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Dubai Holding Appoints Ahmad bin Byat as First CEO

The position is new, Dubai Holding said in a statement on Saturday.

Mohammad Al Gergawi will remain chairman of the company, which recently took two large strides towards restructuring its financial and real estate operations.

The group is consolidating amid global financial turmoil and a sharp decline in the emirate’s real estate sector. The back offices of three real estate entities — Dubai Properties Group, Sama Dubai and Mizin (a member of Tatweer) were brought within one operation.

A similar decision merged the back-office operations of Dubai Group and Dubai International Capital under the umbrella of Dubai Holding Investment Group.

Byat will put together the strategy and implementation mechanism to increase the efficiency of the group and its effectiveness, the statement said.

Al Gergawi said: “This appointment is in line with the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to offer outstanding leaders opportunities to assume positions, through which they contribute directly to building a strong knowledge-based economy.”

Last month, Dubai announced a $20 billion bond programme, and said the federal government had fully subscribed half of that.

Dubai officials have said they will use the funds to service and repay debt that its corporate entities have taken on, as well as provide liquidity to state-controlled companies, including its many real-estate firms.

Bin Byat occupies several high-ranking positions including, Chairman of the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC); Chairman of the Dubai Real Estate Corporation and Chairman of the Aswaaq Founding Committee. He is also a member of the Zayed University board of trustees.

· abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com