Saeb Nahas

Position: Chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO), Nahas Enterprises Group

Biography: Hailing from a business dynasty dating back to the turn of the 20th century, Saeb Nahas has been one of Syria’s most prominent businessmen for the past three decades. In 1978, Saeb Nahas and fellow Syrian hotelier Othman Aidi formed Syria’s first majority privately owned companies: Transtour and Societe Arab Syrienne des Etablissements Touristiques. Nahas initially specialised in transport, and gradually built up the group’s interests to include travel, agriculture and industry. In 1991, Nahas set up industrial ventures in pharmaceuticals, surgical sutures and chemicals. Today, the group consists of 33 companies with 1,500 staff, with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Amman, Baghdad, Mosul, Tehran, Khartoum and Aden. Nahas is preparing to restructure his diversified group as the Syrian economy opens up for a new era of competition.

Contact Tel: (+963) 11 2234000

Said Khoury

Position: Founder and president, Consolidated Contractors Company

Biography: Said Khoury, co-founder of Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), is one of the Middle East’s most significant business leaders. Born in Safad, in what was then north-ern Palestine, Khoury moved to Lebanon in 1948. He started out in the construction sector by helping to build Tripoli airport, in association with his cousin Hasib Sabbagh, with whom he formed CCC in 1952. CCC is now the Middle East’s biggest contracting group, with annual sales of $4bn, and is in the world’s top 20 building firms. Khoury still owns 60 per cent of CCC, while Sabbagh owns the remaining 40 per cent of the equity. Three of Khoury’s sons - Tawfic, Samer and Suheil - are senior directors of the company. Khoury remains an active figure in the Arab business world as gov-ernor of the Arab Monetary Fund. He is also an active philanthropist, investing more than $80m in the Palestinian territories since 1990.

Contact Tel: (+30) 210 618 2000

Najib Mikati

Position: Co-founder, M1 Group

Biography: Harvard-educated Najib Mikati, who hails from a Sunni Lebanese family, formed telecoms group Investcom with his brother Taha, who also helped found Arabian Construction Company, in 1982. The company, in which the Mikati’s interest was more than 70 per cent, penetrated markets such as Sudan, Liberia and Yemen, before being sold in June 2006 to South Africa’s MTN group for $5.5bn. Helped by his strong ties to Syria, Mikati briefly served as Lebanon’s prime minister in 2005, and was previously public works minister under Rafiq Hariri. Mikati’s interest in Investcom was operated via the M1 Group, the family investment arm, which since MTN took over Investcom has become MTN’s second biggest shareholder, with a 10.2 per cent stake. M1 Group is a family-owned company engaged in business activities focusing on telecoms, retail, energy and real estate sectors.

Contact Tel:: (+961) 135 6666

Khaled Shaheen

Position: Group chairman and CEO, Shaheen Business & Investment Group (SBIG)

Biography: One of Jordan’s most influential businessmen, Khaled Shaheen is a member of one of the kingdom’s oldest business families. SBIG is still owned and operated by the Shaheen family but is becoming a multi-national conglomerate, with global interests in real estate, infrastructure, logistics, automotives, and investment banking advisory services. It employs more than 3,000 people worldwide and has $3bn in assets under management. Shaheen is the contractor of first choice for the Jordanian government. Shaheen’s most ambitious project is the Norman Foster-designed $1.5bn Serrenia development on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. In 2004, Shaheen was awarded a $72m contact by the Pentagon to supply fuel to coalition forces in Iraq, but the contract was cancelled after a week as it became clear the company had little experience in the fuel supply business.

Contact Tel: (+ 44) 207 399 3260

Bahaa Hariri

Position: Chairman, Horizon Development

Biography: When the former Lebanese premier and construction magnate Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in 2005, his children split the fortune, making four of the five offspring billionaires. Geneva-based Bahaa, the eldest son, followed his father into Middle East real estate development. In early 2008, Bahaa Hariri left the family-owned Saudi Oger construction, utility and telecoms company to run his own property empire. His Horizon Development is planning a $5bn city in the Jordanian port of Aqaba. In Saudi Arabia, Bahaa is involved in a project to build a property development near Tabuk. Bahaa has an Iraqi mother and is believed to be interested in investing in the country. Hariri chairs the board of directors of Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, a subsidiary of United Arab Press, Abdali Investment & Development,Jordan District Energy, Oger Jordan, and Overseas Development Company.

Contact Tel: (+962) 6 468 0084

Munib Masri

Position: Chairman, Padico

Biography: Nablus-born Munib Masri established the largest Palestinian investment company, Palestine Development & Investment Company (Padico), in 1993. He also helped to create Palestinian telecoms firm Paltel in 1997. However, he built up his business empire in Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 1970s , winning contracts to build military bases in the kingdom. Since then, he has extended his business interests throughout the Arab world, from telecoms to tourism. The Masri family has a significant presence in the Levant economy. Munib’s cousin Sabih Masri managed to build up a fortune after he landed the contract to supply the US army with provisions during the 1991 Desert Storm operation. Masri is also a key political figure, as an associate of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and as a former Jordanian cabinet minister. He is a graduate of Al-Najah National University in the West Bank.

Contact Tel: (+972) 2240 3336