With a number of Dubai projects slated for completion in 2021, including the vast Emaar Hills Mall, the UAE’s largest developer starts the year with fresh leadership.
HE Mohamed Alabbar, group founder, will now step down as chairman, Emaar Properties PJSC, to become managing director, with the company citing a regulatory rule that bars combining the position of Chairman with any executive role in publicly listed companies.
Jamal Bin Theniyah, who had been vice chairman, is now appointed chairman, with Ahmed Jawa, a board member, becoming vice chairman.
In a stock market filing, the company said that Mohammed Alabbar, who has served as Emaar chairman since July 1997, will now be “devoted to the executive management matters and the day to day affairs of Emaar”. He now occupies the most senior executive position in the company, while Amit Jain remains group chief executive officer.
Similar changes were seen within subsidiary, Emaar Development, where the company has appointed Adnan Kazim as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr as Vice-Chairman. Mohamed Alabbar will continue as an executive board member, however.
Kazim’s background includes being Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Emirates Airline, responsible for worldwide Commercial Operations, e-Commerce, the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme and Emirates SkyCargo. Kazim joined Emirates in 1992 as a Management Trainee and has successfully led the airline’s commercial operations in major markets such as the UAE, Switzerland, Pakistan and East Africa.
Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr is Director General of the Smart Dubai Office, the government entity entrusted with Dubai’s smart transformation. She leads the creation of ‘The Smart City Index’ – the world’s first-ever benchmark for smart city implementation and managed in co-operation with the United Nations. She also serves as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils, and is a team-member driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s smart cities readiness index.
Within a decade of its launch, and after the completion of iconic developments such as the Springs, Lakes, Greens and Meadows, Emaar Properties PJSC was the largest developer in the world, with virtually unmatched resources and vision, empowering the planning build of Downtown, the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa.