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Before establishing the Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group in 1979, Mr. Abou Zaki was the business editor of Al-Nahar newspaper in Beirut from 1965 to 1979.
Sakhar Alwageh spent his early career as an officer in the Yemeni Air Force, He holds the military rank of Colonel.
He was first elected to the parliament in 1993 representing the GPC in a district in Alhodaidah.
He quickly became one of the most vocal voices in parliament, and was selected as a member of the oil and development committee in the parliament. Sakhar also lead a collation of parliamentarians called (Parliamentarians against corruption)
In 2006 he left the GPC after major disagreements with the party.
In 2011 Sakhr Alwajeeh was a key figure in the the political forces calling for the ouster of former President Saleh last year.
He was one of 5 opposition signatories on the GCC initiatives, (representing Independent Parliamentarians, and the Tadhamon Alliance)
In December 2011 He was appointed Minister of Finance in the national coalition government.
Mehmet Simsek was elected to Parliament in the general election on July 22, 2007. He was appointed as the Minister of Finance on May 1, 2009. Prior to that, he was the State Minister for Economic Affairs during August 2007 - April 2009.
Prior to joining politics, Mr Simsek was the chief economist and strategist for emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa region at Merrill Lynch in London for 7 years. He also served as senior economist and bank analyst for Deutsche-Bender Securities from 1998 to 2000. Mr Simsek spent about a year in New York where he worked for UBS Securities in 1997. Prior to that, he was a senior economist at the US Embassy in Ankara for almost four years.
A native of Batman, Mr Simsek earned his B.Sc. in Economics from Ankara University in 1988. After working as research assistant in the chair of international economics and economic development, he was awarded a state scholarship to the University of Exeter (UK), where he earned his M Phil in Finance and Investments in 1993.
Mr Simsek is fluent in English.
H.E. Dr. Jihad Azour is Managing Director of Inventis Partners - a Private Equity Firm, with investments in MENA and Europe. Until recently, H.E. Azour was a V.P. - Senior Executive Advisor at Booz & Company, actively involved in consulting governments, public sector organizations, central banks, financial sector and institutions, and large international corporations.
He was recently appointed by the Board of the World Bank, member of the Independent Panel of Experts to review a broad range of issues around the Doing Business and Global Competitiveness.
He was previously Minister Finance of Lebanon for three years (2005 - 2008), where he spearheaded the economic and financial program of the Lebanese Government, and coordinated the implementation of the various policies and reform initiatives, led the preparation and the implementation of the Paris III International Conference for Lebanon, gathered more than 45 countries and IFIs, and raised USD 7.6 billion of support.
H.E. Dr. Jihad Azour also conducted a comprehensive modernization and reform agenda in the Ministry of Finance which was granted in 2007 the prestigious “United Nations Public Service Award”.
He occupied senior positions in government, UNDP, and in leading private sector companies (including McKinsey and Company, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain). He also consulted for the IMF, the World Bank and the EU. He published more than five books and several articles on economic and financial issues in international publications and academic journals, and has a long teaching experience at the American University of Beirut.
H.E. Dr. Jihad Azour obtained his PhD in International Finance from Harvard University and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France. H.E. Dr. Azour also holds an M.Phil. (DEA) in International Finance.
Mehmet Simsek was elected to Parliament in the general election on July 22, 2007. He was appointed as the Minister of Finance on May 1, 2009. Prior to that, he was the State Minister for Economic Affairs during August 2007 - April 2009.
Prior to joining politics, Mr Simsek was the chief economist and strategist for emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa region at Merrill Lynch in London for 7 years. He also served as senior economist and bank analyst for Deutsche-Bender Securities from 1998 to 2000. Mr Simsek spent about a year in New York where he worked for UBS Securities in 1997. Prior to that, he was a senior economist at the US Embassy in Ankara for almost four years.
A native of Batman, Mr Simsek earned his B.Sc. in Economics from Ankara University in 1988. After working as research assistant in the chair of international economics and economic development, he was awarded a state scholarship to the University of Exeter (UK), where he earned his M Phil in Finance and Investments in 1993.
Mr Simsek is fluent in English.
Samir Hanna joined Bank Audi sal – Audi Saradar Group in 1963. He held several managerial and executive positions across various departments of the Bank. He was appointed General Manager of Bank Audi in 1986 and member of its Board of Directors in 1990. In the early 1990s, he initiated and managed the restructuring and expansion strategy of Bank Audi transforming it into a strong banking powerhouse that offers universal banking products and services including Corporate, Commercial, Retail, Investment, and Private Banking services. He grew the Bank to its current position as the largest bank in Lebanon (and among the top 20 Arab banking groups), with presence in 12 countries, with consolidated assets exceeding US$ 28 billion, consolidated deposits exceeding US$ 24 billion, group staff headcount exceeding 5,000 employees and a shareholders base of more than 2,000 holders of Common Shares and/or holders of Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) representing Common Shares.
He currently serves as the Group Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Group Executive Committee and heads all aspects of the Bank’s executive management.
Mehmet Habbab started his business career in 1970 by setting up an office equipment company in conjunction with the U.S. firm Smith Corona. He developed and built up the business in the next decade to become a leader in the office equipment market in Turkey.
In the early eighties, Mehmet Habbab entered into the oil business by forming the Delta Petroleum Co., which grew to become one of the leading oil services and trading companies in Turkey with a large installation in Southern Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea and another in Georgia on the Black Sea. The company is engaged in trade in the Middle East and is a major supplier to Iraq since 2003, having had relations with SOMO (State Oil Marketing Organization) of Iraq for over 25 years.
Mehmet Habbab has served on several bodies as Chairman or Member of the Board. He is the Chairman of the Turkish-Lebanese Businessmen Council at DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey), Vice Chairman of the Turkish-Iraqi Businessmen Council, Chairman and Coordinator for Middle East Businessmen Council and recently has been appointed as the Chairman for the newly formed Turkish-Arab Businessmen Federation.
Mehmet Habbab serves on the International Board of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and has organized the Wharton alumni meeting in Istanbul during June 2006. He is also an ex-Chairman of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) Turkey and an active member at present.
Mehmet Habbab did his schooling in Switzerland and the United Kingdom then went on to university in the United States where he got his Bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and continued to get his MBA from the same university Wharton School of Business. Mehmet Habbab is fluent in English, French, Arabic and Turkish.
Mr. Ibrahim M. Turhan, born in 1968 in Izmir-Turkey, graduated from Lycée de Galatasaray Istanbul (Galatasaray High School). In 1987, he entered Bogaziçi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Management.
After successfully achieving his undergraduate degree, he joined the Institute for Banking and Insurance Studies at the Marmara University in Istanbul, as research and teaching assistant, where he pursued his graduate studies in financial economics. He received his MA degree in International Banking in 1995, and his Ph.D. degree from the same university in 2001.
Mr. Turhan was awarded a scholarship from the Marmara University Research Fund, and conducted a research on ‘the saving and investment behaviours of Turkish households’ at the European Institute in the University of Geneva (L'Institut Européen de l'Université de Genève IEUG). He also worked as a visiting research fellow at the Banking Centre in Loughborough University.
Mr. Turhan lectured at various universities in Istanbul. He joined the Yeditepe University as an assistant professor, where he worked as the head of the International Business and Trade Department and the Banking and Insurance Management Department. Mr. Turhan also held the positions of Director of School of Vocational Studies and Director of School of Foreign Languages in the same university.
Mr. Turhan has many articles on financial economics, macroeconomics, and political economy published in periodicals in Turkish and English. He served as Managing Editor and Editor in Chief in sectoral journals published on banking, finance and finance technologies.
On April 1st 2004, while he was working as a part-time assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Beykent University, Istanbul, Mr. Turhan was elected as Board Member by the General Assembly of the Central Bank of Turkey. Mr. Turhan was elected as member of the Monetary Policy Committee by the Board on June 7th, 2006. He was appointed as Deputy Governor on May 8th 2008. He also served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Contemporary Turkish Studies Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) European Institute until the end of 2011.
Mr. Turhan is a member of the Leaders' Circle as well as the Advisory Board of the Global Economic Symposium organized by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Mr.Turhan was appointed as the Chairman and CEO of the Istanbul Menkul Kiymetler Borsasi on January 1, 2012.
Serkan Elden is the Managing Partner of capitAlinka, an emerging markets focused investment management firm. Elden has been a global equity partner and a Managing Director of PineBridge Investments’ (the former third party asset management business of AIG) private equity platform for the Gateway markets of Turkey, the Middle East, Africa and Russia/Former Soviet Union. He also served as CEO of the private equity business in Eurasia, based out of Istanbul, Turkey and developed the firm's private equity business development platform for fundraising in the Middle East for several years. He is currently the President of PineBridge Eurasia Financial Investments S.a.r.l., an investment platform of the firm funded by various Chartis/AIG insurance companies.
Prior to rejoining AIG in 2007, Elden was the CEO of Fintur Holdings BV.
Elden holds an MBA degree from the University of North Carolina and a B.Sc. degree in Electronics Engineering from Hacettepe University in Ankara.
Born in 1963 and graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences in 1986. He started his career at Isbank at the same year. During his career at Isbank and IS Investment, under the scope of investment banking operations, he conducted brokerage, asset management, privatization consultancy, domestic and international public offerings; mergers& acquisitions; venture capital and private equity. Ilhami Koc is CEO of IS Investment.
Dr. Mazen Soueid is the Chief Economist at BankMed, one of the largest banks in Lebanon with presence in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. From August 2008 until December 2009, he was also Economic Advisor to the Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, and from January 2010 onward, he has been advising PM Siniora in his capacity as head of the Future Parliamentary Block. Prior to joining BankMed, Dr. Soueid worked as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund, particularly in the Asian, Middle Eastern Departments as well as the Capital Markets Department. At the IMF he worked on a range of issues and countries like Venezuela, Korea, Mexico, and the Philippines. He had also worked in Deutsche Bank in London and New York covering the Middle East. He taught Finance and Economics at Brown University and the American University of Beirut. He holds a PHD in Economics from Brown University. Dr. Soueid is the author of the best-selling book “The Lebanese Economic Project” which won an award for “Best Book on the Lebanese Economy” published in 2010 by Capital Issues.
A veteran international banker and bank regulator, Mr. Alameddine oversees Promontory Financial Group’s activities throughout the Middle East and Turkey. His office is based in Dubai, but he keeps a second residence in Istanbul. Promontory is a premier international advisor for banks, chaired by former US Comptroller of the Currency, Mr Eugene Ludwig, with Head Office in Washington. Promontory advises banks on strategy, performance enhancement, corporate governance, risk management, compliance, and regulatory affairs, among other matters.
Mr. Alameddine has had a distinguished career in international banking and banking supervision. He worked in Turkey itself as Country Head of a Citibank affiliate. Prior to joining Promontory, he served 10 years as Chairman of Lebanon’s Banking Control Commission, the country’s supervisory authority, and more than 20 years with Citibank, where he held senior managerial positions in seven countries. During his chairmanship of the BCC, supervision in Lebanon was among the highest rated in the emerging countries, with the banking sector more than tripling its assets and quadrupling its capital during his two five-year terms. While at Citibank, he served as Head of the bank’s Levant region out of Amman, and as Regional Supervisor for Business Risk Review for South East Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, covering some 30 countries out of London.
Mr. Ozcan started working for Odeabank as Assistant General Manager responsible for Economic Research and Strategy to later become Head of Economic research and strategy. He previously was Chief Economist and Head of Strategy at Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası.
Mr. Ozcan started his career as an Associate at the Banking and Financial Institutions Department at the Central Bank of Turkey in 1999 and was assigned as Senior Associate in the following years. After having worked for seven years at the Central Bank, he joined the BRSA as Chief Advisor to the Chairman and held this position between 2006-2009.
Ms Ruya Ermec Bayegan was born in 1971 under the Taurus sign. Inheriting all traits of her sign she has been a source of never ending fountain of energy to her parents, friends and business colleagues.
During her high school years she attended her father’s work in the summers. 1992 saw her graduating from Newburry College in Boston / USA and returning back home to Turkey. She joined her father’s company IMPA Group full time working her way up from associate to production supervisor over the 6 years of here works there.
In 1998 Ms Ermec got two very different offers which would change her professional and personal career. She was offered the General Sourcing Coordinator at Bayegan Group and was also asked in hand for marriage to Mr. Ercument Bayegan. Accepting both offers she changed her name and her company and was made a full time member of the Bayegan group as well as the Bayegan family.
Since 1998 a lot of hard work has allowed her to see success in both fronts as the groups business activities constantly expanded along with the amount of members of the Bayegan family. She is proud of the business so far achieved with the group as well as with the two kids she is raising with similar energy and motivation.
Prior to his retirement in April 2000, H.E. Mr. Mirmahmutogullari served as the Head of Department for the Improvement of Animal Production, among many other important positions. Between April 2000 and August 2005, H.E. Mr. Mirmahmutogullari worked as an Executive Committee Member of Design Group, which has produced 25% of the total number of patents in Turkey and broke World Record on the field of industrial products for the very first time. There, he was responsible for the overseas investments based on overseas market development and technology transfer.
H.E. Mr. Mirmahmutogullari was appointed as Undersecretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on 24 January 2007.
Abu-Alhaj Yönetim Danışmanlık ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi is one of the subsidiaries of Abu Alhaj Holding which is a family holding. Abu Alhaj family has investment in investment banking, commodities, industry, real-estate, agriculture, logistics sectors since 1970s. He was in investment banking in Dubai associated with Shuaa Capital & Noor Capital in Kuwait besides being the founder of the branches both in Turkey and Zurich.
Mr. Abou Zaki has over 25 years of experience in Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group, where his innovative approach was a major drive for the Group’s diversification. His main focus has been to help the Group’s development into a leading force in conferences and business events in the region.
In the process, Mr. Abou Zaki developed a close working relationship with government leaders, policy makers, as well as a wide spectrum of leading figures in business and banking. He also contributes to regional policy forums and is a frequent commentator on regional and global events.
Mr. Abou Zaki also serves as the Deputy Editor in Chief for Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Magazine and is a Board Member in Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal.
H.E. Seddik O. Kabir was appointed as the Governor of Central Bank of Libya in September 2011. H.E. Kabir is also the Chairman of Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain.
H.E. Kabir was Chairman of Takaful Insurance Company in Libya, Deputy CEO of Arab Banking Corporation International in London, Regional Director and Director General of Arab Banking Corporation in Tunisia, and Deputy Chairman and Head of the Audit Committee at Arab Banking Corporation in Algeria.
H.E. Kabir holds a master degree in Business and International Trade and a master degree in Accounting from Hartford University.
A graduate of the Business Administration Department of Marmara University in 1996, Erker started his banking career at T.Garanti Bankası A.Ş. in 1997 as Management Trainee. Later on he joined to A&T Bank in 1999 and he took several several responsibilities in Treasury Department till 2007 and continued to his banking career at Dexia Private Bank Switzerland (Bahrain Branch) as the Deputy President between 2007 and 2009. Erker, since 2009 serving as the Assistant General Manager at A&T Bank responsible for Treasury & Financial Institutions Divison. Erker has 13 years of professional experience and married with two kids.
Mr. Ersin Takla has graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1968 and has attended Harvard University Graduate School Of Business Administration Advanced Management Program.
Since 1970- Present, Mr. Takla has played a very active role in Construction Business. Mr. Takla pursued his career as a Construction Manager in Kuşadası Yacht Harbour and various projects in Libya. He was responsible for projects undertaken in Turkey and various other countries as Board Member of STFA Construction Company of which he became a partner in 1982. Among these projects are; Tripoli Harbour Construction Project, Misurata Iron&Steel Harbour Construction, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Brigde,Turkey and connection roads. During this period, he also served for affiliated companies of STFa Holding as Founder and Board Member of Temel Endüstriler A.Ş., STFA Energy and Telecommunication Co., Sedef ShipBuilding Co., STFA Holding Co., STFA Group.
In 1992, Mr. Takla has founded TML Construction Company with his colleagues where he served as Board Member and Founder. In this time span, among significant projects he directed are; Al Massira Hotel Libya, Construction of Misurata Harbour, Waste Water Treatment Plant- İzmir, Construction of Omar Al Mokhtar Unıversity Libya, Misurata Free Zone Infrastructure Works, Al Kufra Water Supply System-Kufra Pipeline Project.
Currenty, Mr. Takla is the Chairman of TML Construction Company active in Libya, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi(as of 2010) offering services in General Contracting and Construction Management specialized in Buildings, Marine&Infrastructure Works, Bridges, Industrial Plants, Tunnels and Special Structures.
As of 2004, Mr. Ersin Takla is also the President of Libya-Business Council in Foreign Economic Relations Board. (www.deik.org.tr)
Mr. Ersin Takla is married and has one daughter who is also in the family business as a Manager.
Sakhar Alwageh spent his early career as an officer in the Yemeni Air Force, He holds the military rank of Colonel.
He was first elected to the parliament in 1993 representing the GPC in a district in Alhodaidah.
He quickly became one of the most vocal voices in parliament, and was selected as a member of the oil and development committee in the parliament. Sakhar also lead a collation of parliamentarians called (Parliamentarians against corruption)
In 2006 he left the GPC after major disagreements with the party.
In 2011 Sakhr Alwajeeh was a key figure in the the political forces calling for the ouster of former President Saleh last year.
He was one of 5 opposition signatories on the GCC initiatives, (representing Independent Parliamentarians, and the Tadhamon Alliance)
In December 2011 He was appointed Minister of Finance in the national coalition government.
Secretary of State and Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Tunisia
Before joining the newly elected Tunisian government as an Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mr. Nour El Dine Al Kaabi was the General Manager for infrastructure planning in the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation. Mr. Al Kaabi has around 20 years of experience working in social and economic development policies and in the planning, revising, and financing of big projects.
He is also a Duty Governor in the Council of Governors of the Arab Commission for Agricultural Investment and Development, the representative of Tunisia in the Executive Council of the Climate Investment Fund in the World Bank, and the State’s representative in the Board of Directors of the Tunisian company in the bank.
Dr. Said A. Al-Shaikh is currently the Chief Economist at the National Commercial Bank (NCB).
Jul 2nd, 2012
Jun 29th, 2012
