Revealed: 50 most influential expats in UAE

The UAE is home to over 200 nationalities, working in various professions and in different positions. Many of them play a key and influential role in the development of the public and private sectors.

A new list compiled by Forbes magazine has revealed the 50 most influential expatriates in the UAE of 20 different nationalities from 21 industries. Around 30 per cent of them hail from Arab countries while British expats topped the list with eight executive leaders followed by five expats from Lebanon and Egypt each.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, tops the list followed by Alain Bejjani, CEO, Majid Al Futtaim, and Nabil Habayeb, president and CEO of GE Menat.

To identify the 50 most influential expats in the UAE, the report studied company revenues, data, sector analysis, scope of their role, number of employees they manage and their contribution in influencing the country's economy. The magazine excluded Indians from the list as they were recognised in its previous list.

Here is the list of the 50 most influential expats in the UAE:

> Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports (British)

> Alain Bejjani, CEO, Majid Al Futtaim (Lebanese)

> Nabil Habayeb, president and CEO, GE Menat, (Lebanese/American)

> Yves Manghardt, chairman and CEO, Middle East, Nestle (Swiss)

> Atiq ur Rehman, CEO, Citi Group (British)

> Mohamed Samir, president, subcontinent and MEA, P&G (Egyptian)

> Takreem El Tohamy, GM, IBM Middle EAST and Africa (Egyptian)

> Shayne Nelson, CEO, Emirates NBD (Australian)

> Dietmar Siersdorfer, CEO Middle East, Siemens (German)

> Sjoerd Leenart, regional head, JP Morgan Chase (Dutch)

> Samer Abu Ltaif, regional president, Microsoft (Lebanese)

> Georges Elhedery, CEO Mena, HSBC (Lebanese)

> Hamish Tyrwhitt, Group CEO, Arabtec (Australia)

> Mohammed Amin, SVP for Meat, Dell (Egyptian/Canadian)

> Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO, Dubai Duty Free (Irish)

> Luciano Poli, regional president, Dow Chemical (Swiss)

> Ashraf El Afifi, regional president, Henkel (Egyptian)

> Ghassan Aboud, chairman, Ghassan Aboud Group (Syrian)

> Lino Cattaruzzi, MD, Google (Argentinean)

> James Harold, regional president, Novartis (British)

> Norm Gilsdorf, regional president, Honeywell International (American)

> Jose Silva, CEO, Jumeirah (Portuguese)

> Michael Chaloub, chairman, Chaloub Group (French)

> Peter England, CEO, RakBank, (British)

> Magnus Olsson, co-founder, Careem (Swedish)

> Mudassir Sheikh, co-founder, Careem (Pakistani)

> Abdul Rehman Alokozay, chairman, Alokozay Group (Afghani)

> Yu Tao, regional president and CEO, CSCEC (Chinese)

> Kez Taylor, CEO, Alec (South African)

> Ahmed Kenawi, SVP for Mena, Halliburton (Egyptian)

> Perre Sironval, regional GM, Six Construct (South African)

> Gergi Abboud, regional MD, SAP (Lebanese)

> Alida Scholtz, MD and CEO, G4S (South African)

> Bernd van Linder, CEO, Commercial Bank of Dubai (British)

> Mark Beer, CEO, Dispute Resolution Centre, DIFC (British)

> Nour Suliman, CEO, DHL (Bahraini)

> John Iossifidis, CEO, Noor Bank (Australian)

> Cedric Charpentier, CEO, AXA Insurance (French)

> Benjamin Ampen, MD for Mena, Twitter (French)

> Ronaldo Mouchawar, founder and CEO, Souq (Syrian)

> Anan Fakhreddin, CEO, Damas Jewellery (Jordanian)

> Huda Khattan, founder and CEO, Huda Beauty (American/Iraqi)

> Zhang Junguo, regional GM, ICBC (Chinese)

> Jonathan Labin, regional managing director, Facebook (American)

> Paul Kenny, managing director, AYM Commerce (Irish)

> Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO, Dana Gas (British)

> Michael Raynes, CEO, Waha Capital (British)

> Mark Robinson, CEO, Commercial Bank International (American)

> Michael Pomerance, VP & MD, Cerner (American)

> Mirwais Azizi, founder, Azizi Developments (Afghan)

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

Alain Bejjani has been ranked the second most influential expat in the UAE.