Public or private institutions can falter due to lack of transparency

Ghandour, speaking after he was appointed as a corporate ambassador for November's ground-breaking Leaders in Dubai conference, said: 'Certain Government services fail today because they do not have the sense of responsibility and accountability that the private sector has with its clients.

'Successful leadership is about having transparent corporate governance alongside the more traditional values of vision, creating a culture of trust, and building a great team.

'Leadership is about being first on the front line - and setting the example.'

Ghandour is one of a select number of regional leaders that have been selected by the speakers at the conference, who include former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, and Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric.

These corporate ambassadors will debate leadership models with the seven event speakers at the event, to be held at the Dubai International Convention Centre on November 29 - 30.

Ghandour has built Aramex up into one of the leading logistics and transportation companies in the Middle East since he founded the company 22 years ago, and it was the first company from the Arab world to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

He is founding partner in Maktoob.com the world's largest Arab online community and is a Member of the Executive Committee of the 'Arab Business Council' of the World Economic Forum.

More than 1,800 seats have already been sold to the event, which will feature Giuliani, alongside Michael Porter, a Professor of Harvard Business School; Lester Thurow, Professor of Management and Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, management guru Tom Peters; futurologist Alvin Toffler; and communications expert Frank Maguire. Welch will speak via video-cast.

The event is tipped to be the biggest business event in Dubai since Dubai 2003, the Annual Meetings of the Joint Secretariat of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Conference organiser Leading Minds is a company specialising in presenting the latest thoughts and groundbreaking ideas from pre-eminent international business authorities.