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Newsmakers [Business Benchmark Middle East](Business Benchmark Middle East Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CLOSER TO THRONE Saudi Arabia named Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz as second in line to the throne, the latest royal pro- motion. Muqrin, the king's half-brother who was born in 1945, was made second crown prince alongside his duties as second deputy prime minister, accord- ing to the official Saudi Press Agency. King Abdullah named his defence minister and half-brother Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, born in 1935, crown prince in June 2012, making the traditionalist former governor of Riyadh next in line to become king. Muqrin will be appointed as first crown prince if that position becomes vacant, the statement said. He will become king if both that post and the position of first crown prince are unfilled at the same time. Muqrin, the youngest living son of the founder of Saudi Arabia, was educated in Britain and the US. He is a former air force officer who has served as governor of the regions of Hail and Medina, and has managed the kingdom relation's with Afghanistan and Pakistan. MARKET-FRIENDLY PM French President Francois Hollande's choice of Manuel Valls, a market-friendly Socialist, as his new prime minister may be aimed at showing the European Commission that he'll speed up spending cuts to exit chronic budget deficits. He is sending a message that France will respect its engagements and that it's still committed to fiscal consolidation and incremental reform. By appointing Valls, he guarantees that the government will keep that line.Hollande named Valls to replace Jean-Marc Ayrault after his Socialist Party was trounced in nationwide mayoral elections. Valls, 51, who was a candidate in the Socialist presidential primaries in 2011, campaigned on market-friendly stances, including the creation of a Small Business Act, an end to the 35-hour workweek and an increase in the minimum retirement age. As a lawmaker in 2010, Valls said the European Commission should have control over national budgets. A Spanish-born former mayor of a town on the outskirts of Paris, Valls's tough stance on crime made him among the more popular French ministers. PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will run for president in August and win. That's what most lawmakers from his ruling party say. "God willing, our prime minister will move to Cankaya with a great margin," lawmaker Mehmet Metiner told a news agency, referring to the presidential palace in Ankara. Erdogan and incumbent President Abdullah Gul, an ally of the premier, will decide on who would run. While Erdogan didn't declare his candidacy, he signaled that he may not remain in his post too long after his party's victory. Erdogan, 60, has been prime minister since 2003.The AK Party won 46 per cent of the votes in local elections even after a series of graft charges that ensnared the government. To be elected president in a first round of balloting on August 10, Erdogan would need to win more than 50 per cent of the votes. The election marks the first time the nation's president will be picked in a popular vote. Corporate ladder OOREDOO CHIEF ON WORLD BANK ADVISORY COUNCIL Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, has been appointed to the World Bank Group Advisory Council on Gender and Development, a major global body dedicated to promoting gender equality around the world. Others on board are government representatives, private sector leaders, experts in economics and development. This is the first time a representative from the Middle East is taken on board. TAREQ, NEW CEO OF YAS MARINA CIRCUIT The board of Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management has appointed Tareq Al Ameri as Chief Executive Officer of Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in place of Richard Cregan, who will assume advisory role at the Circuit, reporting to the board, and will lead the F1 Russian Grand Prix. Al Ameri has previously run the commercial division at the Circuit as Commercial Director. He was part of the team which has developed Yas Marina Circuit into one of the world's most iconic motorsport venues. MUSTANSIR, NISSAN'S NEW DY MD AND SALES DIRECTOR Nissan Middle East has appointed Mustansir Lakdawala as Deputy Managing Director and Director of Sales (pictured) and Monal Zeidan as Director of Marketing. Nissan has created a department dedicated to sales alongside a new Director of Marketing position to grow its market share and break into new territories. Lakdawala will lead the core sales team where his extensive experience of implementing retail strategy will prove invaluable. Monal Zeidan will work hand-in-hand with sales, after sales and corporate communications to support business growth. BASHAR, ARUBA'S RE- GIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Aruba Networks, a provider of network access solutions for the mobile enterprise, has appointed Bashar Bashaireh as Regional Sales Director, Gulf & Pakistan. He joins Aruba from Fortinet where he was Regional Director for Middle East and Pakistan. Prior to that, he was Secretary General at Jordan's Ministry of Informa- tion and Communications Technology for two years. His earlier positions include regional sales manager at 3Com Middle East, regional manager Mena at CyberGuard Corporation. ZENTI, CANON'S HEAD OF EMERGING MARKETS Canon has appointed Stefano Zenti as Head of Emerging Markets Business Unit. Since joining Canon in 1983, Stefano Zenti has gained broad operational experience from both at headquarter and country level, having previously held the roles of Head of IT & Supply Chain Management of Canon Europe, Managing Director of Canon Central & Eastern Europe and, most recently, Managing Director of Canon Italy. Zenti will be succeeded by Enrico Deluchi as the new Managing Director of Canon Italy. HECKART, BROCADE'S CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Networking solutions provider Brocade has appointed Christine Heckart as Chief Marketing Officer. She was Executive Vice President Strategy, Marketing, People and System at ServiceSource, a SaaS provider. Prior to that Heckart held CMO roles at NetApp and Juniper Networks, as well as being General Manager, TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft. Heckart serves on the board of Lam Research, a leading provider of wafer fabrication equipment to the semiconductor industry. FIXED ON TOP The surging price of Microsoft shares returned US tech tycoon Bill Gates back to the top of Forbes world's billionaires list, with his $76 billion beating out Mexico's Carlos Slim's $72 billion. The annual list counted 1,645 men and women as billionaires, with an average wealth of $4.5 billion and a collective wealth of $6.4 trillion, up $1 trillion from a year ago. Gates, co-founder of the US software firm, showed his staying power at the top - the world's richest man for 15 of the past 20 years, according to Forbes - despite spending recent years giving away large sums of money to global health and anti-poverty programs. Gates owns about 4.4 per cent of Microsoft, making up less than 20 per cent of his total fortune. But the company's share price has risen 25 percent over the past year, and, along with gains in other assets, he has added $7 billion to his fortune since a year ago. Following Gates are Carlos Slim, Spain's Amancio Ortega and Warren Buffett. CHINA'S NEW ALLY Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov sold shares in Apple and Facebook, focusing on technology invest- ments in China such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and may expand stakes in Russian assets. Usmanov, 60, built his Metalloinvest Holding Co. iron ore business by acquisitions and is Russia's richest man. He bought a stake of about $100 million in Apple last year and sold it recently. The sale follows a gradual reduction of Usmanov's stake in Facebook. When Usmanov acquired a Facebook stake in 2009, his fund persuaded founder Mark Zuckerberg to sell by giving up its voting rights. Usmanov, with a partner, bought about 10 percent of Facebook when the company was valued at $6 billion to $10 billion and sold some shares in the IPO, which valued the company at $104 billion. Usmanov's Metalloinvest, Russia's largest iron-ore producer, may switch to shipping to China and other markets should Europe apply sanctions on its exports due to the crisis in Ukraine's Crimea region. NEW DIGITAL EDITION Eastman Kodak Co. named Jeff Clarke, chairman of travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc., as its new CEO, getting a leader with experience in the corporate technology market. Clarke's work with business clients, including stints as chief operating officer at CA Inc. and as an executive vice president at Hewlett- Packard Co., will help Kodak. Clarke, 52, said he plans to boost Kodak's growth by taking advantage of the transition from analog to digital printing in markets including China and Brazil. After selling units including its photographic-film business, Kodak emerged from bankruptcy last year as a smaller company making equipment for commercial printing and packaging. Now he's taking the helm of a storied company far re- moved from its heyday as a major consumer brand. As digital cameras usurped film in the early 21st century, the company struggled to reinvent itself. Still, Kodak's brand is one of the most recognized in the world and was part of what attracted Clarke to the job. The numbers game $100 trillion The amount of debt globally since the financial crisis as governments binge $66 billion Global sales of art and antiques in 2013, an annual growth of 8% $800 billion Global prepaid card market to reach in three years (c) 2014 Solus Globus Media Solutions FZ LLC. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |