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sMe adVIsOr suMMIt Murali Subramanian, Senior Vice President and Head Transaction Banking Group, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) Murali Subramanian is the head of Transaction Banking at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Transaction Banking is a division of the Wholesale Banking Group, offering industry leading cash management and trade solutions to over 15,000 multinationals, domestic corporations, government entities, SMEs and financial institutions throughout the UAE. Murali has been in this role since August 2009, when he joined ADCB. Prior to this, he was the Head of GTS at Citibank NA for the MENA region based in Dubai, and has held various management roles in GTS in the North African, CIS, and Western European business.
months period and they attributed much of it to his work. A certified NFNLP hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner and life coach, Dave is also one of the best and was known names in regional radio having worked on 99.3 Radio 2FM, formerly the station manager of 104.8 Channel 4 FM and Dubai 92 FM.
EXCERPTS FROM THE PANEL DISCUSSION
Richard Jones, Managing Director, Coffee Planet Richard Jones is the Managing Director of Coffee Planet. He is responsible for providing the strategic platform and direction for the company, for the continuing development of the brand. He has worked in some of the world’s leading companies and has a wealth of knowledge and experience gained from his 15 years of financial, marketing and commercial corporate roles. Prior to setting up Coffee Planet, Richard worked for Danone Group, the world’s fourth largest food company, based in their London Head Office and was responsible for managing the strategic relationship and financial performance with its biggest international customers including Tesco and WalMart.
Prashant K. Gulati (PK), Serial Entrepreneur, Chief Executive Officer, Optimistix Ventures and President, TiE Dubai Mr. Prashant K. Gulati, President of TiE Dubai, is a serial entrepreneur, international business executive and mentor. With more than a decade of responsible management experience in several companies of international repute, Prashant has extreme in depth knowledge as a senior telecommunications, media and IT professional. He has been a consultant, designer and promoter of various ventures in the Middle East and India with some of the major state of the art projects of the region. A post Graduate in Computer Science and Management, PK is the promoter and CEO of Optimistix Ventures, a venture catalysis and consulting company based in Dubai Internet City. The company has successfully promoted ventures in the field of Web Services, outsourcing, vending, hospitality, medicare, media, logistics and ICT. He is an active angel and early stage investor in start-ups and younger companies and innovative ideas. With an active portfolio of ventures in India, Middle East and US, he is actively involved in providing mentorship, guidance and advice to such companies at various levels.
Dave Crane, Moderator and Managing Director, The Life Designers Dave is one of most highly requested trainers and motivational speakers in the market. In the last few years he has worked in Spain, South Africa, Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Egypt, the Caribbean, Italy and Monaco. One motivational session in Greece led to a global company recording a 49% growth in sales within their next 12
(L)-(R) Claire Fenner, Co-Founder, Heels & Deals; Rahul Dhadphale, Regional Director, London Business School, Middle East; Abdulmuttalib Al Hashimi, Managing Director, Next Level, enjoy an animated conversation
Dave Crane: This question is for Majed Al Suwaidi. Majed, from the Dubai Internet City (DIC), the last two years have seen a real change. Some companies are growing and some companies are going out of business. What have you taken as the current climate and what feedback are you getting from business people currently in the market? Majed Al Suwaidi: Well the first thing I would like to say is that there were not as many companies closing down as expected. The economic downturn did not reflect on the companies here as badly as we all first thought it would. In fact, by the end of this year, we expect to surpass the number of companies that registered with us last year and the year before. There has been some economic growth this year and a trend is quickly emerging where there are many new SMEs that are starting up for the first time, where there are more and more business people leaving structured jobs to try and start a business of their own. Even with the downturn of the past few years there are still people who are confident in the region’s ability to offer their business growth potential and see Dubai and the UAE as a place that can give them the best possible start.
Dave Crane: There are a number of opportunities that exist in the current economic climate. Right now there is huge potential for people who have got their act together. What would you say are the opportunities in a downturn for people to expand their business? Richard Jones: I personally think it’s as good a time as any to be an entrepreneur, partly because it opens up space in whatever market you want to be in – the space which the bigger companies have occupied and dominated in better times. Usually there is a period of retreat for the bigger companies. So, effectively, a recession can provide a bit of a shake down in this sense. Consumers are now cautious about their spending and conscious JANUARY 2011
SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST
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