Jaroudi says modernizing private enterprise will also boost efficiency in public institutions
The evolution of traditional businesses into modern corporations is essential to further economic development in the Arab world, according to Saeb N Jaroudi, the former Lebanese Minister of National Economy and Minister of Tourism who has been credited with initiating and establishing leading development finance institutions for the region.
Jaroudi, currently an economic consultant advising international clients and institutions on strategy and project finance in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, said: "Speeding up the transformation from the family-run business model to the modern corporate structure, with independent management, is a real challenge for Arab leaders in their effort to narrow the gap with the industrialized countries."
He was expanding on his role as a Corporate Ambassador for the Leaders in Dubai conference, to be held on November 29 - 30, which has seen organisers assemble a panel of regional business leaders to debate issues with seven global speakers, including former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and Rudy Giuliani, the ex-Mayor of New York.
Jaroudi pointed out that the development of the region's corporate structure was needed. "Corporate leaders are also faced with the challenge of how to improve the interaction between the private and public sectors.
"This can be done by providing support to the public sector to help it modernise its style of operation - such as e-government - to increase efficiency in the system as a whole."
The Lebanese national serves on the board of Arab Finance Corporation in Beirut, which promotes and develops capital markets activities in the Middle East. He was elected by the Arab Ministers of Finance as the first Chairman/Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.
On leadership styles, Jaroudi believes that the same principles are needed for success in the corporate world or in government. "These characteristics should not be different in the corporate and government sectors; indeed, differences tend to disappear as countries develop and leadership mobility increases between the two sectors.
"However, because of cultural differences, we find variations in the way leaders are portrayed or present themselves. As globalisation proceeds further and multinationals increasingly assert themselves in the world economy, these differences are expected to narrow."
Jaroudi joins a number of Arab leaders from the business and semi-government sectors as corporate ambassadors for the ground-breaking event. The presence of the corporate ambassadors lobby came as a direct response to a request from the conference speakers.
The seven global leaders wanted a group of the most recognised and contemporary business leaders in the Middle East to be present at the event to debate ideas for future leadership development in the region.
The global leaders on stage include: Tom Peters, the management guru; best-selling author Frank Maguire; MIT's Professor of Management and Economics, Lester Thurow; and the influential futurist, Alvin Toffler.
2,500 delegates are expected to attend Leaders in Dubai, organised by Leading Minds, a division of IIR. It will be the biggest business conference at the Dubai International Convention Centre since the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in September 2003.
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ABOUT LEADING MINDS
LEADING MINDS is a division of the Institute for International Research, the world's leading business information company. IIR is an independent, privately-owned company with an international network of offices and events in 35 countries. IIR started life in 1973 and quickly established itself as the world's biggest conference company, to which was added training and exhibition activities.
Our main offices are in New York, London, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg and Madrid.
LEADING MINDS specialises in organising public events with top business authorities - the leading minds. Just to mention a few: Tom Peters, Gary Hamel, Robert Kaplan, Philip Kotler, Dave Ulrich, Edward de Bono, Jack Trout, Daniel Goleman, Al Ries, Nicholas Negroponte, Don Tabscott and Michael Porter. LEADING MINDS has a global reach, with significant activity in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa. We present speakers who are otherwise only available to their followers in book format or via satellite transmissions. We are devoted to working with the best speakers, each presenting his or her unique experience to our exclusive corporate audience. We make every effort to make a speaking engagement for LEADING MINDS a memorable and worthwhile experience for our audiences as well as for our speakers. Since 1999, we have run well over 200 events with planning for 2005 already taking shape and promising a great line up of events.
For more media information:
Barbara Saunders,
MCS/Action,
PO Box 20970,
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates.
Tel: +9714 390 2961;
fax: +9714 390 8161;
email: barbara.s@actionprgroup.com
Or visit the event online at: www.leadersindubai.com
For more information about 'Leaders In Dubai' sponsorship opportunities, please contact:
Alan Kelly,
alan.kelly@iirme.com on
+971 4 336 5161 xt 203.
© Press Release 2004
