Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair (Arabic: عبد العزيز الغرير; born 1 July 1954) is an Emirati businessman.[1] He is the chairman of Mashreq and a director of the Abdullah Al Ghurair Group of Companies, one of the largest business groups in the Middle East, with operations spanning more than 20 countries and business roots stretching back half a century.[2] As of 2012, his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be US$2.9 billion.[3] In 2015, Al Ghurair pledged one-third of his group's assets, about US$1.1 billion, to the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education which seeks to support generations of Emirati and Arab youth by providing them the skills they need to become the future leaders of the region, contributing to the growth and development of their communities.[4]

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair
President of the Federal National Council
In office
February 2007 – 15 November 2011
Preceded bySaeed Mohammad Al Gandi
Succeeded byMohammad Al-Murr
Chairman, Mashreq Bank
Personal details
Born (1954-07-01) 1 July 1954
NationalityEmirati
ParentAbdulla Al Ghurair
OccupationBusinessman

Education

Al Ghurair trained as an industrial engineer and gained an honours degree from California Polytechnic State University. He joined Mashreq in 1977. He worked in various capacities till 1988 and he took over responsibility for the bank's international operations, setting up branches in New York—US, London—UK, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, India and Pakistan. He was appointed Executive Director in 1989 and became CEO the following year.

Career

Al-Ghurair is currently the chairman of Mashreq, a leading financial institution in the United Arab Emirates [5] founded by his uncle Majed Ahmed AlGhurair during the Gulf's first oil boom in the 1960s. His family has diverse holdings in real estate, cement, contracting, publishing, residential care and petrochemicals, among others. The food division of his holdings, headed by his brother Essa, includes the Middle East's second-largest flour mill and ubiquitous Masafi mineral water. Al Ghurair chairs the Arab Business Angels Network, an organisation that seeks to match angel investment funding with startups by Arab entrepreneurs.

Al Ghurair was the Speaker of the House of the Federal National Council (FNC) in the United Arab Emirates (the UAE Parliament) from 2007 until 2011.[6]

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair in the Polish Senate (2008)

Al Ghurair was also the CEO of Mashreq for almost 30 years [7] having been appointed to the role in 1990. He steered the bank into becoming a world-class financial services institution.

Driven to lead the UAE banking industry, innovative milestones include Mashreq being the first to launch automated teller machines (ATMs); debit and credit cards; travellers' cheques; consumer loans; Point of sale (POS) terminals; Bancassurance products; mortgages, digital chip enabled credit cards; and the widely popular Mashreq Millionaire rewards-based savings programme.

His endeavours have earned the bank many international accolades, including the 'Best Bank in the UAE' Award 2006 from Euromoney magazine and the MasterCard Product Award for Mashreq UAE E-Gate Prepaid MasterCard card.

Al Ghurair is also the Chairman of Al Ghurair Investment LLC, a diversified industrial group with core focus on Foods, Commodities, Construction and Properties and additionally on Energy, Printing, Retail and Education. Furthermore, he is Chairman of Masafi, Oman Insurance Company, RAK Petroleum, the Endowment Fund and the UAE Banks Federation.[8] He previously sat on the Board of Directors of organizations such as Emaar, Dubai Investments, Visa International, MasterCard, Emirates Foundation, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was Co-Chairman of the Arab Business Council – World Economic Forum (WEF).[9]

Al Ghurair is a continuing supporter to many charitable organizations and initiatives in the local and international arenas such as the UNICEF, UNESCO, Planet Finance and the UAE Disabled Sports Federation.

Al Ghurair was part of the highest-level official delegation from the United Arab Emirates ever to visit the Vatican and meet with Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bertone, on 21 October 2008. He also has been honoured with a special Lifetime Achievement Award, at the CEO Middle East Awards.

References
  1. "Abdul Aziz al Ghurair & family". Forbes.
  2. "Corporate Governance". www.mashreqbank.com. Retrieved 4 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "Forbes' billionaires list". Forbes. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  4. "Abdulla Al Ghurair | Al Ghurair Foundation for Education". www.alghurairfoundation.org. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. "Mashreq receives prestigious Employer Choice Award from Abu Dhabi Global Market". Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. "Federal National Council Brochure" (PDF). Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament.
  7. "Who is Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, the new chairman of Mashreq bank?". Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  8. "H.E Abdulaziz Al-Ghurair: UAE banking sector has strong foundation to continue growing". Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. "Who is Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, the new chairman of Mashreq bank?".

Media related to Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.