Ahmed Bin Sulayem is the executive chairman and chief executive officer of DMCC and has driven its growth from a startup of 28 member companies in 2003 to the world’s leading free zone in 2022 with over 23,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 79,000 people.
Tasked with enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai, DMCC has introduced to the market a number of value-added products and services under Bin Sulayem’s leadership.
Furthermore, he oversaw the exponential growth of the DMCC Free Zone master development in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, a 200-hectare business and residential community in Dubai of over 100,000 people living and working in 87 towers. He also oversees the development of DMCC’s latest real estate project, the Uptown Dubai district.
Bin Sulayem currently serves as the chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange.
The Kimberley Process officially appointed the UAE as the first and only Arab country to chair the Kimberley Process in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016. He was reappointed chair of the Kimberley Process for a historic second time, a position to be assumed in 2024.
Saqr Mashhor Ereiqat is the co-founder of Crypto Oasis. Prior to this, Ereiqat served as a consultant for fintech, blockchain solutions, healthcare and innovation management. He is a 13-year veteran of IBM in the Middle East and Africa. He was the former head of Public Sector Consultancy in Dubai for IBM, where he was recognized as a pioneer in enterprise blockchain, being a co-author of the first IBM blockchain for government methodology and helping define the official government blockchain strategy of Dubai. While at IBM, Ereiqat led projects in 23 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa where he worked with both public and private sector entities to define, create and implement their blockchain strategies. Ereiqat serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Innovation Institute. He is currently also working with the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the Arab Youth Center and the Founder Institute as a mentor supporting startups in the region. In the field of healthcare, Ereiqat has advised several large hospital conglomerates on their technology strategy and set up the National Health Lab for Emerging Technology for the Saudi Arabian government.
Divsha Bhat is the technology editor at Gulf Business and Gulf Business Tech. With over six years of experience in covering the local and regional technology landscape, she writes and edits on various next-gen technologies, deciphering them for a large audience.
Divsha Bhat
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