanitarian affairs, global peace index, and human development index.

Medals and Awards

HH The Amir received many international medals and awards in recognition of his contributions in humanitarian areas and international issues, as well as for his efforts in promoting friendship and cooperation between nations and peoples.

Hobbies and Languages

His hobbies include Tennis, falconry and sports related to the Qatari and Arab heritage.

In addition to Arabic language, His Highness is fluent in both English and French.

His Highness is married and has twelve children.

Irakli Garibashvili is the Prime Minister of Georgia and he has been holding the office since February 22, 2021. Before assuming the office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Garibashvili has served as the Minister of Defence of Georgia from September 8, 2019 until February 22, 2021. 

Mr. Garibashvili has an extensive experience in Private Sector as well as in the Public Service. Before becoming one of the founding members of Georgian Dream Political Party he served as the Chairman of the Board of International Charitable Foundation Cartu and was member of the Supervisory Board of Cartu Bank. 

Garibashvili took office of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia in October 25, 2012 and served his tenure until November 17, 2013. During November 20, 2013 and December 24, 2015 Garibashvili served as the Prime Minister of Georgia.

After the period of being in private sector from February 12, 2018 until August 1, 2019 Irakli Garibashvili moved back to politics and has been the Political Secretary and Member of Political Council of the Political Party “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia” since March 5, 2019.

In 2005 Garibashvili received his Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Tbilisi State University, Faculty of International Law and International Relations. Prior to his graduation, from 2002 until 2004 Garibashvili attended the Sorbonne University, Paris France, Faculty of Political Science, majoring in International Relations. 

Irakli Garibashvili speaks fluent Georgian, English, French and Russian.

Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi is the Minister of State for Energy Affairs of the State of Qatar, and the Deputy Chairman of QatarEnergy (formerly Qatar Petroleum). He is also the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, a position he has held since 2014. 

Mr. Al-Kaabi joined “Qatar Petroleum” in 1986 as a student studying Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering at Pennsylvania State University in the USA, from which he graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering. Since then, he held several key technical, commercial, and managerial positions before being appointed as the Director of the Oil & Gas Ventures Directorate in 2006, where he was overseeing all of Qatar’s oil and gas field development, as well as all the exploration activities.

In September 2014, Mr. Al-Kaabi was appointed as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Petroleum, where he oversaw its gas, oil, and petrochemical operations and development in Qatar and internationally (before undergoing the transformation to become QatarEnergy in October 2021), and in 2018 His Excellency was appointed as the Minister of State for Energy Affairs of the State of Qatar.

Shaikh Nawaf S. Al-Sabah was appointed deputy chairman and CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (“KPC”), on 16 March 2022 pursuant to Amiri Decree No. 72/2022. Established as a state-owned corporation in January 1980, KPC optimizes the value of Kuwait’s hydrocarbons endowment by producing, refining, transporting and marketing these resources globally through eight operating subsidiaries. 

Prior to this appointment, Shaikh Nawaf was president and CEO of KPC Holdings (Aruba) AEC, the international downstream subsidiary of KPC, from 4 February 2019 to 16 March 2022. In this position, he refined the company’s strategy to concentrate on projects that are profitable and strategic to the Kuwaiti oil sector. The Company’s turnover exceeds US$15 billion. 

Shaikh Nawaf was CEO of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (“KUFPEC”), the international upstream subsidiary of KPC, for almost nine years from May 2013. During that period, KUFPEC doubled its production and expanded into new geographies and technologies, increasing its annual revenues to almost US$2 billion and its profits to new highs.

 Before joining KUFPEC in 2013, Shaikh Nawaf spent 14 years at KPC, the last eight of which as deputy managing director and general counsel of KPC, where he was the principal in-house counsel to KPC and an active member of KPC’s negotiating teams on the corporation’s strategic projects. He was also a board member of KPC Holdings (Aruba) AEC and of MEGlobal, an olefins joint venture involving KPC’s petrochemicals subsidiary. 

From 2002 through 2004, Shaikh Nawaf was head of KPC’s Washington Office, responsible for development of downstream business opportunities and policy analysis in the United States. Prior to joining KPC in 1999, Shaikh Nawaf was a corporate transaction attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a major international law firm based in Los Angeles. 

Born in 1971, Shaikh Nawaf holds an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Princeton University’s School for Public and International Affairs and a Juris Doctor (Doctor of Laws) degree cum laude from Harvard Law School

Darren Woods is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois.

Mr. Woods joined Exxon Company International in 1992 as a planning analyst in Florham Park, New Jersey. He progressed through a number of domestic and international assignments for Exxon Company International, ExxonMobil Chemical Company and ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company.

In 2005, Mr. Woods was appointed vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company in Houston, Texas, where he managed global specialty-chemical businesses. In 2008, he was named ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company’s director of refining for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and was based in Brussels. In 2010, he was appointed vice president of supply and transportation, based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mr. Woods was appointed president of ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company and vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation in 2012. In 2014, Mr. Woods was elected senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Effective January 1, 2016, Mr. Woods was elected president of Exxon Mobil Corporation and a member of the board of directors.

The ExxonMobil Board of Directors elected Mr. Woods as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2017.

Mr. Woods is currently vice chairman of the National Petroleum Council, and he serves on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute and the board of trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable, the Business Council and the Texas A&M University Engineering Advisory Council.

Francine Lacqua is an award-winning London-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. She co-anchors the weekday 3-hour daily program “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene, where she provides insight on foreign policy, global markets and the top business stories of the day. She also presents “Leaders with Lacqua,” a special series where she sits down with top CEOs, entrepreneurs and public figures. 

Since joining Bloomberg in 2000, Lacqua has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, IMF in Washington, G20 meetings, the EU Leaders Summit and OPEC. She also led Bloomberg Television’s coverage of the Italian and French elections where she was one of the first international reporters to interview cabinet members. 

While at Bloomberg, Lacqua has interviewed high-profile figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Billionaire financier George Soros and ECB President Mario Draghi. She has also interviewed finance ministers from South Korea, Russia, France, Mexico, Italy and Greece, as well as moderating televised debates from the World Economic Forum in Davos and the European Economic Governance package. 

In 2013 Lacqua won ‘International TV Personality of the Year’ at the AIB Media Awards. She was previously nominated in 2009 and 2010. In 2012, she was part of the Bloomberg team that won the OPEC award for ‘Public Interest Reporting’. She has an LLB in English law from King’s College in London and earned her undergraduate degree at the Sorbonne. She is fluent in French and Italian.

Elon Musk leads SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

As the founder and Chief Engineer at SpaceX, Elon oversees the development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets. In 2008, the SpaceX Falcon 1 was the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit, and SpaceX made further history in 2017 by re-flying both a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for the first time. Falcon Heavy, the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two, completed its first flight in 2018. In May 2020, SpaceX returned America’s ability to fly NASA astronauts to space on American vehicles for the first time since 2011. In addition to carrying astronauts to space for NASA, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has also completed private passenger missions to Earth orbit and the ISS. SpaceX has designed, launched, and deployed Starlink, which delivers high speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable. Building on these achievements, SpaceX is developing Starship – a fully reusable transportation system that will carry crew and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond. By pioneering reusable rockets and the world’s most technologically advanced spacecraft, SpaceX is pursuing the long-term goal of making humans a multi-planet species by creating a self-sustaining city on Mars.

As the Technoking of Tesla, Elon leads all product design, engineering and global manufacturing of the company's electric vehicles, battery products and solar energy products. Since the company’s inception in 2003, Tesla’s mission has been to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. The first Tesla product, the Roadster sports car, debuted in 2008, followed by the Model S sedan, which was introduced in 2012, and the Model X SUV, which launched in 2015. Model S received Consumer Reports’ Best Overall Car and has been named the Ultimate Car of the Year by Motor Trend, while Model X was the first SUV ever to earn 5-star safety ratings in every category and sub-category in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s tests. In 2017, Tesla began deliveries of Model 3, a mass-market electric vehicle, and unveiled Tesla Semi, which is designed to save owners at least $200,000 over a million miles based on fuel costs alone. In 2019, Tesla unveiled Cybertruck, which will have better utility than a traditional truck and more performance than a sports car, as well as the Model Y compact SUV, which began customer deliveries in early 2020.

Tesla also produces three energy storage products, the Powerwall home battery, the Powerpack commercial-scale battery, and Megapack, which is designed for utility-scale installations. In 2016, Tesla became the world’s first vertically-integrated sustainable energy company with the acquisition of SolarCity, the leading provider of solar power systems in the United States, and in 2017 released Solar Roof – a beautiful and affordable energy generation product.

Elon is also CEO of Neuralink, which is developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect the human brain to computers. The first device is 1000+ channels in one small package and is completely invisible once implanted. Its capabilities have been demonstrated in primates and Neuralink is now focused on taking that device to humans. The first use case will be helping a fully paralyzed person regain their digital freedom by telepathically controlling their phones or computers in a fast and effortless way.

He also launched The Boring Company, which combines fast, affordable tunneling technology with an all-electric public transportation system in order to alleviate soul-crushing urban congestion and enable high-speed, long-distance travel. The Boring Company built a 1.15 mile R&D tunnel in Hawthorne, and constructed and currently operates Vegas Loop, 1.7 miles of tunnel which transports hundreds of thousands of people across the Las Vegas Convention Center and is currently being expanded onto the Las Vegas Strip. 

Previously, Elon co-founded and sold PayPal, the world's leading Internet payment system, and Zip2, one of the first internet maps and directions services.

Jenny Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Templeton. She joined the company in 1988 and held leadership roles in all major divisions of the business, including investment management, distribution, customer service, fund administration, technology, and high-net-worth, before becoming CEO in February 2020.

Ms. Johnson was named to Barron's list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance in 2020 and 2021, and was named 2021 Woman of the Year by Financial Women of San Francisco. She has been named one of Money Management Executive's Top Women in Asset Management and was chosen by her peers as one of Ignites' Most Influential Women in Fund Management. Ms. Johnson is a recipient of the NICSA Robert L. Gould Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in helping the mutual fund industry better serve investors through customer service, thought leadership and technology. Ms. Johnson is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, most notably on the topics of leadership, financial industry developments, diversity & inclusion, and innovation.

Ms. Johnson earned her B.A. in economics from the University of California at Davis. She is a board member of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, JMT Wilderness Conservancy, and the Carolands Foundation, and a trustee at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Ms. Johnson also serves as an advisor to Shatter Fund, a venture capital firm focused on investing in technology companies led and founded by female entrepreneurs. In addition, she is a member of the NYSE Board Advisory Council, which identifies and connects diverse board candidates to NYSE-listed companies seeking new directors.

In his previous capacity as the Acting Director-General and Deputy Director-General for Investment of Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development [KFAED], Mr. Ghanem Al-Ghenaiman has over 30 years of experience in investments and assets management across different asset classes and geographies.

Mr. Al-Ghenaiman was a member of several committees, including the KFAED’s Investment Committee, The Kuwait Fund for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS)’s Investment Committee, and other investment committees, both locally and abroad. He was a member of a number of boards of companies and the Chairman of Vision Investment Services Management.

Mr. Al-Ghenaiman holds a BSc in Accounting from Kuwait University.

He was appointed to the Board of Directors at Kuwait Investment Authority on 5 August 2021 for a four-year term and was appointed as the Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors on 12 August 2021, effective 16 August 2021.

Tidjane Thiam, Executive Chairman, Freedom Acquisition Corp. 1

Tidjane Thiam is the Executive Chairman of Freedom Acquisition Corporation and has over 30 years of experience in global financial services and government and public service. 

Mr Thiam was the CEO of Credit Suisse Group AG from 2015 to 2020, where he recapitalised the bank, raising $ 10 billion of equity and settling legacy issues. He successfully turned around the bank’s performance and delivered the bank’s highest profits in over a decade in the final year of his tenure. For these achievements, he was awarded the Banker of the Year 2018 by Euromoney.

Before joining Credit Suisse, Mr Thiam was the Group CEO of Prudential plc from 2009 to 2015.  He more than trebled the market capitalisation of Prudential during his tenure from approx. $17 billion in 2009 to over $60 billion in 2015 and spearheaded Prudential’s expansion in Asia.

In parallel to his private-sector career, Mr Thiam has had extensive experience in the public sector. In the 1990s, he returned to his native Ivory Coast, where he occupied cabinet-level positions from 1994 to 1999, in charge of infrastructure development, privatisations and relationships with the World Bank and IMF. In that capacity, he developed some of the first BOTs and BOOs in Africa, including the first non-recourse IPP in Sub Saharan Africa and the Abidjan toll bridge.

Mr Thiam served on Prime Minister’s Cameron Business Advisory Group and was a UK Trade Ambassador. He co-chaired the Global Public Goods Task Force with President Zedillo and was a member of Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa. Presidents Obama and Sarkozy appointed him as chair of the G20 High-Level Panel on Infrastructure.

Mr Thiam is a member of the Board of Directors of Kering S.A. and a member of the Supervisory Board of the Publicis Group. He is a member of the International Olympic Committee and also sits on the Advisory Board of the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society – INSEAD.

Mr Thiam was awarded the rank of ‘Knight’ (Chevalier) in the French Legion of Honour.

Mr Thiam is a graduate of the École Polytechnique, Paris and the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (top of his class) and holds an MBA from INSEAD with distinction.

Bob Moritz is Global Chairman of PwC, which spans 156 countries and includes more than 295,000 people. PwC is a professional services network, providing audit, tax, consulting, and deals services around the world, in order to build trust and drive sustained outcomes for the world’s most pressing problems. In his role, Bob leads the international network’s leadership teams, champions diversity and inclusion, sets strategy, and enhances the brand of PwC through quality service to our stakeholders. Bob is also PwC’s representative with GPPC and other profession-focused organizations.

He has been with PwC his entire career, joining in 1985 and becoming a partner in 1995. He

has an Audit and Assurance background, primarily dealing with financial services, banking, and capital markets clients. During the course of his career, Bob spent three years with PwC Japan, working with European and US-based financial services companies operating in Asia. Prior to taking on the global role, Bob led the US firm of PwC as its Chairman and Senior Partner for seven years.  

Bob is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, a trustee of The Conference Board, a member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, Vice Chair of the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council (IBLAC) to Shanghai, and a director of the SUNY-Oswego College Foundation, his alma mater. PwC is also a founding member of the UN’s HeforShe 10x10x10 Impact Champions network. Previously, Bob served two terms as the chairman of the Governing Board for the Center for Audit Quality, a non-partisan and non-profit group dedicated to enhancing investor confidence and public trust in the capital markets.

Bob is married and lives in Florida.

His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Qassim Al-Thani was appointed Minister of Commerce & Industry in October 2021. H.E. currently holds several high positions in the State of Qatar, including as a member of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs & Investment, Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Al Rayan Bank, Qatar Stock Exchange, the Advisory Board of the Investment Promotion Agency and the Qatar Financial Center Authority. H.E. is also the Deputy-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Development Bank and a Member of the Boards of Directors of the Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Energy.

Throughout his extensive career, H.E. has held several other key supervisory positions. From March 2018 until October 2021, H.E. was Deputy-Governor and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Central Bank and Deputy Chairman of the QFC Regulatory Authority. From November 2018 until October 2021, H.E. also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority.

Previously, H.E. was Director of Risk Management at Qatar Central Bank and also served for five years as the Secretary of the Personal Representative of His Highness the Amir for follow-up affairs.

Ferit F. Şahenk is the Chairman and CEO of Doğuş Group. Formerly, he served as the founder and Vice President of Garanti Securities, CEO of Doğuş Holding, Chairman of Doğuş Otomotiv and Chairman of Garanti Bank. Previously, Mr. Şahenk served as a Board Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) of Turkey. He also served as the Chairman of the Turkish-German Business Council; the Chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council; Vice Chairman of Turkish-United Arab Emirates Business Council and Executive Board Member of Turkish-Greek Business Council of DEİK. He serves on the Regional Executive Board of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management for Europe, Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Mr. Şahenk holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Human Resources from Boston College.

Stephanie Flanders is the Senior Executive Editor for Bloomberg Economics. She oversees a team of nearly 100 Bloomberg economic reporters and research economist in the developed and developing world. From daily commentary to in-depth analysis, the team produces stories for all Bloomberg's platforms, including the Bloomberg Terminal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Markets Magazine as well as Bloomberg.com.

Prior to joining Bloomberg in October 2017, Stephanie was Chief Market Strategist for UK and Europe with JP Morgan Asset Management where she was delivering insight into the global economy and financial markets to investors in Europe and around the world. Stephanie was Economics Editor for the BBC from 2008 to 2013, where her national and global economic analysis was broadcast around the world and widely respected. Prior to joining the BBC, she was a speechwriter and senior advisor to US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers in the Second Clinton Administration.

She holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and Master's in Public Administration from Kennedy School of Government. She is also the Governor of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research and the Ditchley Foundation and a Trustee for the Kennedy Memorial Trust.

Dr. Fred Matiangi, E.G.H, is Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government. Dr Matiangi doubles up as the Chairperson of the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee. He has previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), Lands and Physical Planning as well as the Ministry of Education. Prior to his appointment in the capacity of a Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Matiangi was the Regional Representative in East Africa for the Centre for International Development, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the State University of New York (SUNY/CID). He previously served as Chief of Party for Kenya’s Parliamentary Strengthening Program. Dr. Matiangi held research and program implementation positions in various civil society organizations in Kenya and conducted research and training for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the World Bank Institute, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among others.

Abdulrahman is the Group CEO of ASYAD, Oman’s flagship logistics and supply chain group, offering end-to-end solutions from ports, free zones, maritime shipping and last-mile express delivery. Abdulrahman is a logistics pioneer and a business-growth leader; building startups, establishing competitive businesses and advancing homegrown companies to become global brands.

Al Hatmi was a key player in the development of Oman’s National Logistics Strategy 2040—now overseeing its implementation and spearheading the sector’s economic growth through his current role. He led the inception of ASYAD Group, consisting of 16 companies and spanning three major Ports with their associated Freezones, as well as Oman Shipping, Oman Post, Oman Dry Dock and Transport companies including Oman Rail, the latter was established by Al Hatmi to direct and manage the development of the GCC and national rail project in Oman.

As a mechanical engineer, Al Hatmi worked in the oil and gas industry for 14 years, and subsequently, he founded two successful start-ups, winning market share in a highly competitive business environment and delivering double-digit EBITDA growth.

His Excellency Ahmad Al-Sayed is Minister of State, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Free Zones Authority, Qatar. H.E. Al-Sayed is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Doha Venture Capital Fund (DVC), Board Member of Qatar Development Bank and Board Member Msheireb Properties.

As a chairman, he works together with the Board and the management team to establish The Free Zones Authority (QFZ). QFZ is a single regulator and developer of specialized business zones and clusters that aim to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Private sector to make Qatar a Global business hub which has successfully attracted global companies like DHL, Google, Microsoft, Thales, and many others.

H.E. is also Chairman and Managing director of Doha Venture Capital (DVC) which is an economic development investment fund, focused on investing in high-growth disruptive companies in order to attract them to establish regional hubs in Qatar Free Zones and Qatar by providing them with long term capital and access to Qatar’s domestic market and global network while ensuring sustainable financial returns. DVS’s vision is to build a reference new economy ecosystem in Qatar to boost the country’s economic diversification and position it as a global hub for innovation and doing business.

H.E. Al-Sayed served as Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Investment Authority and CEO and Managing Director of Qatar Holding LLC, where he played a critical role to build, oversee and manage Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund. During his tenure, he executed mega deals such as the QIA/QH’s investment in Credit Suisse, engineered the Merger of VW and Porsche as well as Xstrata and Glencore, the take-over of Songbird and Canary Warf Group, and the acquisition of Harrods Group, Iberdrola Energy, Tiffany, Heathrow Airport, and others.

Prior to QIA, H.E. Al-Sayed held key roles in various local and international institutions, including the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment where he served as Secretary of the Board for 10 years. He has also served as board member for different local and international companies like Qatar National Bank, Canary Wharf Group and Volkswagen Group, Vice Chairman of Qatar Exchange and Executive Chairman of Harrods LHD.

His Excellency Al-Sayed holds his MBA with Trium Global (from LSE, NYU Stern, HEC Paris), and a Master of International Banking & Financial Law from Boston University, and an LLB from Qatar University.

He was awarded an Honorary Degree (DLitt) in July 2019 of Swansea University, UK

Haslinda Amin is a news Correspondent and Anchor for Bloomberg Television. Based in Singapore, she has been at the heart of events driving the transformation of Asia. Haslinda has reported on major financial and political developments such as Suharto's downfall, the bloody anti-government clashes in Thailand and elections across ASEAN, India and Pakistan.

Haslinda has interviewed world leaders in politics and industry including Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad, Joko Widodo, Benigno Aquino, Thaksin Shinawatra, Tony Blair, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Timothy Geithner, Paul Volcker, Jean-Claude Trichet, Stanley Fischer, John Travolta and Jenson Button. She also speaks regularly at conferences like those hosted by the World Economic Forum, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, ASEAN and Asian Development Bank. She's been invited to moderate discussions organised by the Milken Institute, Blackrock, UBS, Barclays, SALT and Aberdeen Asset Management among others.

As part of her wide-ranging role at Bloomberg TV, Haslinda is host and executive producer of 'High Flyers' which has been nominated for Best Talk Show at the Asian TV Awards. Shot on location inside one of Singapore's most visible attractions, the Singapore Flyer, each episode features Asia's biggest names. 'High Flyers' is the longest-running program on the channel and is aired globally.

Haslinda began her career in radio covering regional politics. She joined Bloomberg Television in 2002. She graduated from the National University of Singapore, majoring in International Politics and English. She speaks English, Malay and Bahasa Indonesia.

Russell Hardy is Group CEO Vitol. Russell has over 30 years’ experience in the oil industry. He joined Vitol in 1993 from BP and has held a number of trading and management roles in Singapore and London. Russell has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2007 and holds a MEng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London.

Jennifer (Jennie) Comalie became a registered Chartered Accountant after attending the University of South Africa and the University of Stellenbosch. Jennie joined the City of Windhoek, in 2020, as the Strategic Executive for Finance and Customer Services. She is responsible for financial management, revenue enhancement, financial reporting, asset management, procurement, financial sustainability, and customer service. 

Before joining the City of Windhoek, Jennie occupied senior positions at various national and private institutions, amongst others serving as an Executive for Financial Services at the Namibia Post (NAMPOST), Financial Director at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management, Management and Cost Accountant at Standard Bank and CEO of the Shalli Group. 

Jennie also serves as a non-executive Director on various corporate boards, including the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR). In December 2021, Jennie was appointed as the Acting CEO and Executive Head of the City of Windhoek.

Tewodros Ashenafi is the founder and chairman of Southwest Holdings Ltd, a leading Ethiopian holding company. Mr Ashenafi is the local partner and helped lead the largest privatization and private transaction in Ethiopian history, the $1.4 billion enterprise value privatization of (NTE), where he joined as a board director and JTI. He is also the founder, chairman, and CEO of Southwest Energy (HK), an African indigenous oil and gas exploration company amongst East Africa's top 10 acreage holders. Mr Ashenafi is a Young President's Organization (YPO) member and was nominated as a Young Global Leader (YGL) at Davos 2009. After obtaining his degree in economics from Columbia University, Mr Ashenafi began his career at Merrill Lynch & Co. and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.

Manus Cranny is a U.A.E.-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. He currently co-anchors “Bloomberg Daybreak: Middle East” with Yousef Gamal El-Din, the prime-time weekday morning show focusing on the cross-section between the region’s politics, markets, economies and companies. He also co-anchors “Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe” with Anna Edwards in London.

Cranny has more than 30 years of business, finance and news experience. He joined Bloomberg Television in 2010 as an anchor and European markets editor, having previously covered equity, commodity and Forex markets as a broker and salesperson. He now reports on international equities, bonds, commodities, Forex trading and up-to-the-minute business news from around the world.

Cranny has also interviewed a wide range of prominent business, finance and political figures, including Egyptian Finance Minister, Amr El Garhy; U.A.E. Central Bank Governor, Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori; U.A.E. Minister of Energy, Suhail Al Mazrouei; Technology Adviser and Co-Founder of Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates; Founder Virgin Group, Richard Branson; Former President, Republic of France, Francois Holland; Group CEO UBS, Sergio Ermotti; CEO and Executive Director RBS, Ross McEwan; and CEO Barclays, Jess Staley to name a few.

Cranny began his career in boutique fund management for high-net-worth investors and went on to become a London-based institutional broker at First Chicago Bank (now part of JP Morgan Chase), covering futures, options, derivatives and bonds for institutional investors in the Middle East. He also worked as head of sales at MF Global's Private Client division in London and head of sales at Cantor Index, part of Cantor Fitzgerald L.P.

Cranny received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Queen’s University Belfast.

Darius Adamczyk is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell. Before being elected Chairman in 2018 and named President and CEO in 2017, Darius served as President and Chief Operating Officer. His focus in these roles has been on accelerating Honeywell’s organic growth, expanding margins, creating a premier technology company, deploying capital effectively and building a high-performance culture.

He joined Honeywell in 2008 when Metrologic, where he was Chief Executive Officer, was acquired. He served as President of Honeywell’s Scanning and Mobility business for four years, doubling the size of the business, before leading a turnaround over two years as President of Process Solutions. In 2014, Darius was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies.

Before joining Honeywell, Darius held several leadership positions with Ingersoll Rand and Booz Allen Hamilton. He began his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric in 1988.

Born in Poland on February 8, 1966, Darius emigrated to the United States at age 11. He earned his MBA from Harvard University, a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Michigan State University. Darius is Vice Chair of the U.S.-China Business Council, a member of the Business Roundtable Board of Directors and a member of the Business Council and Aspen Economic Strategy Group. In addition, he was elected to the Board of Directors for Johnson & Johnson in 2022.

Bill Winters was appointed to the Board of Standard Chartered PLC as Group Chief Executive on 10 June 2015, having joined the Group in May 2015. He is based in London.

Bill has had a distinguished career in banking, having spent 26 years with JP Morgan in diverse leadership roles, becoming co-Chief Executive Officer of the investment bank in 2004 until he stepped down in 2009. Bill was the only career banker to be invited to be a committee member of the Independent Commission on Banking, established by the UK government in 2010 to recommend ways to improve competition and financial stability in banking. Subsequently, he served as advisor to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and was asked by the Court of the Bank of England to complete an independent review of the bank’s liquidity operations. Bill founded the hedge fund Renshaw Bay in 2011 where he was Chairman and CEO until he stepped down from the company on appointment to the Standard Chartered PLC Board.

Bill recently Chaired the Taskforce for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets and Co-Chairs the B20 Action Council on Sustainability & Global Emergencies.

Bill is an independent non-executive director of Novartis International AG. Bill was previously a non-executive director of Pension Insurance Corporation plc before stepping down in October 2015.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Colgate University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Mohamed Maait is currently serving as the Minister of Finance, Prior to his appointment as Minister, he held the position Vice Minister of Finance for Public Treasury Affairs & Head of the Economic Justice Unit. In addition he served as First Deputy Minister of Finance in 2015 and as a Deputy to the Minister of Finance for Pension and Social Insurance during the period (2009 – 2013). In addition, he served as First Deputy Minister of Health & Population (2014 – 2015). Over his career of 33 years, he held many positions such as Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (2013-2015), Chairman of the Egyptian Governmental Actuarial Department (EGAD) at the Ministry of Finance (2010– 2013), Vice Chairman of the National Organization for Social Insurance (2011-2012), Senior Advisor to the Minister of Finance (2007-2009). He was also appointed as the Executive Director of the Egyptian Insurance Institute (2007). He also worked as a senior lecturer and has more than 30 years of teaching and researching experience at many universities in Egypt, Sudan, England and Scotland. He is also a member of many national and international committees and boards of directors. Dr. Maait holds a BSc degree in Insurance and Mathematics from Cairo University, Egypt (1984), an MPhil in Insurance from Cairo University, Egypt (1992), he also got a Diploma (1996), an MSc in Actuarial Science (1997), and a PhD degree in Actuarial Science from City University, London, UK (2003).

Simone Foxman is a correspondent for Bloomberg TV. The sole reporter for Bloomberg in Qatar, Foxman plays a key role in Bloomberg’s coverage of politics, money and energy across the Middle East, both in broadcast and in print. She was previously a reporter on Bloomberg’s finance team in New York, where she broke news on hedge funds, investigated bad behavior on Wall Street, charted shifts in the asset management industry, and chronicled the successes and failures of some of the world’s most influential investors. Before joining Bloomberg in 2014, Foxman was a reporter at Absolute Return, Quartz and Business Insider. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University.

Navin Gupta is Managing Director for South Asia and MENA region for Ripple. Navin joined Ripple following two years as Co-Founder and CEO of on-demand commercial transportation service. Navin has extensive experience in global transaction banking, payments and cash management, and strategy planning following nearly two decades working for HSBC and Citigroup across the U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and India. Navin served as board member of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) from 2011 to 2014. In 2008, he was recognized as one of "The 50 Most Promising Young Leaders" in Asia-Pac by The Asian Banker. Navin is a MBA graduate from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. Navin is also an Art of Living teacher.

J.K. Khalil is the General Manager of MENA East (UAE, Pakistan, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman) at Mastercard. He has over 18 years of tech, banking, consulting and payments experience, having held a number of roles across multinational banks, top tier consulting firms and tech start-ups.

In his previous role at Mastercard, he was the GM of MENA Central, and before that was the Mastercard Advisors region lead for MENA Central as well.

Prior to Mastercard, J.K. was a senior manager with Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company), where he was a principal in their financial services practice and focused on the wealth management, risk and digital verticals in particular. Before joining Booz & Company in 2012, he held a number of positions at Barclays Bank including strategy and cross-asset derivatives sales.

In 2021, Khalil was recognized in Arabian Business’ Young Achievers List (formerly known as 40 under 40), profiling young leaders who are making their mark in the GCC and the wider region.

He holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Chicago (Booth) and is the President of the GCC Alumni Club chapter. He also holds a Computer Systems & Networks Engineering Degree from the St. Joseph University in Beirut.

Paul Sisnett is the co-founder and CEO of SMD Group, whose paywith.glass fintech solution is powering Project New Era, the leading retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) initiative in the UK. The paywith.glass infrastructure was designed in the belief that global financial inclusion must be a human right in the 21st century. The platform’s mission is to usher in a new financially inclusive, currency-fluid era by providing the infrastructure that empowers every individual and every organization with the ability to transact instantly from anywhere on Earth, at any time - paywith.glass is ‘the internet, for the world’s money’.

Saumitra Sehgal (Saum) is a Partner with Roland Berger. He has more than two decades of experience on topics such as growth strategy, M&A, new business and operating models, digital transformation and predictive analytics. He has advised banking, insurance and wealth management clients in the Middle East, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Africa. Saum is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and holds a bachelors degree in chemical engineering.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) in June 2015. He previously held the role of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategic Business Development Officer at QFC where he was responsible for leading the overall strategy and business development functions of the organisation.

Prior to joining QFC, he was Head of Indirect Investment at the Qatar General Retirement and Pension Authority, which included overseeing the management of hedge fund, private equity, real estate, fixed income, and equity portfolio investments. He has also worked for Qatar Petroleum and Dolphin Energy early in his career.

Yousuf serves as board member in leading local and international organisations including the World Alliance of International Financial Centers, Qatar Finance and Business Academy, College of Islamic Studies Advisory Board Meeting, Qatar Free Zones Authority and Qatar Stock Exchange.

He is also a board member of the Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar and Qatar Business Events Corporation. Yousuf also sits on the Advisory Council of Qatar University’s College of Business and Economics and serves as a member in the Financial Markets Development Committee.

Previously, Yousuf was on the boards of Nakilat QSC and the $1 billion strategic investment fund of Unicorn Investment Bank, as well as serving as Vice Chairman of Mayadeen Real Estate Company KSCC. He graduated from the University of Arizona, USA, with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.

Mr. Diamond is Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Merchant Capital, an investment firm focused on financial services and financial technology. Until 2012, Mr. Diamond was Chief Executive of Barclays, having previously held the position of President of Barclays and was responsible for Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”). Prior to Barclays, Mr. Diamond held senior executive positions at Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley in the United States, Europe and Asia. 

Mr. Diamond is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Concord Acquisition Corp and Crux Informatics. Mr. Diamond is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is also on the Yale SOM Council of Global Advisors.

Katharina Jaeger is heading the MENA region for Galaxy Digital, a globally leading crypto business. Galaxy Digital represents a strong platform and follows a merchant bank model spanning across the entire ecosystem from Mining, Asset Management, Trading and Investment Banking all the way to their Proprietary Investments, in which Galaxy has been an early supporter of the leading protocols and businesses in the web3 industry.

Katharina's expertise lies in strategy development and she has worked on numerous large scale real estate & hospitality developments. Her advisory businesses The Code works on world leading projects assisting visionary thought leaders throughout all stages of their project's lifecycle. Previously she was part of EY's global real estate and hospitality businesses which brought her to the Middle East over 7 years ago.

Jennifer Zabasajja is a multi-skilled reporter focused on producing high-quality live and pre-recorded video content across Bloomberg News platforms. She reports and anchors daily for Quicktake's OTT news channel and is also featured frequently on Quicktake's social platforms. Jennifer is also a frequent contributor on Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg print platforms, writing and reporting on various topics from culture to business to media and more.

After two decades at Siemens, with stints in the  U.A.E., Libya, Germany and Pakistan, von Struve  became the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens in  the Middle East in May 2020. Prior to his current  role, von Struve was the Managing Director of  Siemens in Pakistan, a position he held since 2015. 

As an engineer and business executive, he has been  an advocate of implementing technologies in  infrastructure and industries that improve our lives  and protect our planet. These days his focus is on  melding technologies – such as artificial intelligence,  cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, 5G and the  future of automation – into a cohesive bundle that  will create immense value for customers.  

In 2006, von Struve was appointed Managing Director of Siemens Power Generation Oil and Gas  and Industrial Application Service, Middle East Region.  

During his career, von Struve has held a series of senior management positions across Europe, the  Middle East and Africa. In 2014, von Struve was appointed CEO of the Libya Branch of Siemens AG,  and from 2009 to 2013 he served as Managing Director of Siemens Wind Power GmbH, Germany  and CEO of Siemens Energy Service’s Wind Power division for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Ghassan Kosta joined Google Cloud as Qatar General Manager in 2021, with the objective of building the new Google Cloud region, and helping make a difference for businesses in Qatar.

Before that, Ghassan worked for EMC and Dell Technologies for 15 years, based in Qatar. He brings strong market experience of managing successful teams and leading great revenue growth. Ambitious and committed, Ghassan positions himself as a strategic solution provider, anticipates challenges and leads the execution.

Ghassan is Lebanese and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from Notre Dame University.

Lawrence Steyn is the CFO of Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous vehicle company; Pony.ai was recently ranked #10 on the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list.

Mr. Steyn is a financial industry veteran executive, most recently Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at JP Morgan. Over his career, he has led a number of the largest and most consequential client relationships and transformational transactions, both strategic and in the capital markets. 

His relationships over his career have included leading global organizations such as General Electric, United Technologies, Honeywell, Emerson, ABB, Parker Hannifin, and Ford and private equity firms such as Blackstone, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Bain Capital, and The Carlyle Group. 

He has led over 100 transactions of approximately $500 billion over his career, including the transformation of two of the largest industrial companies in the United States, with the sale of GE Healthcare BioPharma to Danaher; the combination of Wabtec and GE Transportation; the combination and creation of GE Oil and Gas and Baker Hughes; the acquisition of GE Water by Suez; the acquisition of Rockwell Collins by United Technologies; and the financing of the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies and the separated United Technologies businesses of Carrier and Otis.

Mr. Steyn has held a variety of leadership roles in his nearly three-decade-long career, including Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Executive Director of Goldman Sachs prior to JP Morgan. During this time, he worked both in New York and London, including leading the Goldman Sachs European aerospace practice.

He holds an MBA from the Wharton School from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA with high honors from Harvard University. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at The Ross School in New York.

Alvin Ng is the Vice President of Digital Solutions, APAC, Johnson Controls. In this position, he is responsible for driving the digital and sustainability growth strategy for Asia Pacific region, which includes driving and executing initiatives that increase market penetration, providing relevant digital solutions in the building sector, with focus on digital business revenue growth, partner offerings, sales cycle support and ecosystem representation.

Alvin has over 24 years of experience in global sales and product management and has held a series of senior global leadership roles with multinational companies like Wincor Nixdorf AG, Cisco Systems and Rosenbluth International. Prior to joining Johnson Controls, he worked for General Electric as the General Manager for GE Digital, Asia.

With his extensive experience and passion for digital transformation and sustainability, Alvin serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor, at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. In addition to his role as the Industry-Faculty lead for ‘Business Consulting’ and ‘Leader as a Coach’ programs for the MBA School, he teaches Digital Transformation, AI for business, Internet of Things and Sustainability leadership programs. He also plays the role of Senior Career Fellow as an executive coach to the Global Executive MBA students.

Alvin graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani is Ooredoo's Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Qatar since March 2020.

He has over 16 years of experience in communications, digital transformation, finance and accounting, and has held various management positions within Ooredoo since he joined the company in 2009.  Having a deep understanding of the operational and strategic perspectives of the contemporary telecom business amid its shift to digital, he has successfully redirected and reshaped the customer base, profitability, cost management and organisation across several Ooredoo operations in multiple markets.

Most recently, Sheikh Mohammed was Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Kuwait, leading the company to reach key milestones including being the first to launch 5G commercially in Kuwait, the first in the region to deliver a 5G video call and the first operator in the country to provide a fully customisable digital mobile plan. He was behind the establishment of Ooredoo Kuwait's Data Centre and led the acquisition of FastTelco, placing the company as market leader and first in Kuwait to offer fixed-mobile convergence. He has also managed "Phono", Ooredoo Kuwait's sister company, substantially increasing market share in the distribution of recharge and pre-paid sales.

Sheikh Mohammed is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ooredoo Kuwait, President Commissioner of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.

Previously, he was Ooredoo Qatar's Finance Director, where he led the Finance BU and the company's 3-year Strategic Business Plan and Annual Operating Plan.

He holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Cardiff, UK and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Qatar University.

Lana Khalaf is the General Manager for Microsoft Qatar.  

Responsible for overseeing strategic partnerships that help develop skills, accelerate innovation  and drive sustainable economic growth, Khalaf spearheads Microsoft’s efforts to support the  country’s digital transformation journey, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. 

Khalaf joined Microsoft in 2006 through the Microsoft Academy for College Hire (MACH), which  recruits top-performing graduates. In her 16 years with the organization, she has assumed several  roles including Academic Developer Evangelist, Education Sector Manager and Public Sector  Manager. 

Before joining Microsoft, Khalaf worked with companies such as Samsung and Active Mania S.A.L.  She obtained her Computer Science Degree from the American University of Beirut in 2003, and  went on to obtain her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lebanese American  University.  

Passionate about the power of technology to drive impact, Khalaf is committed to leading with customer centricity, and empowering organizations across all industries in Qatar to innovate and  achieve more.

Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani joined Vodafone Qatar in 2013, and is currently Vodafone Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is responsible for the overall creation, implementation, and integration of the long-range strategic, financial, commercial and operational direction of the company.

Previously, he served as Vodafone Qatar’s Chief Operations Officer where he was responsible for the Company’s Customer Operations, Human Resources, Legal & Regulatory and External Affairs functions.

Prior to joining Vodafone Qatar, Sheikh Hamad served in the Oil and Gas sector in various areas such as industrial network engineering and control system engineering.

Sheikh Hamad currently serves as a board member in multiple ICT companies where he also serves as Chairman of the Board at MEEZA a leading Managed ICT Services and Data Centre provider in Qatar.

Sheikh Hamad has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of Ottawa (Canada).

Martin Kupka was born in Jilemnice. He studied at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Charles University. He majored in journalism and mass communication. During his studies, he worked as an editor and presenter in Český rozhlas 3 – Vltava. Between 2000 and 2002, he worked as a spokesperson for Prague City Hall.

After one-year break in private sector, he returned to public administration as a spokesperson for Central Bohemian Region. His responsibility was public communication and presentation of regional tourism. In 2009, he worked as a spokesperson and director of Communication Department at the Ministry of Transport. As director of media section and spokesperson for Civic Democratic Party (ODS), he participated in a campaign for 2010 parliamentary elections in. He was also involved in all subsequent campaigns.

In June 2010, he became a spokesperson for the Czech government. After ODS claimed victory in 2010 local elections, he became mayor of Líbeznice municipality. He successfully defended the position in 2014 and 2018 elections. He also became a member of Central Bohemian Region Council Board after successful 2016 regional elections. His area of expertise was public health. In 2020, he returned to the Council as a deputy president of the region for road transport. In autumn 2017, he was elected member of the Czech parliament and successfully defended his position in 2021 elections.

In January 2014 at the 24th Congress of ODS, he was elected the party’s vice-president. He successfully defended this position on the 25th, 26th and 27th Congress in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Mr Kupka is married with two children. He speak English. His hobbies are books, music and tourism.

Cina Lawson is Minister of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation of Togo. Drawing from over 17 years of experience and expertise in telecommunications policy and regulation, she is leading Togo through a profound transition to an inclusive digital economy. Lawson began her career at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. assisting governments in developing countries to execute regulatory reforms. She then worked for Alcatel-Lucent in Paris before joining Orange Group in New York City as Manager of Corporate Strategy and Business Development. 

As a minister, she has boosted private sector participation in the Togolese telecoms sector, enacted new legal and regulatory frameworks and privatised the historic operator. Lawson’s transformative initiatives such as strengthening data protection and cybersecurity; implementing universal digital ID; digitising public services and government-to-people payments; as well as accelerating the deployment of high-speed Internet nationwide, have contributed to building a solid foundation for the modernisation of Togo’s economy.

She is a fervent advocate of innovation-driven solutions to Africa’s developmental challenges. Lawson’s work has gained recognition from around the world, including from the World Economic Forum, les Napoleons and Forbes. In 2019, she received the Harvard Alumni Public Service Award becoming the first African female political figure to do so. Lawson is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Farah Elbahrawy is involved with Bloomberg News’ equity coverage for markets in the Middle East, Europe, the US and across emerging markets. Originally Egyptian, she’s lived in Dubai for most of her life and is fascinated with the Middle East and how to portray it to the rest of the world.

Dr. Betty Vandenbosch is Chief Content Officer at Coursera, where she oversees the company’s content and credential strategy and partner relationships. Before joining Coursera, Betty was chancellor of Purdue University Global, an institution resulting from Purdue University’s 2018 acquisition of Kaplan University. At Purdue, Betty oversaw academics for more than 32,000 students – most of whom earned their degrees online. Before that, Betty held a number of leadership positions at Kaplan University and served as associate dean and associate professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Throughout her career, Betty has won several awards in teaching and research. She earned her PhD in Management Information Systems and M.B.A. from Western University in Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Asmaa Al Fadala is the Director of Research and Content Development at WISE.  She is also a visiting fellow at Cambridge University.  With over twenty years of experience in K-12 education, higher education and policy development, she has served as policy writer at the governmental level, professor, author of books on leadership reform and board member on educational organizations.

As Director of Research and Content Development at WISE, Dr. Al Fadala is leading a number of projects and initiatives, including the Empowering Leaders of Learning (ELL), which supports school leaders in navigating school improvement processes; the Agile Leaders of Learning Innovation Network (ALL-IN), an international network of school leadership experts and practitioners aimed at raising awareness of educational leadership policy globally through research and advocacy; and the WISE Innovation Hub Project, a K-12 education research initiative focused on learner and educator development in progressive school settings. Dr. Al Fadala’s research interests include leadership for learning, school improvement, entrepreneurship education, teacher professional development, educational reform, innovation in education and SDGs. 

Dr Al Fadala holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil from Cambridge University in Educational Leadership and Policy. She has also served at the RAND-Qatar Policy institute as an associate policy analyst. She has served on the positions of program committee, teacher, school leader, and fellow in various institutes in Qatar. She is a widely published author in the field of educational leadership and policy. She is the author of Qatari School Leadership Portraits: Lessons Learned from Education for a New Era Reform (HBKU Press, 2019). 

While carrying out her full-time position as Director of Research at WISE, Dr. Al Fadala has an advisory role in several organizations around the world, including Karanga, a global alliance for social – emotional learning and life skills, Hughes Hall Development Strategy Group at Cambridge University, Asia – Pacific Economic Cooperation and Qatar Academy Sidra School. Along with that, she has been a committee member in Greater Share, a philanthropic investment model that works with high impact NGOs and private equity funds.  She is also a jury member of the Riyada award in Oman. She is a board member at the Diplomatic Courier and a board member at University of Doha for Science and Technology. She also serves as a  Member of the Comparative International Education Society and International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement.

Salah Khalil is a social entrepreneur with a specific interest in education, employability, the future of work and 21st-century skills and the founder of Macat International. Under his steerage, Macat has worked closely with universities, such as the London School of Economics, and the Ministries of Higher Education across the Arab world including Morocco and Egypt to deliver industry-leading critical thinking assessments and development. 

Salah is also the founder of The Alexandria Trust, a London-based charity dedicated to restoring world-class education in the Arab region. Underpinning this work is his vision for a new era of philanthropy in the Arab world – catalytic philanthropy to support a step-change in education – that grew out of his extensive experience in the areas of business, political reform, institutional change, and philanthropy.

Constance Elizabeth Swaniker is a renowned Ghanaian sculptor making strides in the creative and construction industry. She was born on the 30th of August 1973.

She obtained her basic and secondary education in The Gambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Ghana from 1980-1993. The diversity in her background strongly influenced her outlook on life, art and business. She graduated with a degree in Sculpture from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1999. She studied under a master craftsperson as an apprentice carpenter and is a keen advocate of vocational skills.

She established Accents & Art in May 2000.  Constance’s work can be found in a wide range of upscale homes, offices and diplomatic missions both home and abroad. 

In March 2016, she formally established Design and Technology Institute to bridge the gap that exists between industry and academia. She also exhibited at the UNESCO Head Office in Paris in March 2015, aside from many other showings. With over 22 years’ experience in industry, she’s been privileged to win both locally and internationally recognized awards.

A dedicated mother of two, Constance aspires to leave a positive mark on society and inspire the youth to live their dreams no matter the challenges.

Her dream is to use her story to encourage a lot more women to enter vocations traditionally set aside for men.

Ibrahim AlSafadi is a Jordanian Palestinian entrepreneur focused on creating a positive social impact by providing education that is accessible, data-based, and demand-driven, equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and physical wellness for self-improvement whilst empowering them to become pioneers of the industry and better human beings. ​

In 1999 he founded the Luminus Group, which today employs over 3,000 people full-time in 20 companies operating in 14 sectors and 5 countries. Luminus is a product of AlSafadi's life-long learning journey and has become a globally recognized educational institution that was named the 'Middle East’s Most Successful Educational Institution' by the Forbes Higher Education Award in 2019.​

Additionally, AlSafadi incubates hundreds of startups across the education, technology, and services fields, whilst also investing responsibly in sustainable projects. Through his new Super Revolutionary 360 Degree Model, Luminus Life+, AlSafadi has developed a solution to global education challenges, in line with The UN Sustainable Development Goals, to make quality education more accessible and affordable to the masses, both on-the-ground and online in the Metaverse.​ This new growth model is already in effect, securing strategic partnerships with global entities to help ensure a successful transition into the future of education. 

AlSafadi is a regular speaker at international conferences, notably the World Economic Forum, UNHCR's Global Refugee Forum, the World Bank Fragility Forum, and Sustainable Development Goals-related gatherings.​

He values family, life-long learning, balanced lifestyles, generosity, honesty, and perseverance in everything he does and everyone he works with.​

AlSafadi believes that quality education leading to a life of learning is priceless and is often quoted saying: “Not a day passes without me trying to become a better version of myself. Acquiring knowledge is one of the best ways to achieve that”

Dr. Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad held many senior positions in teaching, administration and research over the course of more than three decades, before assuming the presidency of Qatar University in 2003. Before this, she held the position of Vice President for Research and Community Development at Qatar University (2000-2003) and Head of its Department of Foundations of Education (1992-1995), while being a member of its University Council between 1986–1989 and 1998–2004. 

She participated in programs designed to enhance Qatar’s general and higher education systems, and was a founding member of Qatar Foundation as well as a member of the Supreme Education Council which supervised the Education for a New Era (EFNE) initiative for educational development. 

In recognition of her continuous and distinguished contributions to Qatar’s education sector, an Emiri Decree was issued granting Dr. Al Misnad the rank of a Minister. 

Dr. Al Misnad is also a member of many international entities and institutions. In June 2004, she was selected to become a member of the United Nations University Council. In 2009, she was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo.

In January 2008, Dr. Al Misnad was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from Durham University in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the field of education, as well as an honorary doctorate from Dalhousie University in Canada.

She was also elected as a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in the United Nations, a member of the World Justice Project’s Board of Directors, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Asian University of Women in Bangladesh. In addition, she is a member of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Dr. Khalid holds a Ph.D. in Management and Human Resource Management and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Leeds, UK and has obtained a BSc in Administrative Sciences and Economics from the University of Qatar.

Currently, he is the President of Community College of Qatar and has served as the President of Qatar Finance & Business Academy as well as the Director of Higher Education Institute at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

Dr. Khalid has been encouraging private investors to establish higher education institutions in the State of Qatar. He proposed and drafted new laws and Emiri decrees, such as the reorganization of Community College of Qatar, Scholarships Law, Qualifications and Accreditation body, and Degree Equivalency. He also drove the transformation of the scholarship management service at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education from a paper-based service into a fully electronic one.

Dr. Khalid was a part of boards and steering committees of various academic entities. He was a Member of the Supreme Board, Police College; Chair of Consulting Committee, Academic Bridge Program, Qatar Foundation; and Member of Joint Oversight Board, Calgary University-Qatar, to name a few. As a scholar, Dr. Khalid taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules at Qatar University and Northumbria University programs offered in Qatar. He also supervised postgraduate dissertations.

Michael Trick is Dean and CEO of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, a position he has held since 2017. He has been a faculty member at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon, since 1989 where he is the Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Operations Research. Trick has been President of the 14,000 member Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences and the 52 country International Federation of Operational Research Societies. Trick's research is in the area of business analytics and optimization. Trick has consulted extensively with the US Federal Communications Commission, the United States Postal Service, Major League Baseball, and many college sports leagues and scheduling and resource allocation issues. He has received many awards from both Carnegie Mellon and from national and international operations research organizations, including the Edelman Award for his work with the FCC.

Martin Roeske develops and leads on public policy campaigns across the full range of policy issues that impact Google and the web. Key issues include technology innovation, digital transformation, data governance and entrepreneurship. Roeske is passionate about maximising human potential through technology and has spent his career building and implementing tech solutions to address a wide range of social and economic development challenges, including large scale education and skills programs.

Having lived in the Middle East for over 15 years, Martin Roeske has extensive experience in working with regional governments. Following a series of senior roles at Lucent, Avaya and Accenture in Egypt, the US and London, Martin joined Cisco’s public sector team in the UAE, where he was responsible for developing new business models for the Education and Health practices across Emerging Markets. He then became COO & Chief Program Officer at Silatech, a non-profit social enterprise, where he incubated and managed a range of social innovation programs targeting youth employment. Prior to Google, he worked with Arab Financial Services in Bahrain where he was Group Head of Strategy & FinTech and worked on launching “cashless” services and introducing FinTech friendly regulation.

Mallika Kapur is Deputy Global Editor for Bloomberg Live, where she is responsible for the editorial content of its marquee summits including 'Invest', 'Bloomberg Equality' and 'Sooner Than You Think'. Bloomberg Live uses the power of Bloomberg data and the reach and insight of its award-winning newsroom to create newsmaking events and provide valuable insights to decision-makers around the world.

Previously, Mallika was CNN’s Mumbai-based international correspondent responsible for coverage from India’s financial capital. Since she joined CNN in 2001, she has reported extensively on key political, economic, social and environmental stories and anchored shows for the network in London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Prior to that, she worked for CNBC in New York and Singapore.

She is the co-author of Changemakers: Twenty Women Transforming Bollywood Behind The Scenes.

Mallika graduated from Brown University and has a Masters in Broadcast Journalism from Columbia University. She is a member of the Hong Kong support board of the Asian University for Women

Born on May 17, 1953 in the city of Alma-Ata (Almaty). Father – Kemel T. Tokayev (1923-1986), a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a well-known writer, founder of a detective-adventure genre in Kazakh literature. Mother – Turar Shabarbayeva (1931-2000), worked for the Alma-Ata Teacher Training Institute of Foreign Languages. 

In 1975, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev graduates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). He got his pre-degree internship at the USSR Embassy in the People's Republic of China. In 1983-1984, he interned at the Beijing Linguistic Institute. In 1992, he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

He started his career in 1975 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and was posted to the Soviet Embassy in the Republic of Singapore. In 1979, he returned to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1984 to 1985, he worked at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then was posted to the Soviet Embassy in China, where he served until 1991 as Second Secretary, First Secretary and Counsellor.

In 1992, he was appointed as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 1993, he becomes the First Deputy Foreign Minister. In 1994, he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In March 1999, he becomes the Deputy Prime Minister. In October 1999, with the consent of the Parliament by the Decree of the President of Kazakhstan, he was appointed as the Prime Minister. In January 2002, he becomes the State Secretary – Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 2003 to 2007, he headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At this post, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was taking an active part in the global process of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

In January 2007, he was elected as the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament. In 2008, as the Speaker of the upper chamber of the Kazakh parliament he was elected as the Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

In March 2011, he was appointed as the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, as well as served as the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General at the Conference on Disarmament. In addition, he also held the position of the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament. He was also elected as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CIS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

On October 16, 2013, he was re-elected as the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament.

On March 20, 2019, he takes the oath as the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On June 9, 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had won the early presidential election with 70.96%, and was elected as the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. On June 12, 2019, in accordance with the article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he took the oath of office and officially assumed the post of Head of State.

Since 2007, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been a member of Nur Otan Party and the Bureau of the Political Council of Nur Otan Party. On January 28, 2022, at the Extraordinary XXI Congress of Nur Otan Party, the President was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Party. Since April 2021, he was elected as the Chairman of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. Since January 2022,  he becomes the Chairman of the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador. Doctor of Political Sciences. Full member of the World Academy of Humanities and Natural Sciences. Member of the Council of the Wise Men of the Munich Security Conference. Honorary Professor of the Shenzhen University (China) and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Honorary President of Kazakhstan’s Council on Foreign Relations. Honorary Dean of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations. According to the Russian Biographical Society, he enters the list of winners of the “Man of the Year – 2018”. Over 13 years he headed Kazakhstan’s Table Tennis Federation.

He is the author of 10 books on international relations.

He has been awarded with numerous state awards of Kazakhstan and foreign countries, as well as with commemorative medals.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supports a healthy lifestyle. He is fond of reading fiction, political and memoir literature.

He is divorced and has son Timur.

Mr Al-Mahmoud was appointed Chief Executive Officer of QIA in September 2018. Under his oversight, QIA has pivoted its investment strategy to have a greater focus on diversification and on investments that have clear ESG goals. Mr AlMahmoud has also overseen the adoption of a new operating model. Prior to his appointment at QIA, Mr Al-Mahmoud was the CEO of Qatar Museums, where he led the opening of the National Museum of Qatar. His previous roles include being CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Director of Investment Affairs for H.E. the Former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Head of Risk Management at QIA. Mr Al-Mahmoud holds a number of government and board roles, including: Vice-Chairman of Qatar Exchange, the Doha- Based International stock exchange; Vice-Chairman of Qatar Airways; Special Advisor to Qatar Museums’ Chairperson, H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; and board member for Volkswagen Group, QNB, Qatari Diar, the Doha Film Institute and Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Mr Al-Mahmoud holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from George Washington University in the US.

His Excellency Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani is the current Governor of Qatar Central Bank since November 2021.

Born in Qatar in 1977, he finished his Bachelor’s Degree in Business administration in the prestigious American University in the USA, majoring in Finance. He proceeded to graduate for his Executive Masters of Business Administration in HEC Paris, one of the most selective schools in France, in their Doha-based institute.

His Excellency spent the majority of his career in the financial sector and held various key positions. H.E. started his career in Qatar Central Bank in 2002 when he joined the Banking Supervision Department, and in September of the same year H.E. joined the Investment Department as a head for the dealing room. In addition to these responsibilities, he was a member of Qatar Executive Committee for SME representing Qatar Central Bank.

In 2008, His Excellency was assigned to establish Qatar Credit Bureau, and shortly after setting the foundations he was appointed as the Executive Director of Qatar Credit Bureau in 2009. The vision behind establishing Bureau was to

In addition to his role as Executive Director, His Excellency was assigned as Acting Director for the Risk Management of Qatar Central Bank on July 1st, 2014.

In 2015, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, appointed Sheikh Bandar as the President of the State Audit Bureau. Additionally, His Excellency was elected as President of the Arab Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ARABOSAI) and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the ARABOSAI.

At the State level, H.E. is a member of the Higher Council of Economic and Investment Affairs, the Chairman for the Social and Sport Contribution Fund, and a board member
contribute to
building a highly efficient banking system promoting stability through the provision of accurate and comprehensive credit information using sophisticated global technology.
of Qatar Investment Authority. Recently, His Excellency was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Qatar’s Financial Center Regularity Authority (QFCRA), he is also the Chairman of Qatar Financial Market Authority (QFMA). At regional and international levels, H.E. is a member of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Monetary Council since 2021, and Alternative Governor for the State of Qatar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

Nouriel Roubini is CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, LLC, a global macroeconomic consultancy firm in New York. He is also Chief Economist for Atlas Capital Team LP, as well as Co-Founder of Rosa & Roubini Associates. At a 2006 address to the International Monetary Fund, Roubini warned of the impending recession due to the credit and housing market bubble. His predictions of these upside-down balance sheets became a reality in 2008, with the bubble bursting and reverberating around the world into a global financial crisis lasting well into the next decade.

Dr. Roubini has extensive policy experience as well as broad academic credentials. He is Professor Emeritus (2021-present), Professor of Economics (1995-2021), Stern School of Business, New York University. He was Co- Founder and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics from 2005 to 2016 – a firm whose website was named one of the best economics web resources by BusinessWeek, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. From 1998 to 2000, he served as the senior economist for international affairs on the White House Council of Economic Advisors and then the senior advisor to the undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department, helping to resolve the Asian and global financial crises, among other issues. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and numerous other prominent public and private institutions have drawn upon his consulting expertise.

He has published numerous theoretical, empirical and policy papers on international macroeconomic issues and coauthored the books “Political Cycles: Theory and Evidence” (MIT Press, 1997) and “Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Markets” (Institute for International Economics, 2004) and “Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance” (Penguin Press, 2010). Dr. Roubini’s views on global economic issues are widely cited by the media, and he is a frequent commentator on various business news programs. He has been the subject of extended profiles in the New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times, among other leading current-affairs publications. He is published monthly as a columnist with Project Syndicate. He also hosts www.NourielToday.com where is perspectives can be found and co-runs the site www.theboombust.com, an economic indicator research service.

Dr. Roubini received an undergraduate degree at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and a doctorate in economics at Harvard University. Prior to joining Stern, he was on the faculty of Yale University’s department of economics.

Paul Kagame is the President of the Republic of Rwanda. He served as Chair of the AU from 2018 to 2019 and chaired the East African Community from 2018-2021. President Kagame continues to lead the AU Institutional reforms and serves as the AU Champion for Domestic Health Financing.

He is also currently the Chairperson of the AUDA-NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee. Beginning in 1990, as commander of the forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), he led the struggle to liberate Rwanda.

The RPF halted the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, which claimed over a million victims.

The hallmarks of President Kagame’s administration are peace and reconciliation, women’s empowerment, promotion of investment and entrepreneurship, and access to information technology, a cause he also champions as Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.

He tweets @PaulKagame. You can follow President Kagame’s daily work @UrugwiroVillage

Paulo Gomes has over 30 years’ experience in sovereign and corporate advisory. He advises on strategy, structural projects and initiatives on the African continent.

After 8 years as Executive Director at the World Bank, representing 25 African countries, Paulo co-founded New Capital African Partners, investing in growing sectors across Africa. He is one of the founding team members of the African Finance Corporation and the Green Climate Fund.

Paulo is the founder of the Orango Investment Corporation, a strategic investment company through which the full potential of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement is realised. He is also an active board member of the African Union Covid-19 Response Fund.

Paulo is the co-chair of the AfroChampion Initiative. He is the President of the Bioguinee Foundation in Guinea-Bissau and the Chairman of the Africa South East Asia Chamber of Commerce, based in Singapore. He was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Government of Singapore and NTU – SBF Centre for African Studies.

Paulo holds and MPA/Master’s degree with Honours in Economic Policy and Management from Harvard University and holds a BA in Economics and International Trade from Sciences Po and ILERI.

Martha is a Partner at Adenia. She has 15 years’ experience as a private equity investment and banking professional in the US and Africa, covering a range of sectors, particularly in the consumer retail and healthcare industries. Martha established Adenia’s East Africa office in Nairobi, Kenya, where her responsibilities include sourcing and screening investment opportunities, negotiating and executing deals, and providing ongoing advice to investees.

Martha developed her investment skills at RFE Investment Partners, a lower middle-market buyout firm based in New Canaan, Connecticut. She began her career as an analyst in the Leverage Finance portfolio group at Citigroup in New York. Martha previously worked with both General Electric and Catalyst Principal Partners in East Africa. 

Reflecting her passion for supporting the most promising businesses and entrepreneurs in Kenya, and her commitment to advancing the private equity industry across the region, Martha is a two-time winner of the East Africa Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EAVCA) Awards' Woman Investor Award. She also received EAVCA’s East Africa Leadership Award in 2021.  Recently, she was featured on Private Equity International's Future40 list, which recognizes individuals under 40 who are expected to play a leading role in shaping the future of Private Equity.

Martha sits on the Board of Directors of four Adenia portfolio companies: Quick Mart, Africa Biosystems Limited (ABL), Red Lands Roses and Proximed. She is also a director at hair company Harvest of Sunshine and MICO Bright Star Primary School.

Martha earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Affairs from Lafayette College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Issam Abousleiman has been the Country Director of the GCC since August 1st, 2018.

Mr. Abousleiman, a Lebanese national, joined the Bank in 1989. His most recent assignment was Country Manager of Colombia in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. Having started his career at the World Bank in the Loans Department, he has since held various positions across the institution, including Head of Financial Advisory and Banking at the World Bank Treasury and Principal Investment Officer in the Banking & Debt Management Department. His regional expertise includes Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East regions.

Mr. Abousleiman is a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Management program, and holds an MBA in finance and investment from George Washington University, as well as an MBA in management from the American University of Beirut. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Hakan Akbas is a Founder & Managing Partner of Strategic Advisory Services a business advisory firm focused on public relations, strategic media communication, crisis management, global business development, and sanctions compliance. He is a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, where he draws on his extensive background to assist clients with government affairs, market access, advocacy, reputation and crisis management, strategy development, and global business development including SPACs, mergers and acquisitions, public-private partnerships, and joint ventures.

From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Akbas was Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and Insurance Businesses of the Sabanci Group, and advised Güler Sabanci, chairperson of Sabanci Group.  Previously, Mr. Akbas was the Co-founder and Managing Director of Business Development Operations for Xerox Global Services with sales of $10 billion. He led the Incubation and Commercialization Services business of Xerox Global Services in partnership with Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and leading technology players and executives such as Scott McNeal and Bill McDermott.

He serves on the boards of several public and private companies. Hakan is a Turkish Treasury-certified angel investor with ongoing investments.

Mr. Akbas is a regular guest on Turkish television news outlets, including CNN Türk, Haberturk, and NTV, where he discusses U.S.-Turkey relations and bilateral investment and trade dynamics.

He earned an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and a B.A. in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Turkey. He graduated first in his class from Galatasaray Lycee. He is fluent in Turkish, English, and French.

He is based in Istanbul, Turkey, and Washington, D.C.

Ana Lucia Lind is International banker, financial advisor, asset - wealth manager and investor. Co -founder and CEO of Swiss Financial Engineering AG. she is a strategic advisor to Governments and devoted philanthropist. She is recognized as a leading expert in finance on the emerging markets Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. She builds the bridges between emerging markets and industrialized countries.

With her extensive years of experiences in the international banking and financing industry, she has been advising various governments on Global economic outlook and on the overall financing for the development of major infrastructure projects, energy and mining within others. On the cooperate sector she advise on direct market access and investment and lead financing for diverse types of projects. She have advised and executed diverse portfolios of deals and transactions worth over USD 130 billions, creating values through devising and pioneering new financial formulas and have signed in to joint ventures with numerous multinational company in diverse business segments. With her active interaction between governments and private sector she has brought to term bilateral ties and agreement between countries, governments and the private sector.

For her commitment on the financial market and her role as key advisor to  government and privet sector she has been recognized and awarded. Mrs. Lind, have been working in leadership positions at the UBS Bank  Head Quarter in Switzerland, as an Associate Director, at the UBS Bank  Frankfurt-Germany, Julius Baer and Metzler Bank Frankfurt – Germany  and at Swiss Capital Engineering AG, Zurich Switzerland before Co founding Swiss Financial Engineering AG, Switzerland. 

For the UBS Bank Frankfurt in her role as asset and fund manager she  have managed over USD2, 5 billion in asset. She started her carrier in  the Investment Banking at the Commerze bank in Frankfurt – Germany. Mrs. Lind, have been active speaker to various economic forum worldwide.  She has built a reputation as an iron woman on the international financial  markets as she brings together governments, private and financial  investors for major developments of infrastructure projects under diverse  model of PPP, BOT and EPC+F. Mrs. Lind, hold a Master in Finance and  bachelor in International Trade and economic with honours from the Jorge  Tadeo Lozano university in Colombia.

She devotes her life to more than seven thousand children through the  world with her foundation and support to various others charities homes. She is a Global citizen who have travelled more than 80% of the world and  have been able to use her travel experiences to uplift government vision.

Sheikh Mohammed H. F. Al-Thani is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Qatar Free Zones Authority, which oversees and regulates the world-class free zones in Qatar. The independent authority offers outstanding opportunities and benefits for businesses seeking to expand their global operations.

Within his role, Sheikh Mohammed is involved in all day-to-day operations within the Qatar Free Zones. In addition, Sheikh Mohammed is also responsible for the wider strategy and direction for the Authority.

Sheikh Mohammed previously worked within the Investments Team at Qatar Foundation Endowment, as one of its founding members. Early on in his career Sheikh Mohammed was seconded to Goldman Sachs (New York & London offices) working for the Asset Management team. Within his tenure at Qatar Foundation Endowment Sheikh Mohammed led several notable international investments, was appointed as a Board Director of several portfolio companies and oversaw the management of external investment fund managers.

Sheikh Mohammed holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from George Washington University. He is also an Alumni of the Qatar Leadership Centre.

In addition to his role within the Qatar Free Zones Authority, Sheikh Mohammed currently serves as a Board Director on a few local entities, including Invest Qatar, the Investment Promotion Agency for the State of Qatar.

Ali Rashid Al-Mohannadi, Executive General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, QNB Group

Mr. Al Mohannadi is now holding the position of Executive General Manager and Group Chief Operating Officer for Qatar National Bank since January 2012.

Mr. Al Mohannadi is a Vice Chairman of QNB Egypt, and CBI UAE. He also serves in several other committees within QNB Group.

An overview of job responsibilities

• Formulation and subsequent implementation of the Group-wide strategy and ensuring continual alignment of divisional strategies with the overall Group strategy and managing on overall basis.
• Ensuring the consistent provision of best-in-class services to customers through the streamlining of processes across the Group, thereby ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of operations; ensure the continued availability of highly skilled and competent human resources, and the introduction of cutting-edge technology to support Group operations to derive competitive advantage for the Group. In this manner, assisting the GCEO in achieving/ exceeding the financial objectives/ targets of the Group
• Create a clear long-term strategy for improving the Group’s operating efficiency, which is demonstrated by a reduction in the ratio of expenses to income both in actual and proportionate terms.
• Drive the Group’s visioning process and provide inputs towards the formulation of the Group’s mission statement and the Group’s objectives.
• Responsible for providing overall direction to the Group’s HR function encompassing manpower planning and recruitment, promotions, compensation and benefits review, integrated performance management & development, learning and development initiatives, staff rewards and recognition, implementation of staff suggestions schemes, disciplinary actions, job evaluations, fulfilment of the nationalization programme and review of HR Policy.
• Overall ownership of the Group’s external/ internal communication processes/ methods. And ensure the existence of adequate safeguards which ensure that information disseminated to various external and internal stakeholders (through external channels viz. visual, print media or through the Group’s web-site), including but not limited to information releases by the GCEO and the Board, is accurate and complete

Mr. Al Mohannadi joined QNB in 1996 and has been promoted to various positions within the IT Division escalating to him becoming the General Manager of the whole division in 2008. Under his leadership, numerous initiatives were implemented leading QNB to become a pioneer in the field of e-services.

He is a member of QNB International Expansion Committee and participated in opening branches in Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Singapore, Geneva and London-Paris integration.

In 2010, Mr. Al Mohannadi was appointed General Manager of Retail Banking leading the expansion of the local network and services and enhancing the services for QNB First segment.

Also, under his leadership, Qatar National Bank (QNB) has won several national and regional awards such as but not limited to:

• The Best Mobile Services “mServices” award during the QITCOM Awards, in recognition of its pioneering role in promoting mobile payment services in the country and the region
• The Best Mobile Application payment award for its Tap and Pay card option at the Smart Card Awards Middle East 2012.

Ziad Daoud is the Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Bloomberg Economics. He leads a global team producing in-depth analysis of data and policies and their interaction with financial markets. Previously, he was the chief Middle East economist for Bloomberg, headed the economics team at QNB Group and worked as an economist at Fulcrum Asset Management. He holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics and statistics from University College London.

Luay Al Shurafa was appointed as General Motors’ President and Managing Director  Africa & Middle East in September 2020. In this role, Al Shurafa is responsible for  delivering long-term strategic and sustainable growth for General Motors across the  region. 

Al Shurafa is the first locally born and raised leader for General Motors, bringing a  wealth of deep-rooted, regional insight to the position. Beginning his career with  General Motors AMEO in 1998, Al Shurafa matches this regional understanding with in depth expertise of the GM brands and products.  

In his tenure with General Motors, Al Shurafa has held several leadership roles across  the company in Finance, Sales, Marketing and Customer Care & Aftersales. Most  recently, Al Shurafa served as Managing Director of Commercial Operations, where he  was instrumental in developing enterprising sales strategies to grow the business  across the region.  

Al Shurafa also led the company’s sales operations as the Managing Director of Saudi  Arabia, spearheading key initiatives designed to drive growth for the company in the  Kingdom, GM’s largest Middle East market.  

Al Shurafa held the position of Director, Customer Care and Aftersales at General  Motors Middle East, a title that he held from August 2011 – June 2015. As Director of  Customer Care and Aftersales, Al Shurafa was responsible for leading all aspects of the  Customer Care and Aftersales business, including vehicle servicing, customer service  and support, as well as batteries, supply chain logistics and vehicle parts warehouse  operations. 

Al Shurafa holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor of Business  Administration (BBA International Finance) from the University of North Texas.

Miguel joined Citigroup in 2010 as Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Portugal. In mid-2012, he was appointed Head of Investment Banking Africa (excl. SA & Egypt). In November 2017 Miguel was appointed Head of Investment Banking for the Middle East and Africa (excl. SA).

Prior to working at Citigroup, Miguel was a Senior Country Advisor for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs.  Miguel has an MBA in Finance from City University Business School in London and a BSc in Economics from Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon.

In the M&A space, Miguel has been extremely active with his Citi colleagues in advising on reference transactions for Middle East and African clients such as Helios Investment Partners, TGI (Nigeria) and Access Bank (Pan-african) in Africa and Network International and DP World (UAE); Euromoney named Citi the Best Advisory Bank in both Africa (2020) and the Middle East (2020 and 2021);

In the Equity Capital Markets space, Miguel and the Citi team have been the clear leaders in the Middle East and Africa regions leading more Equity offerings than any other institution; most recently those include IPOs for VIVO and ASA international in 2018 and Network International, Jumia and Airtel Africa in 2019 and several equity offerings in 2020 and 2021 for companies like Jumia and Helios Towers; in 2022 Miguel and his Citi colleagues were Joint Global coordinators in DEWA (UAE) IPO, one of only 3 IPOs in EMEA region above 6bn USD; in The Middle East in 2020 Citi was the leader in the Equity Capital Markets space; in 2021 it was named Best Investment Bank in the Middle East.

Miguel is a regular contributor to CNBC Europe, CNBC Africa and Bloomberg TV as well as a regular speaker in regional events, including:  Africa Business Forum (Dubai), Investopia (Dubai), Qatar Economic Forum (Doha) as well as other such as The Africa CEO Forum, the World Economic Forum (Africa and Middle East) and Milken Institute (US, UK and Middle East) amongst others.

He is a member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council since 2018.

Mohammed is the Managing Director & Board of Directors Treasurer of the US-Qatar Business Council, based in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Barakat works with the public and private sectors to promote new and expanded business relations between US and Qatari companies. In addition, he is involved with and directs all Council activities including programs, advisory services, market research, and member services. He also provides business and cultural advisory services to both US and Qatari companies.

Prior to joining the US-Qatar Business Council, he was a Business Strategy Advisor at the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council (2011-2013) based in Washington, D.C., where he provided business and strategy advisory services to both US and Saudi companies across different industries to facilitate trade and investment between both countries. 

Earlier in his career, he worked in business development for a major Qatari holding group expanding their international partnership and business portfolio (2008-2011). He also worked in the United Arab Emirates as a marketing manager for a major construction and engineering group (2006-2008). 

Previously, and under different capacities, Mr. Barakat developed strategic business plans and provided political and economic analysis, social analysis, and security analysis for several companies and organizations in Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Tajikistan, Djibouti, and the United States (2004-2006). Mohammed was also a defense contractor for the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Mohammed holds an Advanced Business Strategy Degree from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, and a B.A. Degree in Political Science and Public Administration. Mohammed has also completed several Executive Degree programs in Marketing, Finance, and Defense Procurement; he is also a Certified Microsoft Systems Engineer.

Mohammed is a bilingual and multicultural executive residing in Washington, D.C., and is an active public speaker and radio and TV contributor. He is actively involved in the business and cultural community and is President of the American Jordanian Cultural Forum (Nashama) for the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Bob is a Partner with Kearney and Managing Director of Kearney’s Middle East & Africa region. He has over 25 years of experience leading strategic and organizational transformations for large commercial and government clients globally. 

In the past, Bob served as the global leader for the Aerospace & Defense and Automotive, Transportation & Infrastructure practices. He was also the global leader for the Government & Economic Development practice.  He is a recognized thought leader within his field of expertise. His insights have been published in several white papers, a book on reconfiguration of value chains, and thought media publications. 

Bob holds an B.A. in Physics and an M.B.A. from University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business. Bob also has a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas at Austin, after which he started his career as an Aerospace Engineer at General Dynamics Space Systems (later to become part of the United Launch Alliance).  What makes an aerospace engineer become a consultant? Bob says, “I’ve always liked trying to solve problems that don’t have an easy answer, and I wanted to see how that would work in business. Consulting is the perfect combination of learning and being able to make an impact.” 

Prior to founding DCA, an investment advisory firm based in Dakar, SENEGAL, Lena Sene was the Executive Director of Business Development at CGF Bourse in Senegal for 4 years. Before that, Lena was a Managing Director at Deer Isle Capital LLC in New York, where she was responsible for overall business development and for the firm’s Africa investment strategy. Prior to Deer Isle, Lena was at Impact Capital Partners, an international alternative investment advisory firm focused on emerging and frontier markets. She began her banking career as a Private Banker at JPMorgan Chase from 2000 to 2004 and at Lehman Brothers from 2004 to 2006.

In 2006, Lena was appointed by President Georges W. Bush to the White House Fellowship, a 58 year-old non-partisan leadership program, along with 13 other nationally selected Americans. She served for Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She obtained Top Secret Security Clearance from the FBI. Lena was also selected 1 of 120 global scholar-leaders inducted into the Academy of Achievement Class of 2007.

In 2012, Lena was selected by former Prime Minister of SENEGAL, Idrissa Seck, to serve as his Campaign Director during the Senegalese presidential elections.

Lena has a B.A. in Economics from Bates College, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was selected a Mort Zuckerman Fellow.

Lena is fluent in English, French, Russian and Wolof.

Manish Vyas is the President of Tech Mahindra’s largest Industry vertical, Communications, Media and Entertainment. He is also the Chief Executive of Network Services business, which is one of the leading growth pillars of Tech Mahindra.

An accomplished leader with extensive expertise and experience across global markets, Manish has led large and diverse global programs during his 20 years at Tech Mahindra.

Manish believes that Tech Mahindra and all his teams are duty bound to assist clients in three distinct areas: improving operational efficiencies, driving greater velocity in business transformation and creating new growth opportunities for each client. He firmly believes that large problems can be solved by picking the right teams, creating the right ecosystem partners, bringing the right set of technologies together and when necessary, challenging the status quo on business models. He has been involved in creating the strategic direction to the Telecom & the Networks Services business and in driving various organic & inorganic growth initiatives.

Manish believes in building an organization powered by high-performance teams, diverse workforce and entrepreneurial capabilities. He drives the strategy, innovation and the go to market programs for Telecom, Media and Network businesses. He cherishes mentoring Young Leaders and believes that there is a lot to learn from them.

Manish has co-authored Technology papers on ‘Network Innovation’ with CXOs of Networks-based companies, and published several blogs on the Future of the CSPs.

Apart from his association with Tech Mahindra, Manish has also been identified as one of the future business leaders at the Mahindra Group, as part of the ‘Future Leadership Program’. He consistently contributes to the Group’s Innovation Council named ‘M-101’. He is also member of the US India Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Fort Worth.

Manish was brought up in Nagpur in Central India and is currently based out of Dallas, USA with his family. Manish completed his Masters in Business Administration (Marketing) from NMIMS, Mumbai and Electronics Engineering from Nagpur University.

When not busy traveling meeting customers and building teams, Manish likes to maximize his free time with his two daughters and watch classic Hindi cinema & highlights of legendary Cricketers.

Mujtaba Jaffer is the Group CEO and Managing Director of MJ Group; a leading African port service provider headquartered in Kenya. MJ Group specializes in the handling of bulk cargo in both liquid and dry state.

His leadership as CEO from 2009 saw the group expand its operations from a single location grain handling and storage terminal to acquiring a petrol bulk terminal, building an LPG terminal, starting a logistics business providing clearing, forwarding, warehousing, transporting services for the group as well as commercial clients. The group also has a commodity trading arm and over the past two years has vertically integrated into FMCG with its own brand: Pro Gas.

Prior to taking the helm of MJ Group, Mr. Jaffer invested in several start-ups in the technology sectors in East Africa, UAE and the USA, and the group currently owns a 50% stake in a bulk grain storage and handling facility in the Port of Lake Charles in Louisiana, USA.

The companies under the Group for which Mr. Jaffer is the Group CEO are Grain Bulk Handlers Limited, Africa Gas and Oil Company, Proto Energy (Pro Gas), One Petroleum, One Commodities, Gas Petro Bulk and Mackenzie Maritime (EA) Freight Limited. The Group employs a total workforce of 893 employees on a permanent basis and 2301 on contract basis. The Group is one of Kenya’s largest employers and tax contributors and operates 91 locations within Kenya, two locations in Uganda and one in Rwanda. Recent expansions of the grain and gas terminals and operations have contributed towards assisting the Government of Kenya utilize its new SGR rail infrastructure by transporting of bulk grain commodities on the new network hence assisting it to meet 30% of it’s cargo volume goals. This, in addition to campaigns educating the use of cleaner energy have contributed towards the fight against climate change and he continues to lead the Group to make conscious social decisions in the day to day leadership.

The Company also provides one free meal to each employee whilst on duty as well as endeavors to provide free transport to and from work. The Group’s other charitable contributions include feeding 20,000 families for a month every year, with this number expanding year on year. The Group also runs several programs such as free health clinics, free water supply and has sponsored over 200 students for secondary and higher education. Recently, the gas sub-division of the Group trained and attained certification for 350 youth in welding and these youth have been given employment opportunities for 3 years in order to confer to them on the job training.

The above successes have been contributed towards by the shareholders and partners in the Group; Emerging Capital Partners, an Africa focused private equity firm, headquartered in Washington DC, USA, who have been partners in the Group since 2013. They represent investments into the Group by Tamasek (a generational global investment company headquartered in Singapore), Proparco (a subsidiary of Agence Françoise de Development focused on promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development practices) and DEG (German Development Finance Institution who are financial service providers operating in developing markets).

The group recently partnered with AP Muller Capital and Royal Bafakin Holdings from South Africa who are now partners in the gas vertical of the group.

Mujtaba did his primary and secondary schooling in Mombasa, Kenya at The Coast Academy and holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and Finance degree from St. Johns University New York, and has had extensive management training in Africa, Europe, UK and USA.

Saud’s experience spans over 10 years in the economic and financial sector. Prior to being appointed Deputy Undersecretary, he led the Economic Policy and Research department from 2015-18 to become in charge of managing the Public and Private Partnership (PPP) law and projects.

Saud’s key achievements are the Legacy Framework at the Supreme Committee for Legacy and Delivery, PPP Legal and Technical framework at the central Government, and various economic initiatives at the domestic and global level.

Khalid Al-Mana is the Executive Director of Business Finance of Qatar Development Bank (QDB) - the leading development and financing body driving the growth of Qatar’s private sector and its contribution to GDP.

Mr. Al-Mana previously held leadership positions at Royal Dutch Shell and Qatar Foundation. He held international posts in Washington DC and The Hague.

Mr. Al-Mana holds a BSc in Finance from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, and an MBA from HEC Paris. He also received specialized diplomas from London Business School and the Brookings Institute. 
He is currently the Chairman of Al Shams Advanced Lighting Technologies, Board Member of ELAN, Board member of Middle East Leadership Academy (MELA), and previously Chairman of MELA

Ruth David is deputy London bureau chief and senior UK correspondent for Bloomberg. She joined in 2010 in Mumbai, writing award-winning stories on the microfinance crisis and Indian companies as part of the Asian finance team. Ruth is part of the European mergers and acquisitions team in London, breaking news on some of the biggest deals in the continent. She is also an equality writer and helmed a pioneering project on the state of working women in 15 business capitals in 2022. Ruth has worked in New York and Hong Kong, and graduated from American University in Washington D.C.

Walter C. Johnsen, Chairman and CEO of Acme United Corporation, joined as a board member and became CEO in 1995. He transformed the company from a small manufacturer of scissors and shears to the largest in the world.  Acme diversified through acquisitions into first aid and safety and is one of the leading suppliers in North America. He concentrated on global sourcing in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Colombia, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Egypt to achieve competitive global costs. 

In 1986, Mr. Johnsen and a partner acquired Marshall Electronics, a small manufacturer of blood pressure units and stethoscopes. They built the company through product innovation and sourcing in Korea, Japan, and China to become the largest supplier in North America.  Marshall Products was acquired by Omron Corporation, and became the base of their U.S. medical supply operations.

He ran the private equity operations of Smith Barney, Harris Upham in San Francisco from 1981 to 1985.  Among his investments was an early venture capital investment in Apple Computer.

Mr. Johnsen has B.S. and M.Eng. degrees from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Daniel Laverick is the Chief Digital & Data Officer at Zuellig Pharma. A strong advocate for the use of technology to drive digital transformation and innovation, Daniel has more than 20 years’ experience working in MNCs across Pharma, Banking, Oil & Gas and Telecoms. 

In his role as Chief Digital & Data Officer for APAC, Daniel is responsible for strategising and leading regional teams across 13 markets to develop new solutions using the latest platforms including the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Blockchain and others. As an authority on SAP and IT solutions, he previously managed and oversaw the largest SAP migration in Asia to public cloud, along with the development of eZTracker, Asia’s first blockchain-powered end-to-end traceability solution for supply chain connectivity at Zuellig Pharma.

In addition to overseeing strategy and implementation of the Data & Digital solutions portfolio including Data Analytics, eZRx – _a B2B healthcare eCommerce platform, eZHealth – _digital health services, and eZTracker, Daniel also actively champions the mission of making healthcare more accessible and believes in empowering the Digital & Data teams to learn more, fail fast, and do good.

Sumit is Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Resilinc. As CPO, Sumit is responsible for Resilinc’s product and technology vision, direction, and delivery. Sumit has 25 years of experience bringing innovative technologies to market and has served in leadership roles in Product Management and engineering at successful startups as well as at Fortune 500 companies such as Brocade and Cisco.

Sunil Veetil is the Regional head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance for HSBC Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT). Based in Dubai, Sunil is responsible for enabling growth in trade across 8 countries in the region and helping connect the clients to the global supply chain.

Sunil was previously Regional Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management for HSBC MENAT, where he successfully managed to position the business as a premier regional Bank for managing clients’ liquidity and cash flow. He relocated to the region from South Korea, where he was responsible for positioning HSBC as the leader in Cash Management in the country. Prior to South Korea, Sunil was with HSBC Indonesia, heading the Global Liquidity and Cash Management business for three and a half years. Sunil started his career with HSBC in Dubai, where he acted as the Deputy Head of Transaction Banking and Regional Head of Product Management for the Middle East region.

Throughout his tenure in the Middle East, Indonesia and South Korea, HSBC has been consistently recognized as the leading transaction banking provider in all these markets.

Sunil is a Chartered Accountant, Management Accountant, and Certified Treasury Professional and is a graduate of Mathematics.

H.E. Sultan Bin Rashid Al-Khater was assigned as Undersecretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry by the Emiri decree No. 50 of 2011.

H.E. Sultan Bin Rashid Al-Khater had previously held many leadership positions in the sectors of Energy and Industry, the last one of them was the General Manager and Board Member in Qatar Fuel Additives Company, Ltd. Al-Khater had also held many other positions before, including the Maintenance Director for Liquefied Natural Gas facilities, and Director of Strategic Planning in RasGas Company, and has considerable sixteen years of experience in the Gas Industry.

H.E. Al-Khater holds MBR degree from SBS Swiss Business School in 2019, Executive MBA from HEC-Paris in Qatar in 2012 and a BS in Mechanical Engineering with honors from Qatar University in 1996.

H.E. Al-Khater also hold representation and membership on the following bodies:

• Board of Directors member for Qatar Central Bank
• Board of Directors member for Qatar Leadership Center
• Board of Directors member for The Social and Sport Contribution Fund
• Board member for Qatar Leadership Academy

Atifete Jahjaga served as the fourth, and the first woman President of the Republic of Kosovo. Jahjaga is Kosovo’s first non-partisan candidate, the first female head of state in the modern Balkans, and the youngest female world leader to be elected to the highest office. Jahjaga constantly participates in national and international conferences and initiatives aimed at empowering women and supporting the survivors of sexual violence during the war. She continues to be resolute in her fight against violent extremism and radicalization and a staunch promoter of peace and stability for the Balkans and beyond.

During her presidency, Jahjaga worked diligently to bring women to the forefront of Kosovo’s political, economic, and social life as a means of ensuring a long-lasting democracy. In this context, in 2012, she hosted the International Women’s Summit "Partnership for Change—Empowering Women," which was attended by 200 leaders from Kosovo, the wider Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East. The summit provided a venue for women from the region to cross ethnic barriers and come together to launch and promote a platform for their empowerment as women throughout the Balkans. The discussions led to the creation of the Pristina Principles which affirm the rights of women to political participation and representation, economic resources, and access to security and justice, and calls for actions to make these principles a reality. These principles were adopted as a resolution by the Kosovo Assembly.

Jahjaga is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders since 2012 and is recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Durham (2013), the Leadership in Public Service Award from the Clinton Global Initiative (2014), and the honorary degree of Doctor of Law from the University of Leicester (2015).

In March of 2018, President Jahjaga established the Jahjaga Foundation- an initiative that focuses on youth and women empowerment towards achieving social change in Kosovo.

Her Excellency Reem Al Mansoori, the Assistant Undersecretary of Digital Society Development of Ministry of Communications  and Information Technology, where she is leading the delivery of Qatar Digital Transformation Smart Qatar Prgram “TASMU”. With expertise that spans more than 2 decades of experience in digital transformation in Qatar’s government, H.E. Al Mansoori is spearheading some of the largest initiatives and programs that continue to make a substantial impact on Qatar’s technological advancements and capacity building. At Digital Society Development Sector, H.E. Al Mansoori heads two major departments; Digital Society and Digital Industry Development. As Head of Digital Society, she supports Qatar’s society and businesses to arm themselves with the skills, tools and knolwedge they need to use ICT effectively and safely in order to participate in building Qatar’s information-based economy. As Head of Digital Industry Development, H.E. Al Mansoori is responsible for engaging with Qatar’s digital ecosystem and building a vibrant ICT sector to support Smart Qatar through innovation—enabling the ICT sector to leverage both local and global   digital capabilities and promote key investment opportunities with partners partners across the world to bring best practices to Qatar.

H.E. Al Mansoori was also  a member of the Shura Council and Ambassador of the Women Political Leaders in the State of Qatar (WPL), Chairperson  of the 29th Session of the Women’s Parliamentarians Forum, and Ex-Officio member of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarian, plays an advocacy role in protecting people’s right to live peacefully; shaping the law and solving economic, administrative and political challenges. H.E. Al Mansoori is amongst the first ever females to be appionted in Shura Council and actively contributing to achieving international peace and security and shouldering the responsibility of preserving human dignity, fundamental freedoms, and rights to enhance the lives of citizens. H.E. Al Mansoori is an advocate of empowering Qatari women, encouraging them to take an active role in supporting society advancement.

H.E. Al Mansoori has instilled positive strategic practices by driving cross-sectorial collaboration to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030. Her expertise and dynamic approach to leadership have functioned to expediate project delivery and capacity building programs across not only her organization, but within the government, and her ethos in leading Qatar’s digital transformation has been instrumental to TASMU and Qatar’s success.

Mrs. Al Mansoori has an MSc in Computational Intelligence from the University of Plymouth, UK, and an Executive MBA from HEC Paris with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Francisco J. Sánchez is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Tampa office who focuses his practice on trade policy, regulation and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process including mitigation measures. Mr. Sánchez has a long and distinguished career in the public and private sectors.

Mr. Sánchez served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Trade until 2013, a role former President Barack Obama nominated him to in 2009. As Under Secretary, Mr. Sánchez led the International Trade Administration (ITA) in its efforts to improve the global business environment by helping U.S. businesses compete abroad. As one of the architects of President Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), with the goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of2014, Mr. Sánchez directed programs and policies that promote and protect the competitiveness of American businesses. Mr. Sanchez also oversaw the ITA's role in the CFIUS.

During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Sánchez served as the assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Prior to the DOT role, he served in the White House as a special assistant to former President Bill Clinton, and chief of staff to the Special Envoy to the Americas.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Sánchez was the chairman and CEO of CNS Global Advisors, providing strategic advice to companies and governments looking to expand in or resolve issues in foreign markets, including the U.S. Mr.Sánchez also serves as an advisor to a private equity firm concentrating on investment opportunities in the Arctic.

He graduated from the University of Economics in Prague. In the same year that he graduated as an economics engineer, he succeeded in the competition for the prestigious banking program of the Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG in Vienna, where he worked for several years.

After returning to Prague, he held various positions in credit risk management and corporate banking, first at the Bank Austria Creditanstalt, later in the management of the Česká spořitelna. He then became the First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, later the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of the Erste Bank in Ukraine.

Thanks to the successful consolidation of the Erste Ukraine, he was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the CEO of Slovenská spořitelna. At its head, he managed to achieve historically record results, the bank repeatedly won the title of the Bank of the Year, and Jozef Síkela was awarded the title of the Banker of the Year award and nominated for the Manager of the Year. Under his leadership, the bank also became the most valuable brand in Slovakia.

Jozef Síkela was later appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Erste Group Bank AG, the parent company of the Erste Group. He was responsible for corporate and investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, real estate financing, including communal housing, business financing, financial markets and macroeconomic analysis. He covered these activities of the Erste Group on all “domestic markets” of the Erste in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia as well as in the so-called extended markets in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Erste Group's branches in London, New York and Hong Kong were also under his direct responsibility.

Jozef Síkela has been involved in the banking development program for small and medium-sized companies across the Erste Group for many years. He left his banking career in connection with the retirement of the long-time former Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO Andreas Treichl. After a year of “family vacations” he began consulting and investment activities.

On 17 December 2021 Jozef Síkela was appointed the Minister of Industry and Trade by President of the Czech Republic. On the same date, he resigned all statutory and ownership positions in the business sphere.

Jozef Síkela speaks English, German and Russian. He is married and together with his wife Pavlína is raising a daughter named Natalia. His passion is listening to music, especially rock, jazz and classical, and his hobbies also include literature and film.

Abdul Rahman recently joined Google Cloud to lead its operations in the META region. He joined Google after 25 successful and progressive years at Oracle where he was most recently Senior VP of Middle East, Africa and Central Eastern Europe. 

Prior to joining Oracle, Abdul Rahman owned a leading software solutions consultancy specializing in application development for Unix, Informix and Oracle.  

Abdul Rahman is reputed for applying creative approaches to drive business growth. Abdul Rahman has been recognized as one of the top executives in the Middle East by Forbes Middle East magazine from 2015 to 2020. He holds an Executive Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Edinburgh (2004).

Maurizio Brusadelli is Executive Vice President & President Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) for Mondelēz International, a global snacking leader evolving the role of snacking with 2021 net revenues of approximately $29 billion. Based in Singapore, he is responsible for more  than 70 markets in the region. He is also a member of Mondelēz International’s global  management team.  

In 1993, Maurizio joined Kraft Foods in Italy as part of the Marketing department and  subsequently moved into Sales and Trade Marketing. He assumed Marketing responsibility for  the Italian division in 2002 and became Category Director, Philadelphia Europe in 2006. Maurizio  moved to Spain in 2009 as Vice President & Managing Director of Kraft Foods Iberia. He went on  to lead the Gum & Candy category in Europe and was appointed President of the UK, Ireland &  Nordics operations in 2012.  

He relocated to Singapore in 2014, to take on the role of President of Markets and Sales and  Biscuits and was appointed to his current role in 2016. 

Maurizio holds a degree in Business and Economics from Bocconi University, Milan and is a  Chartered Accountant. Having lived and worked in Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the UK and  Singapore, he is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish. 

Ambassador Al Dafa is Qatar's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability and the Executive Director of the Global Dryland Alliance (GDA), an international organization dedicated to food security in dryland countries. He is the Commissioner-General of Doha Expo 2023.

Ambassador Al Dafa served as UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

Al Dafa has served as Ambassador of Qatar to the United States and Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States (OAS).  In this capacity, he played a special role in promoting access to education and the arts in the Arab-American community and among other US minorities.

Al Dafa has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in foreign affairs and non-governmental services, which has included representing Qatar as Ambassador to Russia, France, Egypt and Spain.  He has also served as the non-resident Ambassador to Switzerland, Greece, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Mexico.  Mr. Al Dafa has also served as Director of the European and American Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was also a member of Qatar Foundation's Cultural Development Center and Vice President of the Qatar Heritage and Identity Center. He played key role in organizing inter-faith, free trade and democracy related conferences.

Mr. Al Dafa has a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Western Michigan University in the United States.  He has been awarded the Ordre du Mérite from France. Ambassador Al Dafa is married and has three children. He speaks Arabic, English and Spanish and enjoys reading, painting and music.

Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani currently is the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar’s Investment Promotion Agency. He was further appointed as Board Member of Katara Hospitality in March 2021.

On December 1st, 2018, Sheikh Ali was appointed as Coordinator for Economic Affairs at the Prime Minister’s office overseeing a broad range of activities related to Qatar’s economic and investment agenda.

Previously, Sheikh Ali was the Director of the State of Qatar’s Office to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, where he oversaw negotiations and standing committees in the WTO related to Market Access, Agriculture, Trade and Investment, Subsidies and other key areas. Moreover, he was elected by consensus as Chairman of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) Committee in 2017, which is responsible for one of the principal legal agreements of the WTO. In his role as Chairman, he oversaw the regular functioning of the committee, and was involved in the ongoing Investment Facilitation working group discussions.

Sheikh Ali also served as the Commercial Attaché to Qatar’s permanent mission to the United Nations, covering negotiations and standing committees in the UNCTAD and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, as well as an Executive Master’s in international Negotiation & Policy-Making from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Ali is an experienced partner at KPMG in Qatar where he leads the firms Governance & Risk, Business Transformation and ESG service lines. He has over 30 years of experience gained equally within the profession and outside. 

Ali started his career in London where he attained his chartered accounting qualification. He spent a number of years in the firm’s financial services audit line of business where he served clients such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Credit Suisse. 

In 2001 he moved on a secondment to KPMG Singapore to help set up the Risk Consulting practice where he headed the Enterprise Risk Management service for the firm. Ali moved to the region in 2003 to set up the Risk Advisory practice at EY in Dubai until 2012. Following this Ali took up the position of COO at a large industrial family group responsible for the risk management, business transformation and HR. 

Ali held a number of independent board appointments including a chairmanship of an audit committee.

Ali is a keen cyclist and spends most Fridays on his bicycle clocking up the kilometers. He is a big supporter of Arsenal football, a team that he supported from the age of 6.

Gregor Irwin is the Global Group Director and Chief Economist of the consultancy firm Global Counsel, where he advises corporates and investors on market access, regulation, and the political environment that businesses operate in. He works closely with clients in the Middle East and Global Counsel set up an office in Doha to serve the region last year. Before joining Global Counsel, Gregor was the Chief Economist at the British foreign ministry, where he led its work on the response to the financial crisis of 2008, on trade an investment, and on strengthening economic relationships with emerging economies. He has previously worked on international economic and financial issues at the Bank of England and the British finance ministry. He has published several papers on international trade and economics.

Ibtihaj Muhammad is an entrepreneur, activist, speaker and Olympic medalist in fencing. A 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 5-time Senior World medalist and World Champion, in 2016, Ibtihaj became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab. Ibtihaj was a 3-time All American at Duke University where she graduated with a dual major in International Relations and African Studies. In 2014, Ibtihaj launched her own clothing company, Louella, which aims to bring modest, fashionable and affordable clothing to the United States market. In 2017, Mattel announced their first hijabi Barbie, modeled in Ibtihaj’s likeness, as part of Barbie’s “Shero” line of dolls. The Barbie became available for purchase in July 2018. Ibtihaj released her debut memoir in July 2018, PROUD: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream. Ibtihaj released her third book, children’s picture book, The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab & Family, that became a New York Times’ Best-Seller. 

Ibtihaj is a sports ambassador with the U.S. Department of State’s Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative, and works closely with organizations like Athletes for Impact and the Special Olympics. Named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential list Ibtihaj is an important figure in a larger global discussion on equality and the importance of sport. Her voice continues to unite both the sports and non-sports world.

Kojo Annan is a serial entrepreneur and investor with an extensive global network and strong track record of growing new businesses across international markets.

Kojo is passionate about convening powerful conversations around strategy, the digital transformation of Africa, global citizenship, sports as a tool for development and equality, leadership, global equity in a post pandemic world and African culture.

He is currently managing Vector Global, a single family office centered primarily on two main pillars; a regional focus within West Africa and a global interest in Innovation, lifestyle and wellbeing. 

He is co-founder and Chairman of Boardroom One, an innovative social app that provides a more efficient and secure way for everyone to communicate, network and create authentic engagement around “Conversations that Matter”. 

He is also the Chairman and Co-Founder of Made in Africa (MIA).  MIA is a luxury group that bridges African high culture with a global audience.  It is led by a team of international retail, distribution, and fashion experts with over 100 years of combined experience in the sector. The Group is uniquely positioned to benefit from Africa’s favourable demographic dynamics and the fast-growing African print market.

In 2002 Kojo co-founded Meridian Port Services (MPS) in partnership with Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, Bolloré and Maersk (APM Terminals) to develop a modern container terminal in Tema, Ghana. Their world-class Container Terminal services contribute to Ghana’s trade facilitation, providing connectivity to new markets and trading routes. MPS has created thousands of jobs. The last financing round of MPS was $1.5 Billion USD led by the IFC.

From a young age, Kojo has had a love for sport. In the period between 1999-2003 he served as the President of Vevey Sports FC in Switzerland.  This also led to his founding Africa 10 (A10) in 2016.  It is a social enterprise dedicated to developing African youth through sports and education. A10 has commenced operation by providing scholarships to young Africans in order for them to attend established sports education university programs in the UK.

Kojo has three beautiful children with his wife Shanthi and whilst being a global traveller, is primarily based in Ghana.

He holds degrees in Economics and Political Science, is fluent in both French and English and proficient in Yoruba.

Kojo is the son of the late Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and a proud champion of his father's legacy.

Sandrine Nzeukou has developed and led ecosystem-building initiatives at the intersection of investment, business development, innovation, and social impact, in the African private equity and venture capital markets. In her current role as Cofounder and Managing Partner of Tessa, an Africa-first sports and entertainment marketing agency-investment firm, Sandrine works to accelerate the development of the sports industry with world-class client-partners including UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and NBA Champion Pascal Siakam. Prior to Tessa, Sandrine led Invest Africa US(IAUS) as the executive director, where she drove the strategic vision of the organization and connected Invest Africa’s global network of private equity firms, venture capital firms, family offices, Ultra High Net Worth individuals, and service providers through the network’s intentional convening power. Sandrine’s passion lies in the revolutionary potential of Africa, and her work in network development and triage, supported IAUS’ over $3 Billion worth of capital flow into the continent. Through partnerships with the likes of Forbes, NBA Africa, the National Basketball Players Association, African governments, as well as Development Finance Institutions, Sandrine continues to move the needle of increasing North American interest and participation in Africa's frontier and emerging markets. 

A former professional athlete, Sandrine represented her home country of Cameroon in the 2011 and 2015 FIBA Olympic qualifying women’s basketball tournaments in both Bamako, Mali and Yaounde, Cameroon. She holds an MBA in Management and B.S. in Marketing from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

As the world’s first global airline alliance, Star Alliance provides seamless experiences across an extensive global network, together with rewards and recognition for high value international travellers.

Previously, Jeffrey Goh held the position as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at the Alliance, with responsibilities spanning human resources, sourcing and fuel-related projects, legal, finance and project management. Before moving to Frankfurt, he had lived in Singapore and Melbourne and held positions at the International Air Transport Association in Montreal and at Beaumont and Son, a leading aviation law firm, in London.

He presently serves on the Board of Airline Passenger Experience Association and the Board of China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd. as an independent non-executive director.

He has a doctorate in the principles and policies of regulating airline competition and has published widely in the field of aviation law and regulation.

Berthold is the COO of Qatar Tourism; leading its day to day operations and implementation of the 2030 strategy. He has over 20 years hands on experience as transformation leader in the travel industry and has worked at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the world’s #1 corporate travel company as EVP for Traveler Services, CEO for Fursan Travel (Saudi Arabia) and COO for DCTCM (UAE). He started his career with McKinsey & Company in Germany and later in South Korea – where he served clients as partner in the travel & logistics industry.

Nasser Fahad Al Khater, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC Chief Executive Officer

Nasser Fahad Al Khater is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, the innovative joint venture between the State of Qatar and FIFA that was launched in early 2019. He is also a senior adviser to the Secretary General’s Office of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). He is responsible for leading all aspects of the planning and delivery of a historic tournament – the first to be held in the Middle East and Arab world – that will welcome over 1.5 million fans to Qatar.

In his role as CEO, Al Khater is charged with combining the extensive planning expertise Qatar has built up since winning the hosting rights in 2010 with FIFA’s global tournament expertise to ensure an extraordinary FIFA World CupTM experience for all fans, players and officials.

He was appointed to the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee in 2009, where he oversaw the media and the marketing campaigns that led to Qatar's successful bid to bring the FIFA World CupTM to the Arab world for the first time. Al Khater also held the titles of Chief of Experience and Tournament Readiness, Assistant Secretary General, Tournament Affairs, and Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at the SC.

Before joining the Bid Committee in 2009, Al Khater worked with Qatari Government agencies to establish development strategies for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and on national leadership development programmes, which led to the establishment of Enterprise Qatar and the Qatar Leadership Centre.

Al Khater also has over five years’ experience in the Oil & Gas industry, having led Qatar Shell’s Intalaqa programme - an initiative aimed at fostering entrepreneurship for young Qatari nationals. This followed a five-year career working for the international finance giant HSBC.

Al Khater is a graduate of Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Franz Cerwinka is responsible for leading Xylem’s commercial operations across the emerging markets, including China, Southeast Asia and North Asia, India, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Australia and New Zealand. This includes all products and end-markets in the region including Water Infrastructure, Applied Water Systems, and Measurement and Control Solutions (M&CS), along with all product brands within the Xylem portfolio, including brands such as Godwin, Flygt, Wedeco, Sanitaire, Sensus and others.

Franz joined Xylem in June 2020 and has more than 25 years of experience in general management, operations, commercial and finance leadership positions, with a focus on the industrial and manufacturing segments. Before joining Xylem, he was based in Tokyo and served as CEO of Johnson Controls – Hitachi Air Conditioning Inc. a $5B global business. Prior to that he held a variety of Commercial and Finance roles at Johnson Controls’ automotive and HVAC businesses, in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. He has also served as board member in multiple partnerships and joint ventures in China, India, Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asia countries over the years.

Franz holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Cyril Courjaret, SUEZ International Deputy CEO since 6 May 2022 and Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ Middle East & Central Asia since July 1st, 2019.

Cyril joined Suez in 1997 as Sales Director for South America. In 2003, he was appointed CEO of construction activities in Mexico, then in 2006 CEO of Water Treatment Infrastructure activities in Southern France and then for Africa in 2010. In 2012, Cyril was appointed Senior VP of the Rhône Alpes Auvergne Region of Water France.

With over 25 years of professional background, Cyril has built a strong experience in water and waste sectors, from the upstream development to the tendering, delivery and operations. Cyril has led an international career throughout Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East where he held different managing positions in water, sanitation and solid waste industries both in services and infrastructures.

Kevin McGovern is the Chairman and CEO of McGovern Capital, a single-family office. McGovern Capital serves as an investment, strategy and licensing principal and advisor to global businesses. Through McGovern Capital and its affiliates, McGovern has co-founded over twenty-five (25) companies, six of which have become world/category leaders, and he has been lead negotiator/principal in over fifteen (15) global joint ventures. McGovern regularly speaks at business, academic and family office conferences in the US, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He serves/served on many public and private boards.

McGovern was a founder of SoBe Beverages, the fastest growing beverage company ever in the US (sold to Pepsi), and McGovern Capital was one of three owners of KX Industries, L.P., the largest manufacturer and worldwide source of carbon water purification filters, having invented and supplied PUR to P&G, the first end-of-tap filter to Brita, and the first refrigerator water filter to Electrolux. Mr. McGovern has spent the last several decades working to provide clean drinking water to people with the worst water contamination issues (including bacteria, viruses, arsenic, and lead); his water filters system was utilized by Elon Musk for Flint, Michigan. He also created the program, supervised, and negotiated all global licensing of Tristrata’s alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) patents, which technology was incorporated in approximately 40% of all global skin care products, and is/was sold in approximately 80 countries. His smoothie company (#2 in industry) was sold to Highland Partners.

McGovern Capital is currently involved in several disruptive innovators: healthful food and beverage companies; proprietary skincare technologies; disruptive drug/pharmaceutical products; global interests in medical and recreational cannabis; several eSports teams/organizations; sports/media events and opportunities; global audio improvement technologies; environmental impact/plastics to fuel; advanced agricultural technologies; plant based foods; and cold brew coffee.

Kevin has successfully partnered and advised many celebrities and was a full partner and producer for Roy Jones, Jr. during his reign as the top boxer in the world. He has also worked in other sports industries such as golf development and celebrity management, race car driving, figure skating, eSports, and pro-football. He was a member of the Board and also one of the 3 members of the Executive Committee of The Sports Authority when it grew to be the multi-billion-dollar largest sports retail company in the world.

McGovern is actively involved in the medical cannabis industry with numerous companies across the globe. He was Chairman of Israel Plant Sciences working on uniform seed breeding for all agricultural purposes and cutting-edge cannabis drug solutions for intestinal bowel disease (IBD), addiction, and colon cancer. McGovern is a principal in many cannabis technologies and MSOs, including a company that is one of the few licensees for CBD/hemp in Thailand. McGovern speaks at leading US and global cannabis conferences and events on topics ranging from medical marijuana and market trends to due diligence strategies and practices.

Mr. McGovern is also known for his nanotechnology involvement, serving as co-chairman of Angstrom Publishing LLC, which together with Forbes published a global monthly Nanotechnology newsletter currently entitled The Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report. He is a member of the National Board of the Smithsonian (the world’s largest research and museum institution) and is a Trustee Emeritus and a Presidential Councilor (highest honor to alumnus) of Cornell University (having served as the Co-Chairman of the Technology Transfer Committee and Co-Chairman of the Sports Task Force). He was recently appointed to the Cornell University global Committee on Research and Innovation. He also teaches a course on “Global Innovation and Commercialization” at the Cornell graduate business school and is/has been a guest lecturer at various academic institutions, including Cornell NY Tech, Stanford (business lecturer and executive programs), MIT, ESCP Europe, NTU in Singapore, and KAUST in Saudi Arabia. He also served as Chairman of Entrepreneurship@Cornell for over seven years. The McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in Life Sciences at Cornell University was recently acclaimed as one of the Top 10 Venture Development Centers in North America. In addition, he established the McGovern Fields for Soccer and Lacrosse at Cornell. Mr. McGovern is a member of the Governing Board of the Baptist Health Foundation of Baptist Health South Florida and serves on the Doctors Hospital and Miami Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute council.

Mr. McGovern served on the Board of the US Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai and was appointed (only foreigner) to the Expo’s Post-Development Committee. He is also Vice Chairman of the Silver Shield Foundation, providing assistance to families of policemen and firemen who die in the line of duty in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. He serves on the Board of Point Hope providing global assistance to orphans. Mr. McGovern is a member of the Advisory Council to Consumer Reports, a non-profit member organization and magazine that works side by side with consumers for truth, transparency, and fairness in the marketplace.

Mr. McGovern has received numerous awards including the Cornell "Entrepreneur of the Year", St. John's University School of Law’s "Distinguished Alumni Award" and The East West Institute's "Global Game Changer Award". In addition, he received the Pioneer Award from the United Nation’s International Council for Caring Communities, the Luce Foundation honored him as its Humanitarian of the Year, and he received the Gold Medal Award from the American Irish Historical Society.

The common thread in Alexei’s life has been about creating and nurturing divergent ideas and teams that have the potential to bring about positive change. Having studied Philosophy BA (Hons) at King’s College London and then Law (CPE) at College of Law London, Alexei kicked off his career working in the nascent Supply Chain technology space at US based i2 Technologies (Blue Yonder). Travelling across Europe Alexei was responsible for driving Sales and Business Development across a range of supply chain systems in the High Tech and Consumer Product industries. After stints in Software solutions companies such as MatrixOne (Dassault), MRO (IBM) and Ariba (SAP), Alexei struck out on his own moving to Poland and building a small team offering consultancy to the industry.

Later Alexei co-founded the Innovation Consultancy UnfroZenmind based in Paris. With an eclectic team that developed a range of Leadership, Strategic Innovation and Organisational Design based approaches, the company also pioneered the use of Virtual Worlds to model scenarios for companies such as Shell, Philips and Booz Allen Hamilton.

After returning to the UK Alexei teamed up with colleagues to co-found the award winning Abundance, an FCA regulated Crowdfunding company that has to date brought in over £120m from the crowd to fund over 20 renewable energy projects in the UK. Having successfully fundraised and established the team Alexei left the venture to spend a year working at the South India based Kanthari, an NGO that provides a year long Leadership Development programme for blind and disabled would be social entrepreneurs. Working with 18 incredible visionaries from across the world to help them imagine and establish their projects, Alexei worked with the founder Sabriye Tenberken to develop a curriculum that became the basis of the programme today.

Alexei chose to stay on in India and established the social business ixspark, an innovation and product development lab based in Kerala enabling various social innovation initiatives and NGO, corporate and government collaborations.

In India Alexei co-founded CU Wellness together with a world class product development team between Silicon Valley and India as a means of bringing disruptive consumer wearable products including Smart Buckle, Fasting Culture and Poppins to people across the world.

Alexei also co-founded Desolenator, a gamechanging technology that transforms almost any water source into clean drinking water using only the power of the sun. The patented solar powered desalination device Desolenator has gone on to win awards from NASA, Singularity University, Climate KiC and includes early customers such as Dubai Government (DEWA) and Carlsberg.

A lover of philosophy and culture Alexei has also picked up a few talents and enjoys latin dance, martial arts and occasionally singing opera. Above all Alexei appreciates to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and to finding ways to create together towards designing a better world

Jonathan Webb is the Founder & CEO of AppHarvest, a sustainable food company developing and operating some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms with robotics and artificial intelligence to build a reliable, climate-resilient food system. AppHarvest’s farms are designed to grow produce using sunshine, 100% rainwater and up to 90% less water than open-field growing, all while producing yields up to 30 times that of traditional agriculture.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business, Jonathan worked on massive renewable energy projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. During this time, Jonathan learned about the Netherlands’ modern system of hydroponic agriculture. This research, coupled with U.N. reports that global food production would need to nearly double by 2050 and news of extreme weather significantly disrupting traditional agriculture, led Jonathan to realize that the American food system required change – fast.  

Jonathan returned home to Kentucky the same year to start AppHarvest. Jonathan believed that by harnessing the best of nature’s capabilities with future-forward technology to grow delicious produce at scale, we could tackle systemic supply chain issues while also advocating for modern methods of sustainable farming including creating certified living wage jobs in economically distressed areas. He also knew that AppHarvest could reduce food miles and associated emissions by locating closer to consumers, all while delivering more reliably fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables.  

AppHarvest currently operates its flagship farm – about the size of 50 football fields – in Morehead, Ky., producing tomatoes. The company is developing a network of farms to produce a variety of vine crops, salad greens and berries with three more farms currently under construction and expected to be operational by the end of 2022.

His Excellency, Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada was Minister of Energy and industry and Chairman of the Board of Qatar Petroleum during the period from 2011 to 2018.  He was also Managing Director of QP during the period from 2011 – 2014. Earlier, from 2007 to 2011, H.E. was Minister of State for Energy and Industry Affairs and Member of the Cabinet.

During his tenure, His Excellency assumed leading roles in various government and semi-government organizations. He was a member of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment, Chairman of RasGas, Chairman of Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. (NAKILAT) and Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC). H.E. was also the Chairman of the Permanent Water Resources Committee (PWRC) at Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa). 

H.E. Dr. Al-Sada has over 35 years of experience in the energy sector.  In 1983, he joined Qatar Petroleum (QP) and started a lifetime career in the oil and gas business. He moved up the corporate ladder and assumed a number of managerial positions. In 1997, he was appointed QP Technical Director, where he successfully directed the execution of a number of major oil, gas and infrastructure projects. In 2006, he was appointed Managing Director of RasGas Company Limited (RasGas).

In 2017, the Energy Institute of the UK presented Dr. Al-Sada with The International “Oil Diplomacy Man of the Year” Award. The award was in appreciation of Dr. Al-Sada’s efforts and contribution to the restoration of balance to the oil market during Qatar’s tenure as President of OPEC Conference in 2016.

In November 2020, His Majesty Emperor Naruhito of Japan awarded HE Dr. Al-Sada the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest decoration conferred by the Japanese Government, for his efforts in developing and further strengthening friendship and cooperation between Qatar and Japan.

His Excellency currently holds the position Chairman of Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec). 

An active member of the Qatari community, His Excellency is a member of the Qatar Foundation Board of Directors. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Joint Advisory Board (JAB) at Texas A & M University Qatar (TAMUQ) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Doha for Science and Technology. He is also the Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Children’s Museum and of the Qatar University Alumni Association.

H.E. Dr. Al-Sada was a founding member of the National Committee for Human Rights. He also served as a member of the Permanent Constitution Preparation Committee and the Supreme Education Council. 

His Excellency holds an MSc degree and a PhD from the University of Manchester in the UK and a BSc degree in Marine Science and Geology from Qatar University.  

His Excellency is married and has five children.

Based in Dubai, Naji has more than 23 years’ experience within sectors including industrial gases, chemicals, and leadership consulting, with 17 years’ experience in the Middle East. Prior to joining Xylem, he held the role of President - Middle East & Turkey at Air Products.

Throughout his career, Naji has served on the boards of multiple organizations such as Middle East Gas Association, AHG, and Egyptian Industrial Gas Company, and brings with him a wealth of expertise in the energy sector.

Holder of Lebanese and Canadian nationalities, and having lived and worked in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Middle East, Naji brings with him a diverse international and cultural understanding. He holds a B.Sc. from McGill University in Canada and an MBA from the University of Houston in the U.S. He is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Naji Skaf, took on the role of Managing Director, Middle East & Turkey for Xylem in September 1st 2021.

H.E. Eng. Essa bin Hilal AL Kuwari is the President of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation "KAHRAMAA", by an Emiri Decree in 2011, and was the Managing Director of KAHRAMAA since 2009, in which he has led it towards transformation and becoming a global smart corporation as per Qatar vision 2030. 

Al-Kuwari is representing the State of Qatar in different Electricity and Water activities abroad and inside the country. 

Regionally, Al Kuwari has been appointed as President of Arab Renewable Energy Commission (AREC) in January 2022 and in 2013 was elected as the Chairman of Arab Union of Electricity which was renewed in 2016 for another 3-year turn. In addition, in 2010, he was appointed as Head of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) and is representing Qatar as Board member since then. He’s also Board member of the Arab Governors Water Council since 2014 till now.

Locally, Eng. Al-Kuwari is a member of Qatar Permanent National Emergency Committee since 2008 and Secretariat General and member of the Permanent Water Resources Committee of the State of Qatar since 2012. He’s also member of the Steering Committee of Qatar Railways (Al-Rail) since 2018 and Ooredoo since 2020. 

He’s also Vice Chairman of Board of Directors at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, member of Advisory Council of Faculty of Engineering and College of Business & Economy at Qatar University (QU), Chairman of The Steering Committee of Texas A&M Qatar, Smart Grid Center since 2014 and member of the Dean’s Council there since 2018.

AL-Kuwari is leading successfully the progress and expansion of KAHRAMAA’s businesses and activities and began his career by joining Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW), in 1994.

He was born in 1971 in Qatar and earned B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from QU in 1994 and has a MBA from the University of Hull – United Kingdom.

Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser served as an Advisor at the General Secretariat of the Saudi Council of Ministers and Chairman of the General Authority for Competition from 2016 to 2021.

He also served as the Minister of Economy and Planning and Governor and Board Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the Saudi Central Bank. In addition, he was a member of several ministerial councils, boards, and committees, including the Council for Economic Affairs and Development, the Supreme Council for Civil Defense, the Board of Directors of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the Board of Directors of the Public Investment Fund, the Higher Committee for Hajj (Pilgrimage) Affairs and the Ministerial Environmental Committee, among many others.

Academic Life

Dr. Al Jasser obtained his M.A. (1981) and Ph.D. (1986) in Economics from the University of California. Earlier, he received his B.A. in Economics with honors from San Diego State University in 1979. Dr. Al Jasser gained a wide range of leadership experiences in the public and private sectors, having held senior positions in several institutions.

Other Previous Positions

He served as the Alternate Governor for Saudi Arabia at the IMF, the World Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank, as well as Vice Governor and Vice Chairman of the Board of SAMA, Deputy Minister of Finance and National Economy, IMF Executive Director, Chairman of the GCC Monetary Council, Member of the Governing Body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), Chairman of the Board of the Arab Investment Company and Chairman of the Council of Islamic Financial Services Board.

Participation in G20 at all Levels
Dr. Al Jasser participated in the G20 summits and meetings at the ministerial, governors, and deputies levels. Moreover, he participated in the monthly and annual meetings of the Bank for International Settlements over the period 1997-2011. 

In addition, Dr. Al Jasser took part in several local and international symposia and gave lectures on economic and monetary policy.

Medals & Awards
Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser received several medals and awards, most notably the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order in 2001.

After completing a law degree at Kings College London LLB, Chris was called to the Bar in 1990, following which he established Trafalgar Chambers on Fleet Street, becoming “the youngest head of barristers’ chambers in the last century” according to the Sunday Times. During this period Mr Cleverly was a regular presenter on Channel 4 and contributor to the other main channels, radio and newspapers. Since then, he has been board member of a number of companies in UK, India, China and Africa both listed on regulated exchanges and private in a number of sectors. As CEO of Made In Africa Foundation, Mr.Cleverly was co-architect and founder of the $1.5 billion Africa50 fund with the African Development Bank which has been lead investor in a number of large scale renewable energy projects.

Chris has advised a number of UK plcs on their entrance into African markets, including negotiation of oil blocks, mineral concessions and banking licenses. He also advises the UK Government on development issues and African governments on investment issues. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Reading University in 2014 and has recently completed a course in Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. His portrait is held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mohammed served as Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action and efforts to protect the natural environment.

Ms. Mohammed first joined the United Nations in 2012 as Special Adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with the responsibility for post-2015 development planning. She led the process that resulted in global agreement around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Ms. Mohammed began her career working on the design of schools and clinics in Nigeria. She served as an advocate focused on increasing access to education and other social services, before moving into the public sector, where she rose to the position of adviser to four successive Presidents on poverty, public sector reform, and sustainable development.

Ms. Mohammed has been conferred several honorary doctorates and has served as an adjunct professor, lecturing on international development. The recipient of various global awards, Ms. Mohammed has served on numerous international advisory boards and panels. She is the mother of six children and has two grandchildren.

Anthony “Tony” Capuano is chief executive officer of Marriott International, Inc. In this role, Mr. Capuano presides over the world’s largest hospitality company and some of the most iconic brands in travel.

Mr. Capuano joined Marriott in 1995 and was instrumental in its steady growth over the years which culminated in the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in 2016. The company now has more than 7,600 properties across 133 countries and territories and 30 brands. It also has the travel industry’s largest customer-loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, which has more than 147 million members.

Before his appointment as CEO in February 2021, Mr. Capuano was Group President, Global Development, Design and Operations Services where he led the strategic unit growth of all of Marriott’s brands while overseeing the global design team as well as Marriott’s global operating standards and protocols for thousands of properties around the world. Mr. Capuano was also responsible for oversight of the EDITION Hotels, a unique concept in the luxury lifestyle hotel space conceived by hotelier Ian Schrager and Marriott International.

Mr. Capuano began his Marriott career as part of the Market Planning and Feasibility team, where he helped the company assess the overall economic viability of new and existing hotels, balancing the company’s interests with the needs of hotel owners and developers, investors, lenders and operators.

That role prepared him to lead Marriott’s development efforts in the Western United States and Canada for its full-service hotel brands. Later, his responsibilities expanded to include North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2009, Mr. Capuano assumed global development responsibility. He began overseeing global design in 2014 and global operations in January 2020.

Mr. Capuano earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Hotel Administration. He is an active member of the Cornell Hotel Society, The Cornell School of Hotel Administration Dean’s Advisory Board, as well as the Business Roundtable and the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s IREFAC Council. Additionally, Mr. Capuano is an active member of the Board of Directors of Save Venice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the artistic heritage of Venice, Italy. He resides in Potomac, Maryland with his wife and daughter.

Fu is the co-anchor of "Bloomberg Markets Americas" on Bloomberg Television, as well as the network's flagship markets program "What'd You Miss?"

Based in New York, Fu has moderated discussion panels and interviewed business and political leaders for Bloomberg Television, including Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Inc. and Tony Blair, former U.K. Prime Minister. Fu covered the demise of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and the subsequent global credit crisis in 2008.

Before joining Bloomberg Television in 2007, Fu was a U.S. stocks editor for Bloomberg News. Prior to that, she oversaw Bloomberg News coverage of Asian equities, and reported on the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997. Fu began her journalism career at CNBC Asia in Hong Kong.

Fu graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in history and concentration in Asian American Studies. She has also studied Mandarin at Peking and National Taiwan Normal Universities.

After five years working in several financial positions in New York, San Francisco and London, Sébastien Bazin was appointed CEO of Hottinguer Rivaud Finances, an investment bank, in 1990, and then CEO of L’Immobilière Hôtelière, a hotel developer in France, in 1992. In 1997, he moved to Colony Capital, a private real estate investment firm, to head up its European branch and lead several acquisitions, principally in the hospitality sector (Générale des Eaux, Club Méditerranée, Lucien Barrière, Fairmont & Raffles, Buffalo Grill, Château Lascombes, Stadia Consulting and others).

He joined Accor’s Board of Directors in 2005 and, via Colony Capital, became a Paris Saint-Germain shareholder in 2006 and the club’s Chairman in 2009. In August 2013, he resigned from his duties at Colony Capital and was appointed Chairman and CEO of Accor. Sébastien is Vice-Chairman of the Gustave Roussy Foundation’s Supervisory Board, and has been a member of GE’s Board of Directors since 2016. 

Jane Sun is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Trip.com Group Limited. She first joined the company as the Chief Financial Officer in 2005, later serving as the Chief Operating Officer and the Co-President, before moving into the CEO role in 2016.

In the years since Ms. Sun joined, Trip.com Group has experienced a significant increase in its market capitalization, growing from about $1 billion to $20 billion, and has continued to rapidly expand its global footprint. Founded in 1999 with the mission of bringing the best travel experience to travelers, the company effectively adapted to the rise of mobile Internet, growing from a small tech company into a one-stop-shop for travel services for 400 million users worldwide. The company also has a firm belief in the ability for tourism to promote understanding and exchange, and to advance peaceful development. Ms. Sun led Trip.com Group’s expansion of its global presence by investing in the British travel search company, Skyscanner, and India’s largest online travel company, MakeMyTrip. The company also launched its own international brand Trip.com to serve customers from all over the world.

As the only female CEO in China’s high-tech industry, Ms. Sun proactively advocates gender equality, and has made it her mission to empower women to achieve balance and success in both their career and family lives. For example, Trip.com Group is the first company in China to offer egg-freezing as an employee benefit. Other female friendly policies include birth gifts and commuter benefits for pregnant workers. At Trip.com Group, female employees represent over half of the total workforce and a third of senior management.

Ms. Sun is well respected for her extensive experience in operating and managing online travel businesses, mergers and acquisitions, and financial reporting and operations, having received numerous accolades for her work in the industry. She is an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board member, a JPMorgan Asian Advisory Board member, Vice Chair of the World Travel & Tourism Council, member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Circle of Oxford University, member of the President’s Advisory Council for Public Health of Brown University, Co-Chair of the Development Advisory Board of University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, and a Board member and Business Leaders Group committee member of Business China established by Singapore’s Founding Prime Minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. In 2019, she was awarded an Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award and joined as a member of the Asia Society Board of Trustee. Forbes named her one of the Emergent 25 Asia’s Latest Star Businesswomen in 2018, and one of the Most Influential and Outstanding Businesswomen in China in 2017. She was also one of Fortune’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, and one of FastCompany’s Most Creative People in Business in 2017. During her tenure at Trip.com Group, she also won the Institutional Investor Awards for the Best CEO and the Best CFO. She also serves on the board of directors of TripAdvisor, Inc, MakeMyTrip Limited, iQIYI, Inc, and TAL Education Group.

Before joining Trip.com Group, Ms. Sun was head of the SEC and External Reporting Division of Applied Materials, Inc. since 1997. Prior to that, she was an audit manager at KPMG LLP in Silicon Valley, California. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a State of California Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Sun earned her Bachelor’s degree from the business school of the University of Florida, and graduated with high distinction. She also attended Peking University Law School, where she obtained her LLM degree.

Currently based in Hong Kong as an on-air correspondent for Bloomberg Television, Mr. Engle conveys breaking news on the business and financial markets of greater China and the rest of Asia.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, is one of the most recognisable figures in the global aviation industry. His vision and commitment enabled the ground-breaking development of Qatar Airways from a small regional carrier into one of the world’s leading global airlines in the span of just 20 years. Today, Qatar Airways flies one of the youngest, most sustainable and state-of-the-art fleets in the skies serving over 130 destinations across six continents. 

Under his leadership, Qatar Airways has become one of the world’s most highly-respected airlines, competing on a scale very few airlines achieve. As a result, passengers have recognised the airline’s commitment to the values of safety, security, innovation and quality of service by awarding it the ‘Airline of the Year’ for a record fifth time, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘Best Business Class Seat’ and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’ at the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. 

Widely known for his ambition and passion for innovation, H.E. Mr. Al Baker introduced the award winning Qsuite in March 2017. Featuring the industry’s first-ever double bed available in Business Class, with privacy panels that stow away, the unique and patented design allows passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private suites. The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky. 

He also ensures Qatar Airways leads the way in showcasing the best possible product, with the airline being the proud launch customer of the A350-900 in 2014 and A350-1000 in 2018, as well as being the regional launch customer for the Boeing Dreamliner 787 in 2015. 

In August 2017, H.E. Mr. Al Baker was announced as the Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the prestigious global aviation industry body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which came into effect in June 2018 for a period of one year. In November 2017 he was proudly named ‘Aviation Executive of the Year’ by the CAPA Centre for Aviation in recognition of his global influence and visionary approach to the airline industry. 

H.E. Mr. Al Baker is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO) and is a non-executive Director of Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH) - the company responsible for the running and development of the U.K.’s largest airport. In June 2015, the President of the Republic of France, Francois Hollande, presented H.E. Mr. Al Baker with the Legion of Honour in recognition of his leadership in the aviation industry. 2 In 2019 H.E. Mr. Al Baker was appointed Secretary-General of Qatar’s National Tourism Council (NTC). 

A highly motivated individual, H.E. Mr. Al Baker is a successful businessman in Doha and beyond, holds a private pilot license and is also CEO of several divisions of Qatar’s national airline – including Qatar Executive, Hamad International Airport, Qatar Aviation Services, Qatar Aircraft Catering Company, Qatar Distribution Company, Qatar Duty Free and Internal Media Services, to name a few.

Born in Doha, he is a graduate in Economics and Commerce and worked at various levels in the Civil Aviation Directorate before being tasked with creating the world’s best airline in 1997.

Luis Gallego became International Airlines Group’s chief executive in September 2020, joining from Iberia where he was chairman and chief executive from January 2014 having been appointed chief executive in March 2013.

IAG is the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. It’s one of the world’s largest airline groups with 533 aircraft flying to 279 destinations and carrying around 118 million passengers each year (pre-COVID).

During his tenure at Iberia, he turned the airline around as well as improving its efficiency, customer service and brand. Before that, Luis launched Iberia Express, as chief executive from January 2012, making the new Iberia subsidiary one of the most efficient and punctual airlines in Europe.

He joined Iberia Express from Vueling where he was chief operating officer from 2009, when the airline merged with the low-cost carrier Clickair which he co-founded in 2006. He held various posts at Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum between 1997 and 2006.

Born in Madrid, he graduated in aeronautical engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and received an MBA from the IESE Business School.

David Calhoun is president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company. He oversees the strategic direction of the Chicago-based aerospace company, which employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes; defense, space and security systems; and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries.

Calhoun, 64, became Boeing president and chief executive in January 2020. He has served as a member of Boeing’s board of directors since 2009 and served as chairman of the company’s board of directors from October to December 2019.

Calhoun has extensive expertise in a wide array of strategic, business, safety and regulatory matters across several industries as a result of his executive, management and operational experience.

Prior to leading Boeing, Calhoun served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at The Blackstone Group from January 2014. During his time with the investment firm, he focused on creating and driving added-value initiatives with Blackstone’s portfolio company CEOs.

Previously, he also served as executive chairman of the board for Nielsen Holdings from January 2014 to January 2016. He joined Nielsen in 2006 as chief executive officer shortly after it was acquired through a consortium of private equity investors, including Blackstone. Throughout his seven-year Nielsen tenure, Calhoun led the company’s transformation into a leading global information and measurement firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Calhoun began his career at The General Electric Company (GE), where he rose to vice chairman of the company and president and chief executive officer of GE Infrastructure, its largest business unit. During his 26 years at GE, he held a number of operating, finance and marketing roles, and led multiple business units, including GE Transportation and GE Aircraft Engines.

Calhoun is a member of the board of directors of Caterpillar Inc. and a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies. He also is a member of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Advisory Council.

A native of Pennsylvania, Calhoun holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech. He is co-author of the book “How Companies Win” and is an avid golfer and skier. He is married with four children.

Guy Johnson is the co-anchor of “Bloomberg Markets” and “Bloomberg Markets: European Close” on Bloomberg Television, and “The Cable” on Bloomberg Radio.

Based in London, Guy Johnson covers top business, economic and market-moving stories from around the world.

Johnson brings nearly two decades of experience as a top financial broadcast journalist. He joined Bloomberg in 2012 from his role as an anchor at CNBC Europe. Earlier in his career, he reported for Financial Times Television and ITN (Channel 5).

Throughout his career, Johnson has covered major economic, corporate events and political events from the European Financial Crisis, to the Dotcom bubble, to the election of Donald Trump.

Johnson has also reported extensively on the aerospace sector covering many of the industry’s landmark events such as the development and first flight of the Airbus A380.

He holds a degree in Politics and International Relations from Lancaster University.

Herbert Diess was born in Munich on October 24, 1958.

He started his career as a scientific assistant at the Munich Technical University, where he obtained a doctorate in the field of assembly automation in 1987.

In 1989, he continued his career with Robert Bosch GmbH. In 1990, Diess was appointed Technical Director, Planning and Maintenance, of the plant at Treto in Spain.

In 1996, Diess joined BMW AG as Director, Long-Term and Structural Planning. From 1997, he headed the Process Consulting Department. He then was Director of BMW’s Birmingham plant, later of the plant in Oxford. In 2003, he was appointed Director of BMW Motorcycles. In 2007, he became Member of the Board of Management, Purchasing and Supplier Network, and, in 2012, Member of the Board of Management, Development.

In 2015, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG appointed him Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, a position which he held until July 1, 2020.

In 2018, Diess was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and has assigned responsibility for the China Board of Management.

Anna Edwards is the co-anchor of “Bloomberg Daybreak Europe” on Bloomberg Television and a frequent host of “Bloomberg Daybreak Europe” on Bloomberg Radio.

Anna has more than ten years experience in business news having previously worked at CNBC Europe and freelanced for CNN in London. Before working in TV Anna was an equity analyst at UBS and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Anna has interviewed business leaders, politicians and key economy figures including Bob Diamond, Sir Richard Branson, Justin King, Paul Walsh, Michael O’Leary, Ben Verwaayen, Alistair Darling, Lord Digby Jones, Christine Lagarde, Bill Gross, Jim Rogers, Paul Krugman, Steven Roach, Nouriel Roubini and many more.

Dr. Hage G. Geingob was sworn in on 21 March 2015 as the third President of the Republic of Namibia. In 2017, he was elected as President of the ruling SWAPO Party of Namibia, after having served as the Vice President of the Party since 2007. President Geingob holds a B.A in Political Science from Fordham University New York in 1970; an M.A in International Relations, New School for Social Research in 1974; and a PhD from Leeds University in the United Kingdom in 2004. 

Born on 3 August 1941 in the district of Grootfontein, he began his schooling in Otavi in 1948. In 1958 he enrolled Augustineum College where he became a political activist. Upon completion of his teacher’s training in 1961, he started teaching at Tsumeb, partaking in SWAPO activities, joining the movement officially in 1962.  

On 3 April 1964, Dr. Geingob left Namibia (then South West Africa), to join the liberation movement in exile, travelled through Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and reached the United States of America where he schooled at Temple University, while serving as petitioner and SWAPO representative to the Americas.

Following the termination of South Africa’s mandate over Namibia, the United Nations assumed direct responsibility and established a Nationhood Program for Namibia that included the United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) in Lusaka, Zambia. Dr. Geingob became founding Director of UNIN, and served the Institute for 12 years. In that capacity, President Geingob was responsible for overseeing the training of Namibians for a future civil service. Later, he would be chosen to lead the return of Namibians from exile under United Nations Security Council Resolution 435.

Following the successful United Nations supervised elections in 1989 Dr. Geingob was elected Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, responsible for drafting the Namibian Constitution. At Independence, he was appointed Prime Minister and served for twelve and a half years in that position before taking a brief hiatus from the political sphere. 

Dr. Geingob was elected as the Vice President of SWAPO Party during the SWAPO Party Congress that took place in November 2007. In 2008, Dr. Geingob was appointed as the Minister of Trade and Industry, driving ambitious reforms, including provision of assistance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) through the Equipment Aid Scheme, drafting the Industrial Policy and the creation of the SME Bank. 

In 2012, Dr. Geingob was re-elected at the SWAPO Party Congress as Vice President of the SWAPO Party of Namibia. Following that victory, Dr. Geingob was reappointed as Prime Minister until he was elected as President of the Republic of Namibia in November 2014. 

Dr. Geingob is driven by the motto of “One Namibia, One Nation”, and is mobilizing under the theme “No one should feel left out”. President Geingob initiated in 2016 the Harambee Prosperity Plan through which he champions prosperity and poverty eradication in Namibia.

President Geingob is a recipient of several awards in recognition of his contributions to a better humanity. He is a keen sports follower, and enjoys reading.

Michael began his career in chartered accountancy, training originally with Ernst and Young in 1980, before taking his first Group Finance Director position at Bassett Foods PLC in 1986 gaining an MBA during this time. 

In 1989 he was appointed Group Finance Director of H.P. Bulmer Holdings PLC, before moving in to the retail space in 1994 as Managing Director of Lloyds Chemists PLC. After a period of senior directorship roles in retail, Michael was invited to join Harrods as Managing Director in 2005. During his time at Harrods he is overseen programmes of huge growth and expansion within the luxury department store, as well as the transition to new ownership by the Qatar Investment Authority. 

Michael is a leading voice in the luxury industry and currently holds the position of Chairman of Walpole, the official sector body for UK luxury. He was also appointed to the V&A Corporate Advisory Board in August 2020.

Thomas Nørøxe joined the management team in 2019 and became CEO in 2021. Prior to JOE & THE JUICE, he was a Partner with Valedo Partners, a Nordic middle-market private equity firm, where he, among other portfolio companies, was involved with JOE & THE JUICE from the time when Valedo Partners became a shareholder in 2013. 

He was a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman for the Audit- and Risk Committees before joining the management team. Thomas’s career began at UBS Investment Bank in London where he was a director - he left in 2009. He holds a M.Sc. In Finance and Accounting from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

Hussain Sajwani is the founder of the global property development company DAMAC Properties. A self-made billionaire, Hussain has been recognised as one of the most influential Arabs, among many other accolades.                              

As a pioneer of the property market expansion in Dubai, in the mid-90s, he built several hotels to accommodate the growing influx of people coming to the emirate to do business and trade. In 2002, Hussain identified a growing market opportunity and established DAMAC Properties, which has grown to become one of the largest property development companies in the Middle East.

Today, DAMAC Properties has several prestigious projects in key global cities like Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Baghdad, Beirut, Doha, Toronto, Maldives and London, employing nearly 2,500 professionals. To date, DAMAC Properties has delivered circa 39,400 properties and has circa 28,000 properties at various stages of development.                               

As a market leader, DAMAC Properties has also joined forces with some of the most recognisable lifestyle brands to bring distinguished living concepts to the market. Projects include luxury apartments and villas with interiors by Italian fashion-houses Versace Home, Fendi Casa, de, GRISOGONO, Cavalli and Just Cavalli and the uniquely conceptualised Paramount Hotels & Resorts, which delivers serviced living at its most opulent.                    

Hussain has a proven track record of successful forays into the global equity and capital markets as an astute businessman and investor. Under his strategic investment arm, The DICO Group (www.dicogroup.com), he holds investment securities portfolios in several regional and global markets.

DICO focuses on investments in new concepts, private equities, mergers and acquisitions, and holds majority and minority holdings in publicly traded companies and industries like luxury fashion, real estate, hospitality, manufacturing, etc. The most recent acquisition for The DICO Group was of the Italian fashion group Roberto Cavalli SPA which was finalised in December 2019, and the launch of digital infrastructure company, Edgenex in 2021.

Some of the DICO Group’s most notable investments include DAMAC Towers Nine Elms in London, a luxury resort in the Maldives and shopping malls in Iraq. Today the DICO Group’s global footprint extends across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

A graduate of the University of Washington, Hussain started his career as a Contracts Manager in GASCO, a subsidiary of ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company). After a short period, he established his own catering business in 1982.                       

Hussain resides in Dubai with his wife and four children, Ali Sajwani, Amira Sajwani, Abbas Sajwani and Mehdi Sajwani. Alongside his family, Hussain advocates for access to quality education under the Hussain Sajwani – DAMAC Foundation, including the famous One Million Arab Coders, an initiative that aims to empower one million Arabs with the language of the future, computer coding.

In addition, the Foundation has also launched the ‘Fresh Slate’ initiative in collaboration with the Dubai Police General Headquarters aimed at aiding detainees in Dubai’s Punitive and Correctional Institutions who have been charged for petty offences with the opportunity for a second chance at life.

Madame Monica Geingos, First Lady of the Republic of Namibia is a qualified lawyer. Before becoming the First Lady in 2015, Madame Geingos was the Managing Director of Namibia’s largest private equity fund served on the Boards of large public and private sector companies as either Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson. She was awarded National Honours (Most Distinguished Order of Namibia) for ”outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development of Namibia” and was inducted into the Namibian Business Hall of Fame. She has also received numerous awards such as the Namibian Business Personality of the Year and Most Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year. Madam Geingos has previously been ranked by various global organisations and publications as one of Africa’s top 100 Economic Leaders. Due to her extensive corporate experience, she was a long-standing member of high level policy advisory Boards such as the President’s Economic Advisory Council, the SWAPO Party Think Tank and the National Council of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the mandate to advise on national policy formulation and implementation.

As First Lady, Madame Geingos has combined her rich experience as an entrepreneur with President Geingob’s war on poverty and inequality. Through the One Economy Foundation, the First Lady has initiated numerous programs which focus on breaking the poverty cycle. A flagship project in this regard is the One Nation Fund which provides micro business owners, who operate on the periphery of the economy, access to collateral free loans, entrepreneurial training and mentorship. Another flagship program is the Talented Individual Programme, an educational fellowship which provides talented children from low-income families the opportunity to access quality education, while concurrently developing their characters by providing them with a full spectrum of financial and psycho-social support.

Madame Geingos is also a UNAIDS Special Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls. This is a perfect fit with the One Economy Foundation’s #BeFree Movement, a youth-driven program which concerns itself with the challenges holding young people back from reaching their potential.

Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Group, has made her mark through various endeavours in the corporate world; Forbes has described her as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman”. Mo oversees all the EbonyLife Group divisions, including EbonyLife Media, comprising EbonyLife Films and EbonyLife Studios, as well as the EbonyLife Creative Academy, a school aimed at accelerating filmmaking skills, and EbonyLife Place, Nigeria’s first luxury entertainment resort.

She has produced several highest-grossing blockbusters, including Fifty, The Wedding Party, Chief Daddy, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel and Your Excellency. She executive produced Òlòtūré, a Netflix Original feature film that exposes the shady business of human trafficking in Nigeria.

EbonyLife Media has secured several production collaborations with international studios, including Sony, AMC Networks (USA), Netflix, Starz and Lionsgate, BBC, Will and Jada Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Will Packer Productions. The EbonyLife Group recently launched the EbonyLife Creative Academy in partnership with the Lagos State Government, the fifth largest economy in Africa.

Mo is highly sought after for her African and global creative industry knowledge. She has spoken at the Wharton School of Business, Cambridge University Judge School of Business, NYU, Oxford University, and Harvard University. Mo has received numerous awards and international recognition throughout the years.

Mo has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences (The Oscars) in the PRODUCER membership category. The only Sub-Saharan African woman selected in this category.

Vimal Shah is the Chairman of Bidco Africa, East Africa’s leading manufacturer of Edible Oils, Hygiene and Personal Care products, and Food & Beverages. Bidco has over 60 brands and a footprint in 18 African countries.

He is a distinguished global leader who is making an impactful difference in all fronts. A believer in the growth and a robust economic potential in Africa and its people. Vimal is passionate about Entrepreneurship and believes, living the true spirit, that it is the strong pillar that will move an Economic Africa forward.

Born in Kenya in 1960, Vimal went through his education in Kenya, going ahead to acquire an Accounting and Finance - Business Administration degree from United States International University – Africa, Nairobi Campus, that set the pace for his interest in Entrepreneurship. With a short-lived career in Insurance, Vimal’s aggression and enterprising spirit steered him to taking a bold move to set up a new direction for the family-owned business in textile manufacturing.

Backed by a well-researched strategy, business was shaky and Vimal, coming together with his father B. D. Shah (whose name coined up the name BIDCO) and his elder brother Tarun Shah, moved to set foot in soap manufacturing in 1985 – founding BIDCO. The humble beginning in a small business unit was able to wade through raging waters of competition, tough economic times and uncertain sources of capital for expansion to become one of the leading consumer goods manufacturers in East Africa today.

Under their leadership, they led the strategic growth and expansion that saw entry into Uganda, Tanzania and Madagascar with manufacturing units to serve the markets. Vimal has also been in the front line to crafting multiple winning partnerships – one of the key pillars that has set Bidco apart from its peers. The partnerships include joint ventures with leading global brands such as Wilmar with whom the Bidco Uganda Ltd partnership was began in agribusiness and Oil Palm Plantations, Coro – a leading juices manufacturer in Denmark and Monarch Beverages of Atlanta, USA – from whom Bidco’s licence for beverage brands is. In 2016, Bidco also partnered with Land O’Lakes of America, a leading farmers owned agribusiness cooperative, to revamp the company’s animal feeds manufacturing – borrowing from the top-notch technology and innovation.

He has also, over the years, championed Innovation and initiatives towards a world-class excellence in the company’s operations that has earned Bidco numerous awards, accolades and global recognition in Energy Management, Business Leadership, ICT, Manufacturing and Sustainability fronts.

Chatri Sityodtong is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ONE, Asia’s largest global sports media platform with a broadcast to 150+ countries around the world.

According to Nielsen, ONE ranks amongst the world’s top 10 biggest sports media properties in terms of viewership and engagement. Through its marquee sports properties (ONE Championship and ONE Esports) and its passionate millennial community, ONE is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural phenomena, Martial Arts and Gaming, and the deep-rooted values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. ONE is on a mission to unleash real-life superheroes, tell stories, celebrate values, ignite dreams, inspire nations, and change the world.

Sityodtong is a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist from Thailand. He is also the star of The Apprentice, the award-winning global reality TV series on Netflix. His rags-to-riches life story has inspired millions around the world on BBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, and other major media. Most recently, he was named Asia’s King of Martial Arts by the Financial Times, and Asia’s 2nd Most Powerful Person in Sports by FOX Sports. Business Insider also ranked him as one of Asia’s top 100 business leaders. He is a perennial keynote speaker at the world’s top business conferences such as Forbes Global CEO Conference, Milken Institute, CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards, YPO Edge, Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), Cannes Lions, Asian Leadership Conference, and others. Sityodtong is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, one of the world’s top business schools.

Inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, Sityodtong has over 35+ years of martial arts experience as a student, a fighter, a teacher, and a coach. Sityodtong is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under the legendary Kru Yodtong Senanan of the world-renowned Sityodtong Gym in Thailand. He also holds a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie.

Chatri Sityodtong holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.

• Creator and director of the Circuito de Calafat (Tarragona) from September 1974 to 1978.
• Moved to Madrid and was named director of Jarama circuit, responsible for all RACE (Royal Automobile Club of Spain) activities for a decade. During his time at Jarama, the track hosted four Formula 1 Grands Prix and 10 motorcycle racing Grands Prix.
• Managed the Ford-RACE rally team (1987-1988), during which time Carlos Sainz won the Spanish championship in what would become his speciality.
• Presented with the Silver Medal of Sports Merit by the Spanish Federation of Motorcycle Racing in 1986
• In 1988, returned to Barcelona after being named director of the “Consortium for the construction of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya” and director of the sporting division of the Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya (RACC).
• Organised sporting events including the Rally Catalunya-Costa Brava, the Baja Aragón and the stage of the Paris-Barcelona-Dakar in the capital of Catalonia
• In 1991, Dorna Sports acquired the commercial and television rights to what is now the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship. Carmelo Ezpeleta joined the company in March of that year as director of the motorsport department. In 1994 he was named Executive Director and since 1994 has been CEO.
• In 2000, was presented with the Gold Medal of Sports Merit by the Spanish Federation of Motorcycle Racing
• In 2010, was presented with The Royal Order of Sports Merit, a Spanish civil order.
• In 2013, on behalf of Dorna, received the National Award for Arts and Sciences from His Majesty the King, Felipe VI (then Prince of Asturias).
• Since 1992, has attended all 500 motorcycle racing Grands Prix, a milestone will be reached in Austin 2022.

Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is engaged in the fields of formal and informal education. She is Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Doha Film Institute, Reach Out to Asia, and Qatar Leadership Centre. In having the privilege to serve her country in multiple fields – among them culture, leadership, education, and philanthropy – she has been able to facilitate conversations across borders and fields. As a public servant, her objective is to invest in Qatar’s local community and celebrate the country’s diversity using the visual arts as a vehicle for communication. Her current interests are in human development, cultural regionalism, environmental stewardship and sustainability, and economic growth using culture as a catalyst for education, dialogue, and exchange. Through her public work and support of the Qatar Vision 2030, she is building an exciting creative future for the country that will connect artistic communities in all areas of culture.

Qatar Museums
Through her work as Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Sheikha Al Mayassa connects and amplifies the nation's growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art installations, and programmes. Qatar Museums provides authentic and inspiring cultural experiences, spearheads innovative research and environmental education through exhibitions and programing, and preserves and expands the nation’s cultural offerings, sharing art and culture from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region with the world and enriching the lives of citizens, residents, and visitors. QM also initiates and supports projects that nurture artistic talent and create opportunities to build a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure.

Doha Film Institute
Sheikha Al Mayassa founded the Doha Film Institute (DFI) with the aim of building a dynamic film industry in Qatar and nurturing regional storytellers. DFI is dedicated to film appreciation, financing, and education. Recognizing the importance of film as a form of creative expression and community solidarity, Sheikha Al Mayassa has conceived of the Doha Film Institute as an all-encompassing hub for the art of cinema. DFI hosts the annual Ajyal Film Festival in Katara Cultural Village, the mentorship program Qumra, and workshops for both professionals and amateurs, while serving as a resource that is global in scope.

Qatar Leadership Centre
As Chairperson of Qatar Leadership Centre, Sheikha Al Mayassa works to advance the nation’s promising young talent and strengthen the skills of the professional workforce in Qatar. Established in 2010 by Amiri Decree as a national platform for leadership excellence, Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) provides customized executive education to Qatari professionals from a range of public institutions and private sector enterprises across Qatar. More than 700 alumni have completed QLC’s National Leadership Program, conducted in partnership with leading universities. The Centre’s Institutional Programs have provided specialized managerial training for major governmental organizations since 2014.

Reach Out to Asia
In addition to her domestic focus, Sheikha Al Mayassa works to provide quality education to those in need farther afield. She serves as the chairperson of Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), which envisions a world where all young people have access to the resources they require to realize their potential. With its partners, ROTA works to ensure that people affected by crisis across Asia have continuing access to high-quality primary and secondary education.

Among her other leadership roles, Sheikha Al Mayassa is Co-Chairperson of the Joint Advisory Board of Georgetown University Qatar, Co-Chairperson of Fashion Trust Arabia, Vice-Chairperson of Education Above All, and a Member of the Qatar Foundation Board of Trustees. She is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Rhode Island School of Design; a Founding Member of the Environmental Council of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; a Member of the Collections Council of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and a Member of the Board of Advisors of Common Sense Media.

H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi is the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible for coordinating amongst public and private entities to ensure that infrastructure and development projects are delivered in readiness for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

His appointment in March 2011 as Secretary General followed on from his role as Chief Executive Officer in Qatar’s 2022 Bid Committee, in which he worked closely with Bid Chairman, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, promoting Qatar’s ultimately successful attempt to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the Middle East for the first time.

In addition to this, he also serves as the Chairman of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, - the joint venture between FIFA and the SC responsible for organising and staging the event. In 2013, he was appointed to FIFA’s World Cup Organising Committee (the committee responsible for all matters pertaining to the FIFA World Cup) as Special Advisor.

A lawyer by profession, Al Thawadi previously served as General Counsel for Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Qatar Holding, entities founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the national economy by diversifying into new asset classes and growing Qatar’s long-term strategic investments.

He was appointed to Qatar Investment Authority's board of directors by H.H. the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in July 2020.

Al Thawadi also holds board positions on the National Tourism Council, at Katara Hospitality, Qatari Diar, and Qatar International Islamic Bank.

He is a Joint Advisory Board member at Northwestern University Qatar and an Advisory Council member at Hamad bin Khalifa University (College of Humanities and Social Sciences) and Qatar University (College of Business and Economics).

Al Thawadi is a graduate in Law from the University of Sheffield and speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, and French.

Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA President on 26 February 2016, in the period of the worst crisis in the football world governing body’s history. Re-elected on 5 June 2019, he has led the institution into a new era of stability, transparency, and prosperity, making FIFA a well-respected and trusted institution and a reliable partner to many.

Under his presidency, FIFA went through a series of internal good governance reforms. Unprecedented financial results coupled with a significant increase in investment and oversight of football development funds in FIFA’s 211 member associations were also reached, together with the creation of a dedicated Women’s Football Division, and the integration and commitment to Human Rights in FIFA’s statutes. FIFA also signed a number of partnerships - with UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UN Women, the Council of Europe, the African Union, the Caribbean Community and the Pacific Islands Forum - aiming to use the social power of football as a tool to help face global challenges and achieve universal goals.

Before being elected FIFA President, Gianni Infantino was the UEFA General Secretary since October 2009, having joined the organisation in 2000. Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, under his full name, was born on 23 March 1970 and fluently speaks six languages.