So is there a lesson here?

Telecom sector  is least impacted by the global downturn because it is innovative and people need to communicate!

Again a lot of food for thought!

120% of deposits in Saudi Banks are deployed domestically.

External segment of the balance sheet is below 11%. Exposure is small.

Consumer debt is small?  Hmmm… this is odd when you look at other places like the UAE.

Check the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency for data.

John Sfakianakis suggests that the region is well placed!

Last year the conversation is devaluation of the dollar peg, now we are imagining a fall of inflation, gloomy is not helpful in this region given what is happening.

1. take stock

2.look at bubbles

3. reorganise

SPEND LOCALLY! GCC GROWTH 2009 TO BE OVER 4% THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE US.

Sameer Al Ansari, came to Dubai as an accountant.

“everyone knows about Dubai as a success story”

“what now?”

Dubai’s debt is manageable FROM A REGIONAL CONTEXT.

Dubai has strong fundamentals.

Fadi Ghandour

It is time to settle the role of business and society and how business conducts itself!

Business is not only responsible to the shareholder!

Government and business must accept their responsibility from a stakeholder perspective.

Corporate and social responsibility are very important and not acted upon!

Is our education working?

Youth keeps stability and makes business where is the entrepreneur training.

Youth bulge or youth asset?

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar said we need to admit we have a crisis.

Opportunity can come from this crisis IF THE ORGANISATION IS AWAKE.

But this is also the time to attract and retain talent.

Keep investing and more… now is the time for the next phase when the crisis is over.

————-

Is it possible that the Middle East is too optimistic about the situation.

“beware of the half empty glass approach” “deal with the contagion winds, we do not have the wall Street crisis”

Saudi advocates a counter cyclical investment approach.

Why is Dubai debt manageable? 50 billion-70 billion dollars Dubai debt to GDP 1 to 1 ( usa 3times, 300%)

Do we want to invest right now? Not at DIC. We are heading to a deep recession, 1-3 years.

Time to be conservative! It is very difficult to raise funds.

This is the time for the region! Money, brains know how are here to score big globally in the next 18 months.

Companies need to show leadership today… run a tight ship!

But we also need to keep our eyes on the future! And the question has to be are the old school business models set up to promote and provoke this kind of thinking?  I don’t think so.

————-

Moderated By: Nadine Hani

Sameer Al Ansari
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dubai International Capital LLC

Fadi Ghandour
Founder and CEO, ARAMEX International

Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Jasser
Vice Governor
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Riyadh – Saudi Arabia.

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar,
Chief Operating Officer, Etisalat

John Sfakianakis
Group Chief Economist & General Manager, Saudi British Bank

BUT maybe a government can create an environment in which business ( I suspect) and others can make or provoke change.

But why should we not trust government? At the least government is concerned with a population rooted in one place.

Business? Concern with what? The bottom line?

VW in Germany is ready to lay people off… would a government respond differently?

Who is Rajat Gupta? And when you read the bio blow the big question needs to be are the companies he works with listening?

Hmmm… do we need more business people directing business OR do we need people who are the product of innovation?

artist,teachers,poets,pilots,trash collector, barber—where are these people in the innovative process of a company today?

Rajat Kumar Gupta is the managing director of McKinsey & Company worldwide. He joined the firm’s New York office in 1973, assumed leadership of its Scandinavian offices in 1981, and joined the Chicago office in 1987. He assumed the role of office manager there in 1989, was elected managing director of the firm in 1994 and re-elected twice, once in 1997 and again in 2000.

Since joining the firm, Gupta has directed a number of projects aimed at helping companies develop new product/market strategies and reorganize for improved effectiveness and operations capabilities. He has a broad range of consulting experience with a variety of industries, including telecommunications, energy, and consumer goods.

Gupta is Chairman of the Board of the Indian School of Business, and is associated with many other professional and business affiliations, including: Private Sector Representative to the Board of the Global Fund for Aids, Malaria, and Tuberculosis; Chairman of the Board of Associates of the Harvard Business School; and Dean’s Advisory Council, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

Gupta holds a bachelor of technology degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

The real question to be asked is whether any of this is being applied NOW given what has happened in the last 18 months?

CRISIS FORCES MANAGEMENT TO TAKE ACTION but whether it is creative will depend and all too likely creativity is not adopted out of fear.

CREATIVITY, CREATIVITY, CREATIVITY!

(the guy in front of me has one word on his pad… ADAPTABILITY!)

The words CIVIL SOCIETY have now been thrown into the mix!  I wonder if the business people around me understand the term and are really thinking in that manner…

What I would love to see is these speakers talking to us not reading.

Adaptation to sudden change is the challenge!

Resilience is the challenge for all.

Webs of interconnections are what will promote success, if we can use them to our advantage.

1. how orgs can remain adaptable

-focus on adaptation NEVER STOP!

YET THIS IS NOT THE EDUCATION MODEL WE COME FROM

Winning companies work with dynamic disequilibrium adapting to a constant state of flux.

Companies must be able to innovate ahead of the market to really succeed. We know this BUT how? And are the leaders of companies willing to listen to this and do what is needed?

“success comes from taking advantage of temporary advantage”

“Execute in the present and adapt for the future”

“Become a creative adapter”

The key is to marry the old and the new.  Be a traditionalist and a visionary at the same time. What this requires is a diverse team.

2. self support LEARNING!

New ways to blend insights are needed.

Operations and reduction of inefficiency are where people first look when tougher times arrive. But is this the best practice?

Enduring operational change needs attention to SOFT THINGS! Think of the people.

A SHIFT IN CORPORATE CULTURE MIGHT BE THE SOLUTION!

Leading through the line! Line managers need strong people skills and understand management principles to make things work.

Keywords

redefine

expectations

shift

bridging

The problem today is executives are too limited in their thinking! Context to ideas needs to be very clear so employees can understand how and why they are being asked to do things!

OVER COMMUNICATE EVERYTHING INSIDE THE ORGANIZATION

Maybe what we really need are better role models? Are our leaders role models?

3. preparation

We need to be ready for any crisis and it would seem that this is something we do little of.

(intereting to see the number of execs walking out of the talk… not a lot but 10 is too many)

(and then we see another 5 people arrive)

Prepare a crisis plan! Have a team that does this!

(I wonder how many of the execs are actually listening and taking these ideas in?)

1. monitor for risk

2. scenario planning

3. contingency planning (emergency action plan)

The big issue is whether the studets I am here with are listening and hearing their future?

It is about uncertainty and what we do to get beyond it.

“the greater challenge is not in the system but the leadership”

old-new

traditional-unconventional

It comes down to UNDERSTANDING, questioning what we have been told and asking WHY!

It is about thinking bigger and bolder.

The thinking process is seeing a SHIFT.

Bridging of young and old.

Bridging of thinking between young and old.

(there are still people coming into the hall)

The message here that Dubai is a service and knowledge based economy that IS WORKING!

YOUTH are being called upon and being looked at as the solution!

WE NEED TO INVEST IN OUR YOUTH!

BALANCED-EQUITABLE-SUSTAINABLE-BALANCED ECONOMY is the hope!

HARD TIMES CREATE THE BEST LEADERS?

The purpose is to LEARN and find SOLUTIONS.

The goal is to understand how to manage better and take advantage of the world we live in.

My big question is why Nightline on Dubai Eye 103.8 is not broadcasting live!

We are waiting for H.E. Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman to open the event and Rajat Gupta.

What will we learn about the financial situation in Dubai?

Are people here to learn or to get away from home?