The St Regis Hotel, Habtoor City 21 & 22 March 2017, Dubai, UAE
The Financial Times are delighted to be hosting their inaugural Dubai Family Business Summit at the St Regis Hotel, Habtoor City on 21st and 22nd March 2017. The summit will explore private capital, investment opportunities, and family values, delivered through keynote addresses, interactive debate and educational workshops.
Family businesses are the bedrock of every society. Europe remains the global centre for family businesses, with almost 50 per cent of the world’s largest family companies located in the region, according to figures from the University of St Gallen.
In Dubai, the role of the Family Business is paramount and widely accepted as the cornerstone of commercial activity and growth. Indeed, it has been estimated that over 90% of economic prosperity is controlled by family businesses in the Middle East, meaning they are very much the heartbeat of the region’s economy. But whilst their contribution is undeniable, these families have much to ponder. Asset allocation, private capital, family values and succession planning are all areas, which create internal debate and require education.
The Financial Times Family Business Summit will seek to answer many of the questions that Middle Eastern family businesses have over two days of keynote addresses, educational workshops and interactive debate.
In attendance at the Summit will be over 180 senior family members working in the enterprise; next generation members; business and wealthy family members not working in the business; Single / Multi Family Offices and selected Sovereign Wealth Fund Principal Investors.
The Summit is Under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum and The Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) is the official supporting partner of the event and His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED, will be delivering the opening keynote address. FT Live Events is also partnering with Hezar Ventures, a privately owned Dubai General Trading and Investment Company with global Family business networks.
Speakers, Moderators and panellists include:
Hugo Greenhalgh – Editor, FT Wealth Magazine
Khalaf Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group
Badr Jafar, CEO, Crescent Enterprises
Fadi Ghandour, Executive Chairman, Wamda Capital, Founder of Aramex
The Hon William Waldorf Astor IV – Longharbour
Hisham Al Gurg–CEO, Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum & SEED Group
Adil Al Zarooni – CEO, Emirates Al Zarooni Investments
Ziad Abdelnour – CEO & Founder, Blackhawk Partners
Kate Quartey-Papafino – CEO, ReRoy Group
Mbwana Alliy – Managing Partner, Savannah Fund
A full list of speakers and more information on the event can be found at http://familyofficeforum.ftadviser.com/events/dubai.html
Luke McGreevy – Head of Commercial for FT Live Events said “We are looking forward to hosting over 180 UHNW Families and Private Family Offices at this inaugural Forum and are pleased to have partnered with partnered with the DED this year. This event will now be annual fixture in our Family Office event global series, events of which also takes place in Singapore, United Kingdom, Zurich, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. Financial Times Live events continues to be committed to bringing high quality events with exceptional panellists, speakers and our award winning FT Journalists to the region”.
Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises, said: “With over 85% of non-oil GDP in Middle East being generated by family businesses, this business community holds massive potential to directly address key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the region. To become effective change-makers, however, our businesses need to incorporate sound corporate governance frameworks and enable the smooth transition of assets and business values from one generation to the next. The FT Family Office Summit will provide an effective platform to reinforce this message and I look forward to the opportunity to engage in discussions around these issues.”
Sponsors for the event include Al Habtoor Group, Ernst & Young, Knight Frank, One Blackfriars London and Citizenship Invest.
For further information about the event and/or the FT Family Office Research please contact:
Luke McGreevy, Financial Times Live Events: luke.mcgreevy@ft.com +97143914398
Ben Bonney-James, Financial Times; ben.bonney-james@ft.com or +44 (0)207 775 6614
Rob Garrett, Hezar Ventures, Dubai; rg@hezarventures.com or +971 558 151558
About Financial Times Live Events:
FT Live Events is the events arm of the Financial Times Group and organises over 185 events a year. For more information please go to www.live.ft.com or contact luke.mcgreevy@ft.com
© Press Release 2017
