Past event summary

AHMED BIN SULAYEM
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN & CEO

DMCC

Ahmed Bin Sulayem is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC and has driven its growth from a start-up of 28 member companies in 2003 to the world’s leading free zone in 2020 with 21,000 member companies from 170 countries, employing over 65,000 people.

Tasked with enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai, DMCC has introduced to market a number of value-added products and services under Mr. Bin Sulayem’s leadership. In 2020, DMCC has been named the ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record sixth consecutive year.

Mr. Bin Sulayem oversaw the exponential growth of the DMCC Free Zone master development in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), a 200-hectare business and residential community in Dubai of over 100,000 people living and working across 87 towers. Mr Bin Sulayem also oversees the development of DMCC’s latest real estate project; the much-anticipated Uptown Dubai district.

Mr. Bin Sulayem currently serves as the Chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

The Kimberley Process officially appointed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the first and only Arab country to Chair the Kimberley Process in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Mr. Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016. 

SANJEEV DUTTA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - COMMODITIES & FINANCIAL SERVICES

DMCC

Sanjeev Dutta is the Executive Director of Commodities and Financial Services at DMCC. He oversees DMCC’s commodities vertical, and directs the development, implementation and regulation of the organisation’s financial products, platforms and services.

An expert on trade finance and commodity markets, Sanjeev is responsible for identifying new business opportunities for DMCC and nurturing existing commercial partnerships. He was instrumental in establishing the DMCC Tea Centre, DMCC Coffee Centre and the award-winning DMCC Tradeflow platform, and now tasked with enhancing the trade of agri and softs, precious metals and stones through Dubai.

Sanjeev is a senior member of DMCC’s executive leadership team and supports the general management, strategic direction and growth initiatives of the organisation. Sanjeev devised and implemented the organisation’s Code of Corporate Governance, and established its comprehensive risk management protocol.

Joining on its inception, Sanjeev has held a number of senior roles within DMCC and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DCGX). A distinguished speaker, Sanjeev regularly represents DMCC at international industry events and is an expert on trade, commodities and Islamic Finance.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Sanjeev has over two decades of multi-industry expertise in auditing, financial controls, consulting, risk management, corporate governance and general management with both PwC and KPMG.

URS STIRNIMANN
FOUNDER/VICE PRESIDENT

SWISS INTERNATIONAL LEGAL CONSULTANTS/SWISS BUSINESS COUNCIL

Urs Stirnimann is the Founder of Swiss International Legal Consultants, UAE.

Urs worked for more than 25 years in various countries of the Middle East and Latin America with different responsibilities in the financial, diplomatic and legal field.

Since 2004, Urs is working as a lawyer in the UAE. He assists mostly Europeans who would like to benefit from the various advantages Dubai offers. He has established several hundred companies in the UAE. He advises also in the creation of Islamic products and structures and real estate issues and counsels as well in the fintech/blockchain field.

Urs has plenty of honorary positions like Vice President of the Swiss Business Council Dubai and chairman of the Swiss Financial Group, where 20 Swiss banks and insurance companies are represented. In addition, he is the Executive Director of the Emirati Swiss Friendship Forum under the leadership of HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan and HE Pascal Couchepin former president of Switzerland. He was elected to represent the Swiss in the UAE at the Parliament for Swiss Living Abroad.

Urs studied economics and law at the University of Zurich. Urs speaks fluent German, English, Spanish and French.

MICHAEL VON LUEHRTE
SECRETARY GENERAL

SWISS COFFEE TRADE ASSOCIATION

Michael is a commodity market veteran having worked 25 years at Kraft Foods, 9 years at Noble/Noble Agri & COFCO Int. in various procurement/trading, risk management and market analysis roles across different agricultural markets from coffee/cocoa, sugar, grains & oilseeds, cotton to meat/dairy and biofuels.

During his career he lived and worked 4 years in Brazil and 5 years in the US. Michael is the secretary general of the Swiss Coffee Trade Association since 2017 and is based in Zug/Switzerland. He also has his own commodity consultancy business.

JAMES BERNARD

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE - EUROPE

DMCC

James started his career working in the London financial markets for several international institutions and trading houses where he developed his passion for commodities, logistics, and global trade. He later incorporated his own group of companies producing, distributing and trading in physical commodities and derivatives.

After joining DMCC in 2006 as Associate Director of Commodities he took over as Director of Business Development in 2009, leading the next stage of growth for DMCC Free Zone which to date has attracted 21,000 companies to its central Dubai location.

In his next role as DMCC Head of Corp Sales he has helped to successfully take DMCC on to achieve unprecedented growth and to develop into a multi award winning Free Zone.

James was recently appointed as DMCC’s European representative and operates from offices in the Netherlands.

As one of the founding members of the DMCC ‘Blockchain Innovation Group’ and ‘Global Blockchain Council’ he continues to assist in the development of Dubai as a global sector hub and DMCC as a global crypto ecosystem.

MARCO BELLINATO
HEAD OF COFFEE

DMCC

Marco Bellinato is Head of Coffee at DMCC and was appointed to the role in December 2018.

Marco is responsible for growing DMCC’s coffee-related business and leads the operational management and commercial teams at the DMCC Coffee Centre.

With a wealth of experience in the coffee industry, Marco plays a pivotal role in shaping the world-class services on offer through the DMCC Coffee Centre and engaging with its growing number of local, regional and international members.

Marco’s expertise in coffee roasting, quality control, production and manufacturing are critical to the expansion plans of the DMCC Coffee Centre, and its wider vision to help transform Dubai into a new global hub for coffee.

Prior to joining DMCC, Marco was based in London and worked with one of the world’s largest coffee companies. He also successfully managed his own coffee business in his native Italy.

Marco is a qualified Q-Grader and holds a Coffee Diploma from the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA). He also has an educational background in surveying.

CORY BUSH
MANAGING DIRECTOR

SUCAFINA SPECIALTY EMEA AND COMPLETE COFFEE UK

Cory Bush is the Managing Director of Sucafina Specialty EMEA and Complete Coffee UK.  Sucafina Specialty is the specialty green coffee trading division of Sucafina SA, one of the fastest growing green coffee trade houses in the world, and an increasingly important player in the speciality coffee industry in the MENA region.

Prior to Sucafina, he worked for several other companies in the sustainable and specialty coffee sector, and in the technology consulting industry.

He is the current Board Chairman of the Cup of Excellence, and has spoken extensively and been interviewed on a variety of topics at/by the ICO, Bloomberg, AFCA, EU, SCA, and more.  Cory is based in Antwerp, Belgium and London, UK.

WYCLIFFE ODHIAMBO MURWAYI
MANAGING DIRECTOR

SUCASTAINABILITY KENYA LTD

Wycliffe Odhiambo Murwayi is the Managing Director of Sucastainability Kenya LTD and Kahawa Bora Millers Kenya LTD, through which Sucafina is able to work directly with farmers in Kenya and offer dry milling and grading services.

He is a trained Agronomist with 30 years experience in the coffee industry in East Africa. He started out as a coffee plantation manager and progressed to general operations management, NGO work and eventually joined Sucafina in 2016.

He is currently creating a specialty segment through working with small estate growers to improve yield, quality and traceability. My philosophy is to improve grower returns through productivity, quality focus and cost control.

MARIA PAVANI
FOUNDER & OWNER

TRES MARIAS COFFEE

Maria Pavani is a Coffee Professional living in Dubai for 8 years. Founder & Owner of Tres Marias Coffee and presentative of Ally Coffee in the Middle East, Maria runs a DMCC trading company based out of the DMCC Coffee Centre, importing and exporting Roasted and Green Speciality Coffee Across the Middle East, together with training programs certified by the Coffee Quality Institute & Speciality Coffee Association to educate other coffee professionals in the region.

SAMER MERHI
SENIOR MANAGER - EVENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS

DMCC

Samer Merhi is the Senior Manager - Events and Partnerships at DMCC, the world’s leading Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise.

Joining DMCC in 2012, Samer is responsible for delivering the organisation’s event programme in line with corporate marketing strategy and business objectives.

Technically knowledgeable and professionally qualified, Samer forges strategic relationships with partners around the world to deliver an ever-growing DMCC calendar of events both physical and virtual.

In a career spanning 15 years, Samer has managed some of the region’s largest and high-profile live events and conferences, as well as diplomatic meetings and industry gatherings.