Upcoming CFO Strategies Middle East Forum to discuss the changing pressures with the changing time

These changing times are imposing increased pressures on the CFOs to reevaluate their strategies and weigh the long term consequences of the current crisis.

The demand for adopting innovative tools, analytical forecasting as well as investment in staff and technology has created a whole new level of capital needs for CFOs to stay abreast with the dynamic environment.

The 2nd Annual of CFO Strategies Middle East taking place on the 17th and 18th November 2008 at Park Hyatt Hotel in Dubai will bring together 100 CFOs from the leading companies in the Middle East discussing the key challenges facing their roles today.

The forum features some of the leading CFOs in the region including: AbdulLatif Al Othman, Senior VP - Finance, Saudi Aramco who will highlight the challenges facing today's CFO's and identify opportunities to best prepare the Finance organization to assist a business entity in addressing ever increasing stakeholder expectations.

The address will reflect on the transformation journey of Saudi Aramco's Finance Organization to be partners in driving business performance by providing the best advice, developing the best processes and securing the best talent.

During the two days the CFOs will also discuss the impact of the current financial crisis on their cash management and risk management strategies and assess its impact on the different sectors.

One of the keynote speakers of the forum, Sanjay Uppal, Group CFO, Emirates NBD when asked about the impact of the crisis on the Middle East quoted:

"The current global financial turmoil will impact every economy in the world as we see continued financial deleveraging, growth slowdown, and decline in commodity and asset prices. The adverse impact will be more pronounced in some markets and less so in others."

He further added "The GCC markets possess geo-economic advantages that will limit the impact of the financial turmoil and allow the region to capture some of the opportunities that the environment now presents. The region possesses three key strengths that will ensure a healthy level of economic growth is sustained - first, a geographic advantage as the Region provides an international financial platform bridging the legacy gap between international markets in Europe and the Far East; second, vast availability of investible wealth and budget surpluses; thirdly, the continued demand for development of infrastructure and other sectors of the economies. The Region is fast emerging as a key player in the global financial stage - in both aiding international markets in reducing the fallout of the turmoil and more importantly, emerging as a key financial player in its own right."

To take the discussion further, Abdul Rahman Al Sufiancy, CFO, Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA) will be sharing strategies on creating value during these uncertain times.

The forum also features Ghaith Shocair, CFO, Kingdom Hotel Investments giving a keynote presentation on elevating finance to the next level.

Pinak Maitra, Group CFO, Kuwait Projects Company will be sharing his insight on expectation management.

He would be uncovering the key challenges confronting the CFOs in managing internal and external stakeholders.

In conjunction with the forum, naseba will also be laying the foundation for the inaugural "MENA CFO of the Year Awards".

The inaugural MENA CFO Awards are the first of its kind in the region and have been instituted to honor excellence in finance and recognize the contribution the CFOs have made towards the outstanding success of their organizations.