Middle East Retail Forum focused to better regions retail and boost consumer demand

Images RetailME the regions only retail business magazine to host the region's most awaited retail event Middle East Retail Forum on 5th& 6th December 2012 at Ritz Carlton DIFC, Dubai.

Over 150 leading retail delegates and industry experts have already confirmed their participation at the Middle East Retail Forum. The two-day forum will also include the annual Retail Middle East Awards 2012, which will take place at a gala dinner held on the evening of 5th December where the winners across varied retail categories will be announced.

"Retail is instrumental to the economic growth in the Middle Eastern region and having a genuine platform like the Middle East Retail forum only motivates the industry to do better."

"Being present at this premise will not only enhance our retailing knowledge and network, but also help us forge strong links and partnerships, some of which may go beyond our businesses as we work together on being socially responsible for meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities," said Yusuffali M.A., Group Managing Director, Emke Group, which has been operating for almost four decades in the Gulf region and controls nearly 34% of the organized retail sector with 98 hypermarkets and shopping malls. Emke Group is the main sponsor of the Middle East Retail Forum and the RetailME awards 2012

"There has already been considerable investments in modern retailing due to new generation consumer demands, the chore here is to nurture these demands with value added products and services furthermore catering to these demands will help boost local morale, create more jobs, encourage entrepreneurship and finally raise the bar on local income levels thus enhance local economy," said Mohammad I. B. Alawi, CEO, Red Sea Markets Co., owner of Red Sea Mall, Jeddah.

"At Middle East Retail Forum let us investigate the possibility of creating a futuristic foresight which will meet our global consumer demands," he adds.

Key speakers include, Burhan Al Hasemi of ENOC, Nilesh Ved of Apparel Group, Raza Beig of Splash & Iconic, Kishore Biyani of Future Group, Thomas Lundgren of THE One, David Macadam of JLL, Fahmi Al Shawa of Circle K, Sana Toukan of Euromonitor, Vishal Pandey of Glasgow Consulting Group, Mohamed Galal of Tasweeq Malls, Avjit Yadav of GLA, Walid Al Haj of Cravia, Fadi Malas of Just Falafel, Omar Kassim of Jado Pado, Fadi Younes of Frozen Yoghurt, Silvio Liedke of Fun City, Lennard Otto of Wadi Adventure, Narain Jashanmal of Jashnamal Bookstore and Paul Marks of Build-A-Bear Workshop among others.

Based on the real estate resilience, David Macadam, Regional Director MENA Jones Lang LaSalle MENA commented, "The MENA markets and the UAE specifically continue to offer retailers and the developers great opportunities for new business growth. The turmoil in the neighbouring countries in the MENA region has provided the UAE with more retail brands arriving from around the world. At the MRF 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle and other participants anticipate a learning experience from shared recent case studies, discussion of real estate trends and key issues affecting the retail sector."

Some 700 delegates are expected to profit from the forum discussions and network with the retail industry's who's who over two days. The evening of 5th December will host the annual IMAGES RetailME Awards 2012 felicitating outstanding achievers in retail and the gala dinner filled with celebrations and glittering entertainment.