Dubai Holding establishes Board of Directors for TECOM Investments

DUBAI, 27 June 2012: Dubai Holding, a global investment holding company, announced today the establishment of the Board of Directors for TECOM Investments (TECOM), which owns and operates several free trade zones to support knowledge-based industries. This move is in continuation of Dubai Holding’s efforts to further strengthen corporate governance at its entities.

Dubai Holding’s Corporate Governance model constitutes of three independent non-executive directors and two executive directors. The Board will be responsible for defining the investment philosophy, setting long-term business strategy and overseeing implementation; ensuring adequacy of internal controls and strategic risk management.

Ahmad Bin Byat, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Holding, said: “Strengthened corporate governance forms a key pillar of Dubai Holding’s strategic guidelines. In accordance with international best practices, Dubai Holding is pleased to announce the appointment of a strong and experienced board for TECOM. We are confident that with such solid governance framework, TECOM will continue to further build on its success.”

Abdullah Sharafi, President, Gerab National Enterprises, has been named as the Chairman of the Board. Other members are Arif Alharmi, Chief Executive Officer, Amlak Finance; Ayesha Sultan, Director Corporate Strategy, DP World; Adrian Bradley, Chief Financial Officer, Jumeirah Group; and Abdullatif AlMulla, Group Chief Executive Officer, TECOM.

TECOM Investments' largest portfolio companies is "TECOM Business Parks", comprising 10 business parks under five industry clusters across the information and communication technology (ICT), media, education, sciences, as well as manufacturing and logistics sectors. Home to over 4,500 companies, including major multinationals and many of the Fortune 500 companies. TECOM Investments interests also include exclusive investments in high-growth sectors as well as 'pure play' businesses.

Following the establishment of the board, committees for Audit and Risk, Executive Human Capital, and Investment & Allocation will be formed for TECOM.

TECOM Investments Board Members

Abdullah Sharafi, Independent Chairman
Abdullah Sharafi is President of Gerab National Enterprises LLC. He has vast banking and entrepreneurial experience and a solid knowledge base in monetary and applied economics. Mr. Sharafi’s distinguished career started at the Emirates Industrial Bank where he worked and lead various departments for over 21 years. Presently he Chairs the Board of Directors at Acacia Investments BSC in Bahrain, and is a Board Director at Dubai International Capital LLC, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, and Takaful Re Limited.

Arif Alharmi, Independent Director
Arif Alharmi is Chief Executive Officer of Amlak Finance PJSC. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Amlak Finance Egypt and EFS Financial Services. He is also member of the board of Awqaf and Minors Affair Foundation. Arif has a wealth of knowledge and experience of over 20 years in leadership roles at leading international financial institutions including HSBC and ABN AMRO. His contribution to the Regional Mortgage Finance industry has been acknowledged with the CEO Middle East Award by ITP in 2008.

Ayesha Sultan, Independent Director
Ayesha Sultan is the Director of Corporate Strategy at DP World. She joined DP World in 2004, and has since held senior positions in Business Development and Corporate Strategy, where her principal roles have included sourcing and acquiring new investments and formulating and implementing strategy. Prior to working with DP World, Ms. Sultan worked with PA Consulting Group in the UK and France. Ms. Sultan holds an MSc. in Operational Research and BSc. in Mathematics and French from the University of Southampton, UK. She has completed the Dubai World Leadership Program with Wharton University, USA in 2009.

Adrian Bradley, Executive Director
Adrian Bradley is the Chief Financial Officer of Jumeirah Group. Prior to joining Jumeirah, Mr. Bradley worked with London & Regional Hotels, following an 11-year career at Hilton and an early career at PepsiCo and Millicom. Mr. Bradley is a member of the UK’s Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Abdullatif AlMulla, Executive Director
Mr. AlMulla is a successful business leader with track record spanning over 17 years of which 7 years in top leadership position with TECOM Investments as the Group CEO as well as Vice-Chairman. Earlier he has worked as General Manager – South Gulf (UAE, Oman, Yemen & Pakistan) for Microsoft. Mr. AlMulla is a board member of several prominent companies and educational Institutions such as Axiom, Smart City Kochi, Empower, Borse Dubai, EMS, NexGen, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, American University in the Emirates and Bank Muscat.