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 2019 with over 17,000 member companies from 170 countries, employing over 60,000 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 2019, DMCC was named the ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record fifth 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 68 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.

DARREN WALSH
PARTNER

DWF LLP

A Legal 500 and Chambers Tier 1 ranked Energy Partner with over 20 years’ experience in the regulated energy and low carbon sectors. Darren is a leading individual according to Chambers and the Legal 500 and is recognised by Acritas as an “Acritas Star” in his field. Darren was also nominated by Legal 500 as Individual of the Year (2020) for his work in the Energy Sector.

Darren is a senior partner in the Commercial Division of DWF Law LLP. Darren’s principle area of practice is low carbon energy: covering renewables, decentralised and demand-side energy generation and nuclear power.

ROBIN MILLS
CEO

QAMAR ENERGY

Robin Mills established Qamar Energy in Dubai in 2015 to meet the need for regionally-based Middle East energy insight and project delivery. He is an expert on energy strategy and economics, described by Foreign Policy Magazine as “one of the energy world’s great minds”.

Prior to this, he led major consulting assignments for the EU in Iraq, and for a variety of international energy companies and governments on E&P business development, LNG, integrated gas and power generation, carbon capture and storage, and renewable energy.

Robin worked for a decade for Shell, concentrating on new business development in the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. He subsequently worked for six years with Dubai Holding and the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), where he advanced business development efforts in the Middle East energy sector.

He is a non-resident fellow at the Columbia University SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy, spent two years as the Non-Resident Fellow for Energy at the Brookings Institution, is a Senior Fellow of the Iraq Energy Institute, and the author of two books, The Myth of the Oil Crisis, and Capturing Carbon.

He holds a first-class degree in Geology from the University of Cambridge, and speaks Arabic, Farsi, Dutch and Norwegian.

OLIVER KLAUS
DUBAI BUREAU CHIEF

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE

Oliver Klaus is a media professional with more than 15 years of experience in business journalism and communication. He is presently the Dubai Bureau Chief and News Editor and Head of Client Engagement for the Eastern Hemisphere at Energy Intelligence, a leading independent provider of objective insight, unbiased analysis and reliable data for the energy industry for over 60 years. In his present roles, he drives and covers Middle East energy and geopolitics for the company’s weekly and daily publications, and coordinates daily news and client engagement activities in the Eastern Hemisphere.

He was previously an associate editor with strategic consultancy Gulf Intelligence and prior to that the head of media relations in the Middle East at Germany's Siemens, where he managed the engineering and electronic giant's press work across the 16-country-spanning Siemens Middle East region. Prior to his role at Siemens, Oliver held the positions of acting managing editor and assistant managing editor for the Middle East at Dow Jones Newswires in Dubai, managing and covering regional news for publication on the Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal platforms, and contributing with expert comment on business developments including on the U.K.'s Sky News TV channel. Oliver also worked as Dubai-based energy correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires, covering OPEC as well as regional energy affairs, and for Bloomberg News & Television in London in 2006, where he covered energy and commodities. He started his career with the esteemed Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) in 2000, where he held the roles of staff writer, Gulf correspondent and news editor.

Mr Klaus was educated at the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), where he read a Bachelor (Honors) degree in Arabic and Economics, at the University of Alexandria in Egypt and at Germany's University of Cologne (Köln). He also completed PwC's University of Northampton accredited mini MBA program in Dubai.
 

JAMES DAVID BERNARD

HEAD OF SALES

DMCC

James Bernard is currently the Head of Corporate Sales at DMCC (Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre) and has played a pivotal role in its growth and development into a multi-award winning free zone with a portfolio of over 16,000 companies till date. 

A special economics and free trade zone expert, James joined DMCC as Associate Director of Commodities and was later appointed as Director of Business Development in 2009 and has spearheaded both trade and commercial activities.

With over 14 years of experience and passion for commodities, logistics and global trade, James also specialises in big data, predictive analytics and distributed ledger technologies.

Prior to joining DMCC, James worked with several global financial institutions and trading houses across London and also set up his own trading companies for physical commodities and derivatives.

James is one of the founding members of the Dubai “Global Blockchain Council” and completed his higher education at the Westminster University in London.