Forbes Middle East Reveals Its 10th Global Meets Local 2022 List

Press release

Published November 7th, 2022 - 07:27 GMT

Forbes Middle East Reveals Its 10th Global Meets Local 2022 List

Forbes Middle East’s 10th annual Global Meets Local list recognizes the regional leaders of the world’s biggest multinational businesses.

Highlights

Forbes Middle East has unveiled its tenth annual Global Meets Local ranking, celebrating 51 executives leading the regional offices for 50 Forbes Global 2000 companies.

To construct this list, Forbes Middle East looked at companies on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking with significant direct business operations in MENA. The top-ranking leaders from their regional headquarters were then ranked based on factors such as the impact and scope of their role, business size, personal achievements, and public recognition.

The executives in this ranking represent a diverse cohort of 27 nationalities. Britain and France lead with five executives each among the 51, followed by Germany and Türkiye with four each.

Technology dominates as the most populated sector in the 2022 list, with 13 entries, followed by banking, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and automotive, each with four entries.

Nabil Habayeb—Senior Vice President of General Electric (GE) and President & CEO of GE International Markets—tops the list for the third consecutive year. In September 2022, the company signed an MoU with QatarEnergy to collaborate on developing a carbon capture roadmap for the energy sector in Qatar. Procter & Gamble’s Omar Channawi retains his second-place position, followed by newcomer PepsiCo’s Eugene Willemsen rounding up the top three.

The multinational firms on this year’s ranking are attracting government attention and partnerships, enabling them to access more growth and opportunities. For example, in 2022 alone, IBM has signed partnerships with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the U.A.E.’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Egypt’s Ministry of Finance. SAP has signed deals with the U.A.E.’s Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and Qatar’s Ooredoo. Schneider Electric has partnered with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in the U.A.E. And Novartis has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia.

Social impact has also been a significant priority for these businesses. In 2022, Amazon partnered with Mastercard to support the UN World Food Program. Meanwhile, Cisco collaborated with the Gulf Organization for Research & Development to work towards accelerating climate solutions by developing sustainable solutions and green products. Committed to financial literacy, Visa introduced its global initiative “She’s Next” in MENA in July 2022, which granted 19 women entrepreneurs a total of $190,000 and one year of mentorship each.

Click here for the complete Forbes Middle East Global Meets Local 2022 list.

Global Meets Local 2022 – Top 10

Nabil Habayeb

Company: General Electric (GE)

Designation: Senior Vice President of GE, and President & CEO of GE International Markets

Nationality: Lebanese-American

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Omar Channawi

Company: Procter & Gamble (P&G)

Designation: CEO of the Middle East, Global Entrepreneurial Markets and Sub Sahara Africa & Senior Vice President of Sales, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Nationality: Moroccan

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Eugene Willemsen

Company: PepsiCo

Designation: CEO—Africa, Middle East, and South Asia

Nationality: Dutch

Global headquarters: Switzerland

Residence: U.A.E.

Stephen Moss

Company: HSBC Bank Middle East Limited

Designation: Group Managing Director, and Regional CEO for MENAT

Nationality: British

Global headquarters: U.K.

Residence: U.A.E.

Samer Abu-Ltaif

Company: Microsoft

Designation: Corporate Vice President, and President of the Middle East and Africa

Nationality: Lebanese

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Dimitrios Dosis

Company: Mastercard

Designation: President—Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA)

Nationality: German

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Jochem-Jan Sleiffer

Company: Hilton

Designation: President—Middle East, Africa, and Türkiye

Nationality: Dutch

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Ronaldo Mouchawar

Company: Amazon

Designation: Vice President—MENA

Nationality: Syrian-American

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Yasser Abdul Malak

Company: Nestlé Middle East

Designation: Chairman and CEO—MENA

Nationality: Lebanese

Global headquarters: Switzerland

Residence: U.A.E.

John ‘Mick’ Nicholson

Company: Lockheed Martin

Designation: CEO – Middle East

Nationality: American

Global headquarters: U.S.

Residence: U.A.E.

Background Information

Forbes Middle East

Forbes Middle East has a license for copy rights and distribution rights in the MENA region from Forbes Media, U.S.A. Under the guidelines standardized amongst all Forbes titles, the magazine features analysis and expert reporting related to the finance and business world, as well as investment opportunities in the Arab region. Forbes Middle East puts together its lists based on the criterion of neutrality, authenticity, commitment to the methodology of scientific research, and the quality of standards set globally by Forbes through its extensive experience in this field.

Forbes Middle East also serves as a guide for businessmen and decision makers by providing them with information and statistics necessary for making the right decisions. Thus, the magazine becomes the guiding compass for investments in the region. Through its wide network of press correspondents the magazine also works toward covering all the economic fields and issues concerning the Arab region.