Dubai - MENA Herald: On 18th November at the Waldorf Astoria on Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, Forbes Middle East hosted a very special night, celebrating the top management executives that are heading up regional offices in the Middle East for the world’s most powerful companies and unveiling the cover of its November issue, revealing two prestigious rankings born from the coveted Forbes Global 2000.
Each year, the Forbes Global 2000 list ranks the world’s largest publicly-traded companies based on sales, profits, assets and market value. From this Forbes Middle East has pulled out two regional rankings, one highlighting the top 100 executives of these companies in the Middle East and one highlighting for the first time the top 50 executives in the Arab companies that made it onto the list.
The results are impressive. The multinationals with regional offices in the Middle East are from across the globe, but with Europe and the U.S. dominating. Similarly the leaders heading up these offices originate from all over the world, including Europe, the U.S., Asia, Australia and the Middle East. The businesses they pioneer cover 25 sectors, with the majority from technology, banking, industrials and automobiles. And a staggering 93% of these regional offices are based in the U.A.E. – showing without doubt that the emirates are truly a central hub for international business.
Under the banner of Global Meets Local, the event gathered the Middle East’s most respected and successful CEOs and Directors. Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Dawood, Managing Director & CEO, Al Tayyar Group, delivered the keynote speech, praising the region for the opportunity and diversity it offers businesses and saying that more and more of the largest and wealthiest global organizations are recognizing the need for regional offices to manage the continued growth that springs from the Middle East across all sectors. Mr Saad Bin Nahar Albadah Almutairy, CEO of SMASCO, was given a special recognition for establishing Saudi Manpower Solutions to pioneer human rights and mediation in recruitment services in the KSA.
Forbes Middle East worked with several partners to host the event, including Stallion Group, Al Tayyar Travel Group, Waldorf Astoria-Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Human Soft, Skyline University College, Elite Executive Services, Elegant Resorts, Khaleeji Times Newspaper, Dubai life TV and AV Concepts. Some of the executives present included Alaa El Shimy from Hewlett-Packard, Mohammad Al Muallem from DP World, Nour Suliman from DHL Express, , Adnan Chilwan from Dubai Investment Bank, Ihab Ayoub from Visa International, Mohamad Mourad from Google, Jonathan Labin from Facebook and many more.
Mrs. Khuloud Al Omian, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Middle East said: “Leaders from throughout the Middle East are continuing to make their mark across the globe and head up some of the most successful businesses in the world. We are honored to celebrate them to show our support for their business and reward them for the acclaim that their successes bring to the region.”
Global Meets Local
Each year, FORBES ranks the Global 2000, a list of the world’s largest publicly traded companies based on revenues, profits, assets, and market value.
FORBES MIDDLE EAST has put together two rankings pulled from the Global 2000. One highlights the top 100 Middle East-based regional heads of those multinationals. The majority hail from tech companies.
The other lists 50 Global 2000 Arab company executives who oversee their home market. Here, bankers dominate by far. All have been in their current position for more than one year, and two-thirds have worked at least 20 years with the company.
The U.S. dominates with 43 companies, and the U.A.E. serves as the business hub of the region with 93 regional heads based in the country.