CEOs to debate future of the Gulf at Leaders Forum

The debate will focus on the challenges of change and the great need for innovation in the region and will be moderated by Hala Gorani, co-anchor of CNN's 'Your World Today'.

Gorani is also the host of 'Inside the Middle East', a half-hour monthly programme focusing on social and cultural issues from the region.

The CNN CEO debate will be one of the features of the second day of the Business Forum and will feature the group chief executive of DMI, Khalid Janahi; Chairman & CEO of GroupMed Holding, Mohammad Hariri; and the Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Aramex International, Fadi Ghandour.

Mr. Janahi is the Chairman of Ithmaar Bank and Group Chief Executive of DMI which he joined in 1998.

Prior to his current position he was a partner at PriceWaterhouse with more than 18 years experience in business advisory services in the UK and Middle East. He is currently a member of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, Vice Chairman of the Arab Business Council and a member of the Board of the Centre for International Business and Management (CIBAM), University of Cambridge, England.

Mr Hariri has handled multi-billion US dollar investments and transactions on behalf of Saudi Oger and its associates including raising funds for the Company's activities and investments in telecommunications and other areas in construction, power, and aviation.

Mr Hariri is Chairman of GroupMed sal (Holding) as well as BankMed sal and its subsidiaries in Beirut and Geneva, IRAD Investment Holding and Al Mal Investment Holding. He also is the Chairman of Oger Telecom Dubai and serves on the boards of directors of various companies of the Saudi Oger Group.

Mr. Ghandour has been President & Chief Executive Officer of Aramex International for the past 25 years. He is a founding partner in Maktoob.com, the world's largest Arab on-line community; is a member of the Board of Abraaj Capital, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut.

Event director Alan Kelly said CNN had been a major sponsor of the Forum since it began three years ago and the CNN CEO debate was a great new innovation that would add to the importance of the Forum as the region's key business event of the year.

'The participants will bring powerful and proven insights to the critical business and economic issues that lie ahead for the region. They will discuss through personal experience and with a regional perspective, how the region must prepare for a successful future,' he said.

Hala Gorani has interviewed influential newsmakers from around the world, including Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, Italian fashion designers Miucca Prada and Donatella Versace, and even boxing heavyweight Evander Holyfield. Gorani.

She has worked as a field anchor for CNN during crises such as the Israel/Hezbollah crisis when she anchored daily shows live from Beirut. As a news reporter she was the first international correspondent on the scene during the Amman bombings in November 2005 and has covered historic events such as the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the Iraq war and the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

This is the third year the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum and this year's line up of international keynote speakers includes Queen Noor of Jordon; former Disney president and CEO, Michael Eisner; the man who rescued IBM, Louis V Gerstner Jr; renowned corporate strategist CK Prahalad; and others.

The region will be represented by the Mr Janahi, Mr Hariri and Mr Ghandour as well as the member of the Al Rouad group of six pioneer Arab business leaders. Al Rouad includes Maha K. Al Ghunaim and Yousef Al-Essa from Kuwait; Faisal bin Juma Belhoul and Ibrahim Belselah from the UAE; Esam Yousif Janahi of Bahrain; and Ibrahim Al Asmakh from Qatar. All members will participate on the main stage in an Al Rouad Roundtable discussion on the first day.

More than 2000 of the regions most senior business executives will attend the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum 2006 which is to be held at the Dubai International Convention Centre on November 28 and 29.