Category: Invited guests

Ambassador of Bangladesh to UAE and Permanent Representative to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency). His Excellency Mohammed Abu Zafar, a career diplomat, joined Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs) in 1991. During his 31 years of service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, he served in different capacities at home and abroad. Prior to his diplomatic career, he worked in the Ministry of Post & Telecommunication as well as in the Ministry of Agriculture since 1987. 

Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United Arab Emirates.
At the Federal Chancellery in Vienna, H.E. Dr. Etienne Berchtold previously worked as Foreign and European policy spokesperson for three Austrian Chancellors. Before that, Etienne Berchtold, who studied law, worked for several years as spokesperson for the Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz, respectively before among others as an employee at the Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels and for Shell Austria GmbH in Austria.

Partner and Director at the Boston Consulting Group. Based in Morocco, Mr. Zrikem is BCG’s Public Sector Practice node for Africa. He serves clients in governments on various issues (social protection, food systems, trade, investment, and climate change). Before joining BCG, he was a Partner at Roland Berger and worked for Azura, a leading agriculture Moroccan company. Prior to that, Mr. Zrikem served as an adviser to the Moroccan Prime Minister and a Project Director at Sciences Po Paris. Mr. Zrikem studied at École normale supérieure, Sciences Po Paris and La Sorbonne.

Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Investment Corporation of Dubai – ICD. He is the Chief Operating Officer of ICD, Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund ($320 billion AUM). Leading the corporate functions, he supports the Managing Director in the corporate strategy development and is responsible for the efficient operational management of the organization with the aim of optimizing business performance. He is a member of several boards, including IHI – International Hotel Investments, Dangote Cement, Dubai Global Connect and SmartStream. Prior to joining ICD, he was with Xerox for over 25 years during which he held several board, general management, leadership and transformation roles in Europe, North America and globally. His last position was Corporate Officer and President, Channel Partner Operations for Xerox based in New York. In this role, he led an end-to-end global business generating over $10 billion in revenue. On a social and humanitarian level, he has always been very active in the fields of education, innovation and health. He is a member of the board of directors of IPEMED (Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranée). He studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, holds an engineering degree from the National School of State Public Works – ENTPE (France) and is also graduated in Business Administration – Strategy and Management – from ESSEC (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) in Paris. He has lived in France, Japan, USA, Spain, Italy, UK and Dubai.

Former President of International Public Affairs and Sustainability at UPS. An experienced global leader, Mrs. Naas leads teams in the development and execution of strategies in complex, regulated environments. In her previous role, she led efforts to advance strategies for UPS and its customers on issues including climate change, cross-border trade, and digitalization. She began her UPS career joining as the Head of Public Affairs in the then-EMEA Region. Prior to joining UPS, she worked for Citigroup in the Global Government Affairs team. She opened Citigroup’s first government affairs office in Brussels, where she advanced legislative and regulatory strategies on issues that arose after the 2008 Financial Crisis. She started her career at the US Department of Commerce, where she worked for 13 years in various roles covering global commercial issues. Her final role was to lead the office of Europe, where she oversaw US-European commercial issues. She is an experienced Director on various not-for-profit Board of Directors. Mrs. Naas has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a US and Belgian citizen.

Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Before taking on this position, H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy was Vice Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). He has also served as Deputy Governor for Technical Affairs at SAMA, Director General at Economic Research and Statistics, as well as Director of Training, Research and Information at the Institute of Banking. Before that, he taught Economics at the King Saud University. Dr. Al Hamidy was a member of the Board of Executive Directors in the Arab Monetary Fund, as well as other organizations. He has participated in international meetings such as G20, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), as well as meetings of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Financial Stability Board (FSB), and Council of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB). In addition, with his appointment as Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Al Hamidy also holds the position of Chief Executive Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Arab Trade Financing Program “ATFP” and Chairman of the Board of “BUNA”.

French Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates since December 2022. Mr. Nicolas Niemtchinow studied at École Nationale d’Administration (ENA), École Normale Supérieure (ENS), and Sciences Po Paris (IEP, Paris), BA and MA in History. He joined the Foreign Service in 1995. He holds the rank of Minister plenipotentiary. He was first desk officer for NATO and European Defense in the Strategic Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995-1998). He was posted to the French Embassy in Moscow, as first Secretary, then to the French Embassy in Amman, as Deputy Head of Mission. He was subsequently appointed as Deputy Director of Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2009). He then served as the diplomatic adviser to the Minister of Defense (2010-2011) and Deputy Director of the State Minister’s private office at the Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs (2011-2012). He was appointed Ambassador, permanent representative of France to the United Nations’ Office in Geneva and to the international organizations in Switzerland (2012-2015) then Deputy General Director to the International Labour Organization (ILO, UN-Geneva) from 2015 to 2017. From October 2017 to November 2022, he served as Strategy Director at Ministry of Defense.

Head of business development and commercialization of Carbfix, a knowledge-based company offering consultancy and service in the field of capturing CO2. Mr. Lárusson holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and a BSc degree in business management and international business from the University of South Carolina Columbia. He has a vast global business background, including extensive experience in finance and business development. Mr. Lárusson has served as a board member for several IT and financial companies both in Iceland and abroad after having been the CEO of On-Waves (maritime mobile network communications) between 2013 and 2020 (Reykjavik, Rotterdam, Copenhagen). Prior to that Mr. Lárusson headed Síminn Telecommunications business development since the privatization of the company in 2005 (London, Reykjavik, and Copenhagen) and worked in the banking industry for both Kaupthing bank and Reykjavik Savings Bank in corporate, investment banking as well as asset management from 1996.

Vice Chairman & CEO of the Federation of Korean Industries. Prior to joining the FKI, he served as Global Advisor for Hyundai Motor Group. He served as Korean Ambassador to Indonesia. He also worked in Brussels as Korean Ambassador to the European Union and Belgium. Amb. Kim has special ties and experiences with EU affairs, ASEAN and Indonesia, in particular. During his career, he made significant contributions to the promotion of Korea’s partnership with the EU and ASEAN through summit meeting preparations and substantial progresses in trade, investment, and people–to–people exchanges. He has worked together with the Indonesian Government in reaching a final conclusion of Indonesia – Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK CEPA). As a career foreign service officer, he has served five overseas posts (US, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, EU/Belgium) and worked at various positions within the Korean Government ever since he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. He has worked for President Lee Myung-bak as Chief of Presidential Protocol at the office of the President. He earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, USA and is a distinguished graduate of Seoul National University.

Special Envoy for Strategic and International Affairs Nuclearelectrica. Ms. Birchall works particularly within the North American Energy and Security Partnership, as well as other strategic partnerships. With over 20 years of experience in law, foreign policy and international relations, she has a law degree from the University of Bucharest, a master’s degree and a doctorate in law from the prestigious Yale Law School, USA. She worked on Wall Street as a lawyer at one of the largest law firms in the world. Since 2003, Ms. Birchall has returned home with her family and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs team, promoting Romania’s interests of integration in NATO and EU membership. Subsequently, she decided to get involved in political life by holding the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Romania’s Strategic Partnerships, Minister of Justice, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, High Government Representative for US Relations and European Affairs, member of the Romanian Parliament, President of the Commission for European Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, President of the Special Commission for the Presidency of Romania at the European Union Council, President of the Delegation of the Romanian Parliament to the OSCE.

Founder and CEO of AirCapture, a supplier of clean CO2 captured from the atmosphere to radically improve the environment, the economy, and our lives. He is a technologist, chemist, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the DAC space. He has over 20 years’ experience in renewable and climate technology development and over a decade of experience with DAC and CO2 utilization technologies. He developed the world’s first energy-positive wastewater treatment platform as Founder & CEO of Algae Systems. He has built and commercialized technologies in CO2, water, AgTech, waste treatment, and biofuels.

Director of the Center for Cyber-Physical System at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, and Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Milano, where he leads the SESAR research lab, and President of the National Interuniversity Consortium for Computer Science. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber-physical systems, secure service-oriented architectures, privacy-preserving big data analytics and cyber-physical systems security. He holds/has held visiting positions at a number of international institutions, including in the US, Japan, Australia and France. He is a Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Progress of Science. He has been Principal Investigator in a number of large-scale research projects funded by the European Commission, the Italian Ministry of Research and by private companies. He serves in the editorial board of several international journals. Ernesto Damiani is an ACM Distinguished Scientist and a Senior Member of the IEEE. He received the IEEE IES Chester-Sall Award in 2007, the IEEE ICWS/Service Society Stephen S. Yau Award and the IEEE TCHS Research and Innovation Award.

Founder of Intisar Foundation. HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, author, film producer, columnist, and a princess of the AlSabah family, the ruling family of Kuwait. Her pioneering contribution to humanity’s greatest cause – Peace – is embodied in Intisar Foundation which has developed and introduced an innovative approach to the field of Peacebuilding that is rooted in enabling the psychological recovery and self-empowerment of women traumatised by war and violence through the use of drama therapy. HH Sheikha Intisar received the insignia of the Knight in the Order of the Crown by His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium, and the insignia of the Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour by H.E. Former French President François Holland. She was also included in the 50 Most Influential Women in The Arab World in 2021 by CEO Middle East, MOJEH 100 Women in the MENA region 2022, Arabian Business 50 Inspiring Women Leaders 2023 by Arabian Business, Most Creative People in Business in the Middle East 2023 by Fast Company Middle East, among other recognitions. In addition to her philanthropic work, HH Sheikha Intisar’s social enterprises (Intisars and Ebbarra) spearhead a new movement of women’s self-empowerment, while her non-profit organisations (Alnowair and Bareec) supplement the formal education system and improve organisational cultures with programmes in socio-emotional skills based upon positive psychology.

Chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (Integrity Council), an independent governance body for the voluntary carbon market. Ms. Nazareth has devoted significant attention to virtually all aspects of the body’s workstreams, and represents the Integrity Council in venues across the globe. She has decades of experience in financial services regulation and corporate governance. She currently serves as Senior Counsel at the global law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, having previously served as a Partner of the firm and the Head of the Washington DC office. She also led the firm’s Trading and Markets practice within the Financial Institutions Group. She was a key player in US financial services regulation for nearly a decade, most notably as a Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and as the SEC’s Director of the Division of Trading and Markets. She is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Throughout his professional journey, he served as Assistant to the Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, then assumed the role of Head of the First Deputy Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Armenia. Continuing in the political arena, Mr. Kostanyan became the Spokesperson of the “Civil Contract” Party and subsequently served as Assistant to the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, followed by the position of Adviser to the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. In 2021, he ventured into diplomacy, taking on the roles of Assistant and later Adviser to the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Notably, in 2023, Mr. Kostanyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs by the decision of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Mr. Kostanyan pursued his studies in Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University. His academic pursuits include a Public Administration course at the University of Massachusetts (USA) in 2012, courses in Conflictology and Human Rights of the Council of Europe from 2012 to 2017, and an Iranian Studies Course at Payame Noor University (Tehran) in 2018.

CEO and a board member of Intisar Foundation, the first and only charity (founded by HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah), operating in the Middle East that provides psychological support to women affected by war, armed conflicts, trauma and violence through Drama Therapy. Intisar Foundation’s mission is also the bring Peace to the region through mental health. Karima Anbar is also the Founding Member and Director General of the Global Diwan, an international club connecting East and West leaders and established to boost business, academic, cultural projects and initiatives through exclusive events. The Global Diwan provides to its members a platform for unique opportunities of meeting and networking in Europe and in the main Arab capital cities. Karima Anbar started her career as a French Diplomat in the field of human rights, women rights, political analysis and civil societies in Arab countries. 

CEO of Veracity Worldwide, the New York-based global risk and business intelligence firm, and a strategic advisor to corporate leaders and investors on geopolitical risk and market intelligence. Prior to joining Veracity, he worked at McKinsey & Company on strategy and risk management topics spanning five continents and multiple industries. As a US diplomat, he served as Special Assistant to two Deputy Secretaries of State and Chief of Staff at the US Embassy in Pakistan, with additional postings in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, and at the US Mission to the OSCE. Mr. Truesdale is a US Navy veteran and holds degrees from Stanford, Harvard, and the Fletcher School at Tufts.

Group Head of Investment Banking at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), member of the Executive Committee. With a focus on regional expansion, Martin has led the development of the FAB product proposition and the client coverage model and is reinforcing FAB’s positioning as a regional leader in the Investment Banking space. Prior to joining FAB, Martin held several senior positions with HSBC group, including Deputy Chairman and CEO for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, and was Group General Manager at HSBC. He was also the CEO for HSBC Australia and for HSBC Korea and held senior leadership positions over two decades at HSBC Global Banking and Markets across the Middle East, the UK and Europe. In addition to leading FAB’s Investment Banking franchise, Martin is the Chairman of the bank’s FAB Suisse subsidiary and Vice Chairman for the FAB Capital Saudi Arabia Board. He is also a trustee of the Universite Paris II Assas, Sorbonne, and was appointed by French Prime Minister decree a Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur de la France in 2001. Martin graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, holds a Master’s in Law from La Sorbonne University, Paris, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Paris Nanterre University.

Secretary of the French national committee on generative Artificial Intelligence and deputy head of the Corps des mines, a talent development program recruiting each year top 18 French engineers to work as civil servants in energy and environmental policy, digital transformation as well economic and industrial development. Before that, Arno Amabile has brought the State’s support for economic and industrial development in the eastern region around Strasbourg, heading the local efforts to support and stimulate the economy during the pandemic. He has also worked for the ministry of Justice to elaborate their new digital transformation plan. Each time, is has sought to bring his passion for empowering people and organizations to reach agility and operational excellence. Arno is a graduate of the Paris Ecole Normale Supérieure in Economics and the New York University in Urban data science, as well as a Fulbright laureate and a graduate of the Corps des mines program at Mines Paris.

Visiting Scholar and Luksic Fellow at Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies in Cambridge, MA, and a Senior Advisor at BCG focusing on foreign investment, international trade, geopolitics and economic development. He was CEO of InvestChile. His experience also includes acting as senior international consultant on nearshoring at the Inter-American Development Bank, and as Head of international trade and investment policy at the World Economic Forum, where he spearheaded Davos’ engagements on FDI and represented WEF before the B20, OECD, APEC, UNCTAD and other international organizations. Prior to that, he served as trade and environment lead negotiator and investment negotiator at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, where he also negotiated other international agreements on investment, services, air transport and climate change including at the UNFCCC COPs. He currently serves on several boards including at the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), Start-Up Chile, and the global Climate Governance Initiative (CGI).

Co-Founder and President of Sylvera, a leading carbon data provider. Prior to co-founding Sylvera, Mr. Gill was a corporate lawyer. Most recently, he worked at Baker McKenzie focusing on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) products, where he gained exposure to the carbon markets’ issues and opportunities. He began his legal career as an investment funds Associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He holds a Bachelor’s of Law from Cardiff University. 

Silian Partner, former Management Board member of Infineon. He contributes c.30 years of semiconductor industry experience. He was Chief Marketing Officer from 2016 to 2022 with responsibilities encompassing marketing, sales, strategy and M&A. In this capacity, he led the €9bn acquisition and integration of Cypress Semiconductor and contributed to transform Infineon into a global top 10 semiconductor company. Prior to joining Infineon in 1995 as a semiconductor design engineer, he worked in semiconductor research at Fraunhofer Institute.

Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Arthur Mattli graduated with a degree in law from the University of Fribourg. After assignments as Delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem, Damascus, Riyadh and Dubrovnik, an assistantship at the University of Fribourg and a research residency in New York, he joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. After an internship with the Political Affairs Division I in Bern and the Swiss Mission to the European Community in Brussels, he was leading the Economic and Trade Section of the Swiss Embassy in Beijing. He was later appointed Head of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Section of the Directorate of International Law in Berne. He served as Deputy Head of mission of the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi and in New Delhi. Ambassador Mattli was Head of Division for Europe, Central Asia, Council of Europe and OSCE at the Directorate of Political Affairs in Bern. He was Head of Mission in Dar es Salaam, where he represented Switzerland at the East African Community and in Zambia. Ambassador Mattli is now serving as Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Founder and CEO of International Business Strategies (IBS). For over 33 years, IBS has been focused on key activities in global electronics industry that impact semiconductor ecosystem. As CEO of IBS, Dr. Jones interfaces with most global leaders in electronics industry, with customers in U.S., Europe, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, and others. IBS delivers projects market trends to 2030. Dr. Handel Jones has published four books on China regarding key factors in electronics and semiconductor industries. His latest book is called When AI Rules the World: China, the U.S., and the Race to Control a Smart Planet.

Executive Vice president of World Wide Strategic Partnerships at IMEC and a member of IMEC Executive Board. Mr. Mirgoli has over 33 years of experience in the high tech and semiconductor industry and has held numerous leadership and executive roles in some of the most innovative companies in the world. In addition to his role at IMEC, he serves as investor and advisor and board member in many successful start ups. Prior to Joining IMEC, Mr. Mirgoli was C.O.O and Managing Director of ICOS Vision Systems (NASDAQ IVIS) a highly successful start up from Belgium that was taken public and acquired by KLA TENCOR (NASDAQ KLAC) in 2009 where he held several executive leaderships role after the sale. Prior to ICOS Vision Systems, Mr. Mirgoli was the corporate Sr.Vice president and Global GM of Automation group of Panasonic where he managed a P&L of over 1 billion dollars globally for Panasonic reporting directly to the president and CEO of Panasonic Americas. Mr. Mirgoli holds an MBA from College of Notre Dame and an Electrical Engineering degree in Robotics from University of California and a Linguistics degree from University of Madrid.

CEO of BWI. A graduate of HEC Paris, Mr. Fain’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2007 when he co-founded Verteego, a pioneering force in the artificial intelligence and impact startup realms, known for its early entry into the software-as-a-service sustainability market. In 2018, he assumed the role of CEO at Welcomr, a prominent building access control SaaS vendor. Driven by a passion for technology-driven impact, he joined BWI as CEO in 2022. BWI, or Blue Water Intelligence, leverages satellite data and machine learning to deliver advanced hydrological forecasts, with the vision of empowering basin digitization through the deployment of virtual stations, offering critical continental freshwater data and insights anytime, anywhere. Mr. Fain’s journey embodies a commitment to leveraging technology for sustainable, impactful solutions, shaping the software industry’s future and driving global change.

Senior Managing Director of Silian Partners who brings c.35 years of semiconductor experience. As Chief Executive Officer of Soitec from 2015 to 2022, he successfully led the company through a restructuring and positioned it as a global leader of engineered semiconductor materials. Prior to Soitec, he held senior positions in semiconductor equipment and manufacturing with KLA, STMicroelectronics, IBM Microelectronics, Motorola Semiconductor and Atmel. 

Managing Director & CEO of Canal Sugar, a UAE-Egyptian multi billion dollar agricultural industrial group in Egypt that aims to ensure Egypt self-sufficiency in sugar. Dr. Kamel Abdallah is a national food security expert, specializing in turnaround management and leadership of large agricultural industrial groups in the region. For over twenty years, he has led large regional companies with emphasis on Agri-Food companies in the Middle East with turnaround mandates. He has served in Board Director/Managing Director/CEO positions in Agri/Food based companies, including Baladna QPSC, Aujan Industries/Rani Investments, and  Exeed Industries/National Holding. Dr. Abdallah remains integrated with the industry and with academia, where he has served as Asst Vice President of the American University of Beirut; and Professor of Strategy and Finance as well as being a tenured Prof and department chair at accredited business schools in the USA. Dr. Abdallah holds a Ph.D in Strategic Management & Finance (OSU), and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Agri Business management program.