Archives: Speakers

Cynthia Corby is an Audit & Assurance Partner in the Dubai office and DME Construction Industry Leader. She is a South African Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (United Kingdom) and has over 20 years of professional experience. She has worked extensively with the major construction companies in the UAE and Middle East Region, and has significant advisory experience on corporate transactions, including acquisition, due diligence and group re-organisations. Cynthia is the founder and regular author in our annual publication GCC Powers of Construction, which gives an expert view on the firm’s assessment and outlook for the industry.

David Clifton is a seasoned Market and Economics Advisor with a wealth of experience in navigating complex economic landscapes. Known for his keen analytical skills and strategic insights, he has been a trusted advisor to government agencies, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, and corporate entities alike. He is a thought-leader and specializes in the intricacies of the GCC and Middle East having played a pivotal role in shaping policies and strategies that have positively impacted diverse sectors.

With over a decade and a half of experience in providing sound economic market forecasts, analytics, advisory, intelligence and modelling in the Middle East, he has become a trusted figure in providing insight critical to policies that align with the unique cultural and economic dynamics of the Middle East. Having spent the previous decade working across Europe and North America, his government advisory tenures include providing valuable insight on a variety of initiatives including the PMO law change in 2015/16 in Saudi Arabia which became one of the significant sectors of vision 2030 from a technical standpoint.

David’s expertise has seen him present impact analysis and forecasts for major media outlets due to his ability to simply package complex models and economic principles thus providing strategic guidance for navigating the challenges and opportunities specific to the region.

Throughout his career, Michael has successfully overseen real estate assets exceeding $5 billion in value, spanning luxury residences, class A office spaces, civic landmarks, hotels, and mixed-use developments. He has held executive roles in companies ranging from startups to major enterprises, leading teams and projects across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Mered Development, Michael served as Head of Development for the Qiddiya Performing Arts Center in Saudi Arabia, a key part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 initiative. In this role, he led a world-class team to deliver an iconic property in Qiddiya City, envisioned as Saudi Arabia’s future entertainment hub.

Michael also held the position of CEO at Wainbridge Capital, where he managed operations across four countries and restructured the company’s board during a major merger.

Michael’s deep understanding of the real estate landscape, coupled with his proven ability to drive innovative, large-scale developments, makes him the perfect choice to lead Mered Development into its next phase of growth. We are confident that his leadership will further strengthen our company’s position as a market leader and accelerate our ambitious development plans.

In his new role, Michael will focus on expanding Mered Development’s portfolio in the United Arab Emirates consisting of Iconic Tower, the tallest building in Dubai Internet City and Abu Dhabi project. Michael has been charged to grow Mered’s team for future growth in the UAE and wider GCC. He will continue to foster strong investor relations, increase Mered’s marketing visibility and driving innovative projects that set new standards in real estate development.

Dr. Fadi Aloul is the Dean of the College of Engineering and a Professor of Computer Science &
Engineering at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), UAE. He leads a college consisting of
an outstanding 96 faculty, 25 lab instructors, 21 administrators, and 2,700+ students. The college
offers ten undergraduate programs, ten master’s programs, and two doctoral programs. He
previously served as the Computer Science & Engineering Department Head from 2016-2021. Dr
Aloul is known for his visionary, innovative, and transformative leadership, consistently pushing
the boundaries of what’s possible and inspiring others to reach new heights in their endeavors.

Dr. Aloul holds a PhD and MS degrees in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, respectively, and a BS degree in Electrical Engineering summa cum
laude from Lawrence Technological University, Michigan, USA. His research and industrial
interests are in Cyber Security, Mobile Applications, Teaching Innovation, and Design
Optimization. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified
Reviewer for the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA).

Dr. Aloul received a number of prestigious awards including the Global Engineering Deans Council
(GEDC) Airbus Engineering Diversity Award, the Sheikh Khalifa Award for Higher Education, the
Sheikh Rashid’s Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Award
for Young Arab Researchers, and the AUS Excellence in Teaching Award. He has 150+
publications and 1 US patent. He is senior member of IEEE & ACM and a member of the
Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists. He is a regular invited speaker and panelist across
many international conferences related to Cyber Security, AI, Technology, Innovation and
Education.

Indrajit Sen is the Oil & Gas Editor at premier UAE-based news, analysis and projects information organisation MEED (Middle East Economic Digest). He has been working with MEED since December 2017, covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s oil, gas, refining and petrochemicals markets, across the upstream, midstream and downstream segments.

Indrajit closely tracks projects undertaken by the region’s energy giants such as Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, QatarEnergy and PDO, as well as the ones being planned by international oil companies, particularly those in the Gulf. Procuring accurate and exclusive information on projects therefore requires him to maintain a robust network of industry contacts, and build on it.

Beyond extensively covering the regional hydrocarbons projects market, Indrajit also monitors macro developments including general energy sector schemes announced by regional countries and/or their national oil companies, geopolitical aspects impacting the energy market, oil and gas demand-supply movements, OPEC strategies and government policies.

Along with producing news content on the MENA energy sphere for MEED, which can be accessed here, Indrajit regularly produces analysis and opinion articles offering in-depth understanding and perspectives on market events, industry announcements and project developments.

He also appears on TV news networks and radio shows as an industry observer to share his views on energy market matters.

Previously, Indrajit worked with Oil & Gas Middle East magazine, owned by Dubai-based ITP Media Group between October 2015 and November 2017. Having started out as a reporter for the magazine, he eventually became the magazine’s Deputy Editor. He was also the co-editor for the magazine’s digital portfolio – the website arabianoilandgas.com and the social media platforms.

Indrajit has been working as a journalist in the GCC for more than ten years now, previously covering international politics and diplomacy for Muscat Daily, Oman’s second largest English newspaper and the Gulf’s real estate sector for Gulf Property magazine in Dubai.

Details about Indrajit’s professional career can be found on his LinkedIn profile. He is active on Twitter as well.

Mr. Shafik has previously worked in the United Sates and Kuwait. He has been employed by Orascom Construction Since 1998 and has been the VP of Business Development since January 2022.

Mr. Shafik has played a key role in the development and growth of Orascom Construction and witnessed the rise of the company to become one of the largest regional contractors operating across the Middle East and Africa.

Throughout his career, Mr. Shafik was pivotal in the growth of the activities of Orascom in the infrastructure, industrial and building sectors both in development and in construction. Orascom has executed some of the largest projects of fossil fuel power plants in the world and also has grown dramatically in the railway, metro and road sectors. In the building sector, Orascom has executed many prestigious hotels, hospitals, opera houses and museums.

Mr. Shafik has overseen Orascom’s achievements in executing iconic projects, including the Grand Egyptian Museum, the world’s largest archaeological museum, alongside prestigious hotels, hospitals, and cultural landmarks. His leadership has also enabled the company’s expansion into countries like Nigeria, South Sudan, and Rwanda, where Orascom has successfully delivered key infrastructure projects.

The company has installed over 27 GW of conventional power generation across Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait and Iraq, including two state-of-the-art CCPP’s considered as the largest in the world with a combined capacity of 9,600 MW on EPC+F basis. Orascom Construction has also pioneered Egypt’s first ventures in the renewables sector including the 1st Hybrid Solar-Thermal CSP Plant and the 1st IPP Ras Ghareb Wind Farm. The company also extends beyond Egypt where we are currently constructing hydropower barrages in Burundi. Orascom Construction has also been a major contributor to water treatment infrastructure, including Egypt’s first PPP wastewater treatment plant, Saudi Arabia’s first Independent Sewage Treatment Plant, and most recently the USD 2.4 billion Project WAVE Desalination Plant in the UAE. Furthermore, Orascom Construction has played an integral role in the transportation sector, where the company has been involved in all three Greater Cairo Metro Lines since the 1980s, as well as railways, tunnels, roads, and airports & ports.

Mr. Shafik graduated from Ain Shams University in Egypt with a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering. Also, he holds a Master of Science degree in Project Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business from the University of South Carolina in the USA.

He is also an Alumni of the Harvard Business School through the Executive Education Program.

Dr. Sabih has extensive experience in the design and construction of civil and heavy civil infrastructure projects, such as Heathrow Terminal 5 in London, Khalifa Port and Khalifa Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi, Metro operation, London Underground (Tube Lines, London), program management for the development of multi-mode transit systems, the Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Public Transport Program, Metro Design, Doha Metro and recently, Head of Engineering with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies MENA Region.

Dr. Sabih is well known in the GCC region for his contribution to the construction industry within the region, he is a regular contributor to the regional industry events a Keynote Speaker, Presenter or as Conference Host.

Dr. Sabih is a Charted Civil Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (UK), also, he is the Institution of Civil Engineers Council Member for Middle East & Africa.

He sits on several Universities Industry Advisory Bords advising, supporting the universities in their education activities. He is Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University.

Naser Khalidi is an experienced infrastructure finance and PPP specialist at the Government of Dubai’s Department of Finance. Naser supports DOF’s mission to develop and monitor Dubai’s PPP pipeline, collaborating with government entities to deliver impactful, high-value infrastructure projects. With over a decade in public-private partnerships and an MBA from Cass Business School, Naser combines strategic expertise with practical insights to advance Dubai’s PPP Strategy.

Wael Mansour, CEO Royal Advance Electromechanical LLC in the UAE and Royal Advance Mutaqadima in KSA, brings over two decades of industry expertise to the MEP field across the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. Mansour has been a driving force behind the evolution of the region’s skyline and infrastructure.

An engineer by training, Mansour holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University in Michigan, USA. This strong academic background, combined with hands-on industry expertise, equips him with a balanced skill set in technical engineering and strategic business management.

Bandar Tashkandi is an accomplished finance and real estate development executive with over a decade of experience in strategic financial planning, capital investments, and market analysis. He has held pivotal roles across top organizations, including Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Authority for Zakat, Tax, and customs (ZATCA), Soudah Development, a PIF company, and he is currently leading the privatization of infrastructure projects for three government sectors in the National Center for Privatization and PPP. Known for driving transformative projects, Bandar has expertise in operational efficiency, investment strategy, and stakeholder engagement. He holds the CFA, CMA, and CSCA certifications and has completed the Harvard Leadership Development Program.