Another great presentation from the 4th annual Private Equity MENA 2008, organized by Terrapinn, was the one by Brad Bourland, Chief Economist at Jadwa Investment of Saudi Arabia. (Brad was the Chief Economist at Samba in Riyadh for almost 9 years before joining Jadwa.) Enjoy!

AIG doesn’t sound like a name you want to be associated with it too much, but what if you buy it and rename it? That’s what Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, Aabar Investments, is going to do after acquiring AIG Private Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the troubled AIG, for $254 million.

AIG Private Bank will become an independent financial institution, headquartered in Switzerland along with branches and representatives in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Dubai.

At the time of writing this piece, Aabar market cap is ~$500m; AIG’s NYSE ~$5,000m.

(You may purchase our directory to find out more about other investment firms in the Middle East other than Aabar)

The 4th annual Private Equity MENA 2008, organized by Terrapinn, was held in Dubai last week and DubaiBeat.com was proud to be officially accredited to cover this event.

Following is the presentation by Istithmar World Capital’s Chief Investment Officer, Felix Herlihy:

On September 28, Unicorn Investment Bank, the Islamic investment bank based in Bahrain, agreed to buy Bahrain Financing Company (BFC), the oldest foreign exchange and remittance house in the GCC. BFC is founded in 1917 and its network is comprising of institutions in over 60 countries worldwide.

According to the Reuters, in January Unicorn bought 80 percent of U.S. electronics firm Victron for $70 million and the month before it, 75 percent of Open-Silicon, a microchip maker. Unicorn was profitable in 2007: $50.1 million net profit. But 2008 is challenging. As all of us, vividly, know …

Leaders in Dubai business forum is tomorrow. If you are wondering how it might look like, check the following video. Although a bit commercial, serves the purpose of how it actually looks like.

David Sifry is a serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley. A blogosphere icon known most for founding Technorati, the largest blog search engine in the world. He is now founder and CEO of Offbeat Guides, a personalized travel guide website (Dave is a recognized expert on leadership development, blogs and the massive changes in the digital media environment, Open Source development, and the Linux operating system.) He exclusively talks to DubaiBeat.com on the sidelines the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda here in Dubai.

Listen to the interview here (~5 min):

Related:
Interview with Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of Product Management

Put on your calendars for next week: “Leaders in Dubai”. First held in 2004, Leaders in Dubai is now one of the top business conferences in Dubai. Some of the past speakers include Colin Powell, Jack Welch, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, Kofi Annan, Michael Porter, Tom Peters, and Malcolm Gladwell.

DubaiBeat.com is proud to be officially accredited to cover this event. Who are the speakers this year? Some top names:

- Rudolph Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City
- James Wolfensohn, Former President of The World Bank
- Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA
- Rajat Gupta, Former Managing Director of McKinsey
- Tom Peters, Business Strategist
- Sir Winfried Bischoff, Chairman of Citi

For full list of speakers and a last-minute registration opportunity, visit leadersindubai.com. See you there!

Here is the full text of speech by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, addressing participants at the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda.

Marissa Mayer is the Vice President of Search Products & User Experience at Google, leading Google's product management efforts on search products. She joined Google in 1999 as Google's first female engineer and led the user interface and web server teams at that time. (Marissa has been featured in various publications, including Newsweek "10 Tech Leaders of the Future", Red Herring "15 Women to Watch", Business 2.0 "Silicon Valley Dream Team", BusinessWeek, Fortune, and Fast Company.) She exclusively talks to DubaiBeat.com on the sidelines the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda here in Dubai.

Listen to the audio version here:

You are directing user experience and product management at Google after starting as a user experience developer in early days. Would you please tell us more about your work in Google?

I work in the Product Management function. Is it looking at how do things work, how do they look, how do they meet the user’s needs. I work on products that are related to search. So core web search, Image search, News, our Geo products like Maps, Earth as well as Toolbar, our new Chrome product, iGoogle, etc. We are looking at what information needs meet the user and how do we meet those needs as part of the user experience.

It is great to see you hear in Dubai. Can you please tell us about the background of your experience with the World Economic Forum?

I am really excited because I am here in Dubai for the first time I arrived just this morning. It is a really vibrant and thriving city and I have always wanted to see it. So it is great being here. I have involved with the World Economic Forum for the past few years. I’ve occasionally attended Davos in a faculty capacity and I am excited to be here taking part in the Global Agenda Summit.

I understand you are here as a member of the Council on the Technology and Education. Can you tell us about your role in the Council specifically?

We met this afternoon to talk about some of the challenges for technology and education. The tools that we need to help bridge the gaps we see growing in the world as well as how education practice need to change; even separate from the technology issues. It is really interesting I think as it is a pivotal problem and we need to solve it together.

And my last question: How did you find Dubai so far?

Oh it’s been really really fun. I’ve got to see a little bit today, places like Mall of the Emirates and Palaces. I even got to go and visit the Google office which was the highlight of the day as it was good to see the blend of Google culture with the culture here in Dubai.

Agility, a publicly traded UAE/Kuwait-based logistics provider with 32,000 employees and 550 offices in 100 countries, acquired a Chinese logistics company.

According to Bloomberg, the price tag is $50.5 million. Agility's annual revenue is $6 billion!

The activities of a Global Agenda Council are structured around 4 annual meetings: 3 of them carried out virtually, and the fourth a physical meeting during the Summit on the Global Agenda (i.e the upcoming Dubai summit).

Jack Sim sits in two of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Councils (GAC): “Water Security” and “Social Entrepreneurship”. He is advocating for better toilets and sanitation by founding the World Toilet Organization comprising of 151 members in 53 countries. (He has received numerous awards, such as the World Environment Award in 2004 and the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006). He exclusively talks to DubaiBeat.com before attending the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda here in Dubai.

Would you please tell us a bit about the background of your relationship with the World Economic Forum and your participation in the upcoming Summit on the Global Agenda?

I am a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur which is part of the World Economic Forum. My area of interest is Sanitation and that falls under Water Security. I also sit the Global Agenda Council for Social Entrepreneur. So there are 2 GAC I am coming to Dubai for.

What specific area is your focus and how do you say it can help improve state of the world?

I want to use the social entrepreneur approach to help bring sanitation to the 2.5 billion people who still do not have proper access improved sanitation. The current situation is water has taken most of the attention away from sanitation and sanitation remains neglected. Donors' funds are insufficient to solve the problem of this scale and so we need to channel energies to a market-based solution bringing in businesses to serve the market at the botto of the pyramid involving the poor in the process.

What do you think about the city of Dubai, the host for this summit?

The last time I was in Dubai was about 8 years ago, but I read about the amazing growth it has made recently. I think Dubai is an important global node in your region and your enlightened leaders have many good policies that created this success.

The World Economic Forum’s official website (www.weforum.org) provided a link to DubaiBeat.com coverage. It is currently listed uniquely as the only publication covering news and updates on the Dubai Summit on the Global Agenda.

Each member of Global Agenda Councils should provide a written summary of his/her most compelling idea of the year in around 800 words.

Dr. Daniel Sperling is recognized as a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, and energy and environmental aspects of transportation. He is the Director of Institute of Transportation Studies and Acting Director of Energy Efficiency Center. (He is a Professor of Transportation Engineering and Environmental Policy at University of California, Davis). He exclusively talks to DubaiBeat.com before attending the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda here in Dubai.

Would you please tell us a bit about the background of your relationship with the World Economic Forum and your participation in the upcoming Summit on the Global Agenda?

I was honored to be chosen by the WEF to chair the “Future of Mobility” Council. Some key issues my Council will address include:

· Rapid motorization and its impact on cities:
· Oil dependency
· Impact of mobility on global climate change:
· Role of innovation and emerging technologies, especially the use of “intelligent transportation systems”
· Safety, security and equity.
· Restructuring the mobility industries (responding to financial duress in the automotive and airline industries)
· Innovative and effective policies to improve mobility while protecting the environment
· Transport infrastructure challenges (including under-investment in transport infrastructure)
· Freight transport issues within cities and between cities and countries

What specific area is your focus and how do you say it can help improve state of the world?

I am a professor of transportation engineering and environmental policy at University of California, Davis and a board member of the California Air Resources Board. My research and policy responsibilities are devoted to improving environmental quality while also improving mobility. My new book, Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability (Oxford University Press) addresses these issues.

What do you think about the city of Dubai, the host for this summit?

I’ve never been there, but have heard many amazing things about the city, and thus look forward to the adventure with great enthusiasm.

Related:
- Interview with Journalism Professor and Blogger, Jeff Jarvis
- Interview with Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, Jim Fruchterman
- Davos in Dubai – this weekend

Amara Holdings enters the Private Equity play in the Middle East. Amara will focus on pre-IPO, private equity and private placement growth opportunities particularly in China as well as MENA and India. It is run by a newly formed company called Newhaven Investments House.

Newhaven Investments House is the investment arm of a Gulf family. A number of other Gulf investors have committed capital to Amara, including Khalid Al Mukairin Group, Al Sorayai Group (Saudi Arabia) and Ahmad Al Khemeiri (UAE). Initially it aims to raise up to $200 million and it will probably list on AIM.