19 April 2015
MENA Business Schools at the Heart of the Region's Dynamics

Doha - HEC Paris, ranked number one in the world for Executive Education by the Financial Times in 2014, successfully hosted the 2015 European Foundation for Management Development's (EFMD) Middle East and North Africa Conference as leading academicians from the region and beyond emphasized the importance of management education throughout the three-day event in management education.

Conducted at the HEC Paris premises at Tornado Tower in Doha on 12-14 April, the conference was chaired by Prof. Laoucine Kerbache, Dean & CEO, HEC Paris in Qatar. Under the main theme 'Building Dynamic Networks and Partnerships for the Region', more than 50 Deans, Directors of Programs and Executives from Business Schools and NGOs, actively participated in the discussions and shared valuable experiences and practices in the region.

The ceremony was introduced by H.E. Eric Chevallier, Ambassador of France to Qatar, in the presence of Mr Fahad Al Qahtani, Group Executive Director, Qatar Foundation. The event's line-up of speakers included Everette E. Dennis, Dean of NorthWestern University in Qatar; Karim Seghir, Dean, School of Business, American University in Cairo; Robert Grosse, Dean, School of Business Administration, American University of Sharjah; Amol Dani, Chief Operating Officer, Georgetown University in Qatar, and Christian Delporte, Associate Director Quality Services, EFMD.

"We have been privileged to have had such a distinguished line-up of speakers who all shared invaluable and constructive insights on how to enhance management education within a fast competitive changing global world. The 2015 EFMD MENA conference addressed the theme of "Building networks and partnerships for the Middle East and North Africa region". Prof. Kerbache said. "I thank all the participants who are deans and directors of business schools as well as actors of the management education eco-system including representatives from the corporate world for making this conference such a huge success. Also, I thank the EFMD for putting their trust in HEC Paris and providing us with this opportunity to host this international conference."

Other prominent business leaders from the region who spoke at the event included Ali Shaher, Assistant Director Qatarization & Talent Development, Ooredoo, Dr Nezar Khalifa, Director of perioperative Services Department, KFSH&RC, Ahmed Al Balushi M Omani, CEO, Bank Muscat, Aimen Kallala, Assistant Vice President, Strategy Planning & Performance Management, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Maryam Al Mansoori, Corporate Planning & Support, Msheireb Properties.

With shared key challenges of wealth and job creation among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the speakers pointed out that MENA Business Schools have a leading role to play in transforming management education under a volatile, uncertain, changing and ambiguous environment.

The experts covered the following topics: understanding the specific geopolitical environment of the MENA region; analyzing its impacts on local business schools; meeting the challenges of management education in the region; exploring new business models for innovation; sharing key lessons learned from real case studies of successful partnerships and branch campuses; sharing current expectations from executives; and exploring the values and opportunities of digitalization to educate young people and executives. In addition, the event served as an opportunity for the attendees to reinforce the community of regional business schools as well as those from other regions.

Among the other prominent speakers who participated at the conference were:
Ebrahim Mohamed, Director Education, Climate KIC, Karim Said, Director at French Arabian Business School, Arabian Gulf University, Christine Baldy Ngayo, Key Account Development Director, HEC Paris, Karine Lejoly, Director, Innovation & Pedagogy, HEC Paris,  Aziza ellozy, Professor of Practice and Founding Director of the Center for Learning and Teaching, American Univeristy in Cairo, Mouna Bendahou, HEM tangier Director, Nehme Azouzy, Dean, Faculty of Business and Commercial Sciences, USEK in London,  Marina Ranga, Senior researcher, Stanford University, Michel kalika, Professor of Management, Université Paris Dauphine, Sara Strafino, Market development Manager, EMEA, GMAC, Thami Ghorfi, President, ESCA, Ecole de Management, Morocco, Nadine Burquel, Director Business School Services, EFMD.

-Ends-

About EFMD
EFMD is a global, membership driven organization, based in Brussels, Belgium with offices in Geneva, Hong Kong and Miami. As the largest international network association in the field of management development, the EFMD network includes over 800 institutional members and reaches over 25,000 management development professionals from academia, business, public service and consultancy across 82 countries worldwide. It is also an international platform to bring together leaders in the management education profession as well as many opportunities for partnerships, student and faculty exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

As a globally recognized accreditation body of quality in management education with established accreditation services for business schools and business school programs, corporate universities and technology-enhanced learning programs, EFMD's other services include conferences and events around the world that address key issues for our industry, surveys and the dissemination of knowledge, quality improvement and accreditation via EQUIS and EPAS as well as the EFMD Deans Across Frontiers (EDAF) development programme and the Business School Impact Survey (BSIS).

About HEC Paris
A leader in Europe, HEC Paris specializes in management education and research. Founded in 1881, HEC Paris offers a full, unique range of courses to the leaders of tomorrow, including: Masters Degrees, MBA, PhD, Executive MBA and TRIUM Global Executive MBA. In June 2010, HEC Paris joined Qatar Foundation and brought world-class Executive Education programs and research activity to Doha and the region. By February 2011, HEC Paris launched Qatar's first international EMBA. The HEC Executive MBA (EMBA) is a part-time program which provides executives with a set of fundamental skills to expand their knowledge and leadership capabilities. In addition to the EMBA, HEC Paris provides in Qatar a Specialized Master Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management. The institution also offers non-degree management programs for executives, in the form of open enrolment programs as well as custom-designed programs for individual companies. The programs and research activities of HEC Paris in Qatar build corporate competitiveness within the global economy and are fully aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030 to support the transformation of Qatar into an advanced, competitive and knowledge-based economy. HEC Paris was ranked number one in the world for Executive Education in 2014 by the influential UK-based Financial Times media group. http://www.exed.hec.edu/hec-qatar

About Qatar Foundation
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a private, non-profit organization that serves the people of Qatar by supporting and operating programs in three core mission areas: education, science and research, and community development. The Foundation strives to nurture the future leaders of Qatar. By example and by sharing its experience, the Foundation also contributes to human development nationally, regionally, and internationally. In all of its activities, the Foundation promotes a culture of excellence in Qatar and furthers its role in supporting an innovative and open society that aspires to develop sustainable human capacity, social, and economic prosperity for a knowledge-based economy. http://www.qf.org.qa/

Media inquiries:
Salwa Ghorayeb
Account Manager, Action Qatar
Tel: 00974 44361499
Email: salwa.g@actionprgroup.com

© Press Release 2015