DUBAI — The winners of the Top CEO Awards 2018 have been announced following the successful conclusion of the “Top CEO Conference and Awards,” which took place under the “Paradigm Shift” theme at King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, on April 10-11. The event saw business leaders and more than 30 expert speakers from across the Middle East gathering to discuss the burning issues facing the corporate world today in a series of keynote sessions and was concluded with an awards ceremony that recognized the exceptional business leadership of the region’s top 100 CEOs.

In alphabetical order of companies, some of the 100 “Top CEO Awards” go to:

• Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets Company, Abdulazizi A.S. Alothaim

• Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Ala'a Mohamed Atta Khalil Eraiqat

• Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Khamis Bu Haroon

• Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri

• Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company PSC, Ahmad Hamada Ahmad Idris

• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution PJSC, Saeed Mubarak Al Rashdi

• Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company PSC, Osama Abdeen

• ACICO Industries for Company - K.S.C., Ghassan Ahmad Saud Al Khalid

• Advanced Petrochemical Company, Abdullah M. Al Garawi

• Ahli United Bank B.S.C., Adel Mohamed Abdelshafe El-Labban

• Ahli United Bank K.S.C.P., Richard William Groves

• Air Arabia PJSC, Adel Abdullah Mohamed Al Ali

• Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait K.S.C.P., Michel Antoine Nakhla Accad

• Al Aman Investment Company - K.P.S.C., Wafaa Mohammad Wadie Badawy

• Al Hammadi Company For Development and Investment, Mohammed Saleh Al Hammadi

• Al Imtiaz Investment Group Company-K.P.S.C., Nawaf. Hussain M. Marafi

• Al Mazaya Holding Company K.S.C.P., Ibrahim Abdurrahman Al-Soqabi

The Top CEO Awards, organized by TRENDS magazine and INSEAD, the leading international business school, celebrates the region’s best-performing CEOs from companies that are listed on the stock exchanges of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. The transparent ranking process is based on hard facts, such as growth, profitability and size, and supported by corporate governance institute Hawkamah to ensure that governance and disclosure criteria are strictly adhered to, as well as a number of global auditors to ensure full transparency.

Julien Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest, the company behind the “Top CEO Conference and Awards,” said: “Over the years, we are proud to have seen the ‘Top CEO Awards’ growing into a globally esteemed platform that sets a gold standard for business leadership and stimulates business growth by opening up tangible new opportunities for companies in the Middle East. Our meticulous, independent and credible ranking process recognises only the leading expertise and has been designed to distinguish exceptional companies with a respected accolade that boosts their businesses. The winners of the ‘Top CEO Awards’ stand as role models to all members of the region’s business community.”

The second day of the “Top CEO Conference” also featured keynote sessions including “Lean & Mean,” where panellsts explored the importance of restructuring businesses in the Gulf and Middle East to adapt to the end of the era of abundance; “The Execution Challenge,” which addressed the fact that the majority of C-suite executives consider poor execution the single biggest hindrance to the growth of their industry; and “Moving away from Bureaucracy,” which considered how hurdles can be removed at an administrative level to allow the public sector to come into its own.

Other topics included “Maintaining Momentum,” “The Social Model,” “The Private Sector” and “A New Era,” as well as “Levelling the Playing Ground,” “Internationalising Business,” “Startups: Rethinking the Ecosystem,” and forward-thinking sessions on “Beyond Vision 2030” and “Securing the Future.” — SG