Renewal of the Renaissance: Challenges and the Way Forward
This webinar will explain and assess the measures taken over the last nine months under His Majesty Sultan Haitham to meet the challenges of the fall in the oil price and the fallout of COVID-19. We will look at how Oman might implement ‘the renewed Renaissance’ to equip the economy for the long term.
Register Here
Mr. Mohammed Mahfoudh Al Ardhi
Chairman of Sohar International
Al Ardhi joined Sohar International as the chairman in December 2017. Mr. Al Ardhi is also the Executive Chairman of the global investment firm Investcorp.
A retired Air Vice Marshal by profession, Mr. Al Ardhi joined the Royal Air Force of Oman in 1978, and was subsequently appointed as Chief of the Omani Air Force. In 2000, he was awarded the “Order of Oman” by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said.Al Ardhi is the former chairman of the National Bank of Oman where he served for three years as Deputy Chairman and three years as Chairman of the Board.
Al Ardhi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Science from the Royal Air Force Staff College in Bracknell, UK and a Master’s in Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University USA. He also graduated from the prestigious US military institution the National Defense University in Washington D.C., USA. After studying military strategy.
Al Ardhi regularly speaks on international trade, the relationship between the Middle East and the West and the security of the Gulf. He is also the author of three books: “Arabs Down Under”, “Pearls from Arabia” and “Arabs Unseen”.
Current affiliations:
International Advisory Board of The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Trustee for the Eisenhower Fellowship in Philadelphia
Member of Community Chairmen Group, World Economic Forum
Member of Harvard Kennedy School Dean’s Council
Member of The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington
In addition to his position as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Sohar International, he also holds the position of the Chairman of the Executive, Nomination and Remuneration committee (ENRC).
Nick Pattison
Former Chairman and Managing Director of Shell Oman
Nick Pattison had a long career in Shell International. His last position was as Chairman and Managing Director of Shell Oman which he held for over four years. He has lived in a number of countries around the world, including the UAE, India, the Philippines, and the Netherlands as well as Oman. In India he was the Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Bharat Shell, the vehicle used to bring Shell back into India after nationalisation in the mid-1970s.
He has sat on over twenty international Boards and is currently a non-executive director of the Truckoman Group, ,a UK food manufacturing company and a member of the Board of The Oman British Friendship Association. He has lived in Oman since 1998.
Pankaj Khimji
Director Khimji Ramdas
Pankaj Khimji, Director, Khimji Ramdas, the 5th generation member of a diversified family business based in Oman, is a Building Construction Engineer who graduated from the UK.
Apart from being one of the most respected business leaders in the Middle East, he was also a working Group Member of Oman’s Logistic Strategy 2040, He is Co-Chairman of the Oman- India joint business committee and a Board member of the Omani-British Friendship Association (OBFA) . He has also been an integral member of Oman’s Contingent to International Labour Conference (ILO).
Pankaj was an integral member of Tanfeedh, the national programme for enhancing economic diversification; and a Board member of the Fund for Development of Youth Projects (SAOC). He is a founder director of the Muscat University, and a former board member of the National Bank of Oman (NBO).
A passionate cricket fan, Pankaj also devotes time on the board of Oman Cricket and is an Executive Board Member of the Asian Cricket Council.