Majid Saif al-Ghurair

Company: Chief executive officer (CEO), Al-Ghurair Group

Biography: Majid Saif al-Ghurair is a senior member of the UAE business community. His primary role is as CEO of the Al-Ghurair Group, of which his father, Saif, is chairman. Majid plays an active role in the retail sector as president of the Burjuman centre and Reef Mall. He is the president of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centres, an organisation he helped to form. In the financial sector, Al-Ghurair is chairman of Dubai-based Shuaa Capital, Gulf Finance Corporation and International General Insurance Company. His board memberships also include Dubai developers Emaar Properties and retail firm Damas, and UAE firms National Cement Company and RAK Bank. Al-Ghurair sits on the boards of the Dubai Statistics Centre and the Dubai Council for Economic Affairs. He holds a BA in accounting from Al-Ain University in the UAE.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4262 3377

Majid al-Futtaim

Company: President, Majid al-Futtaim Group

Biography: Majid al-Futtaim is founder and president of the Majid al-Futtaim Group, which he set up in 1992. He is widely credited with introducing the mixed shopping and leisure complex to the Gulf and is a pioneer of working in joint ventures with international brands. Al-Futtaim negotiated the deal with Carrefour in 1995 that brought the French hypermarket giant into the UAE to become a core tenant in the Majid al-Futtaim Group’s malls. The two firms have 26 stores across the region, located from Jordan to Oman. Majid is the cousin of Abdullah al-Futtaim and the two were locked in a dispute over ownership of the Al-Futtaim Group, which was resolved in 2000 with Abdullah buying Majid out of the family business. Both Al-Futtaim Group and Majid al-Futtaim Group now operate as separate entities. Majid al-Futtaim Group is pursuing a range of new mall ventures and plans to open Mirdif City Centre in November 2009.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4294 9999

Anders Moberg

Company: CEO, Majid al-Futtaim Group

Biography: Anders Moberg was appointed CEO of Majid al-Futtaim Group in July 2007. His appointment came at a time of upheaval at the firm, with several senior staff, including Graham Dreverman and Jim Badour, having recently left the company. Moberg must now work on meeting the company’s four core objectives: accelerating the growth of the mall business, securing strong retail partnerships, promoting mixed-use developments and creating new consumer business using the existing partnerships and operations. He must also oversee the firm’s AED50bn ($13.6bn) five-year capital expenditure plans. Prior to moving to Majid al-Futtaim Group, Moberg was CEO of Dutch food retailer Royal Ahold and also worked in the US for four years as president of the international division of Home Depot. Before that, he spent 13 years as CEO and president of Swedish home furnishing giant Ikea.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4294 9999

Jim Badour

Company: CEO, Emaar Malls Group

Biography: Jim Badour can count the November opening of Dubai Mall as one of his biggest success stories, as more than 60,000 people visited the centre in its first five days. Badour joined Emaar Malls Group as executive vice-president of asset management in 2006 before becoming CEO in 2007. He began his Middle East career with the Majid al-Futtaim Group. He joined Majid al-Futtaim Investments in 1999 as vice-president of Deira City Centre, and went on to become vice-president of the Mall of the Emirates, where he oversaw its strategic development, operations and launch in 2005. Before joining the Majid al-Futtaim Group, Badour was regional manager of property management group Bentall Retail Services in Vancouver, Canada. He spent 18 years managing shopping centres in Canada and obtained the Certified Shopping Centre Manager (CSM) designation from the International Council of Shopping Centres.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4367 3333

Ilyas Galadari

Company: Chairman, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group

Biography: The Galadari family has been active in the UAE business community since the 1940s, and the Galadari Brothers business was set up in 1960. Since then, the next generation of five brothers, which includes Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari, have launched their own business enterprises. The Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group was formally
established in 2003. Ilyas is chairman of the company, with Mustafa as vice-chairman
and managing director. Since 2003, the brothers have launched the region’s most ambitious retail project to date, the Mall of Arabia in Dubai, which will contain 930,000 square metres of retail space, almost twice that of the Dubai Mall. The scheme is being let as six construction packages and is being managed by US firm Hill International. The project is part of the $5bn City of Arabia scheme in Dubailand.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4331 1022

Graham Dreverman

Company: Group managing director, Nakheel Retail

Biography: Graham Dreverman made headlines in the Dubai retail sector in mid-2007 when he resigned from his position as managing director of the Majid al-Futtaim Group and joined Nakheel Retail. Since then, he has worked on building the firm’s local and international developments, negotiating new ventures to bring international brands into the region, the latest of which is French hypermarket chain Auchan. Dreverman has more than 30 years’ experience in retail management, which began in his native Australia, where he worked for local property group Lend Lease Corporation for more than 15 years in roles such as director of Lend Lease Retail and director of Lend Lease Property Management. During his time at Lend Lease, Dreverman moved to Singapore as regional director for business development, leasing and marketing.

Contact Tel: (+ 971) 4362 1900