‘FBCG’ concludes Annual Regional Summit 2016

Family Business Council – Gulf (FBCG) successfully concluded its Annual Regional Summit in Dubai under the theme ‘Next Generation Transition’.

Held for the third consecutive year, the Summit witnessed the active participation of regional and international family business leaders, market experts and lecturers. 

Over two days, the summit program covered extensive and constructive discussion on Next-Gen transition and a number of pressing issues faced by family firms in the region including good corporate governance, effective dispute solutions, and young leadership. The program also included new ways of promoting entrepreneurship through the development of Next-Gen talents. As the council stressed that the continuity of family businesses depends on the Next-Gen talents just as much it depends on a solid corporate governance system.

“This year, our Summit’s theme was focused on Next Generation Transition, a critical discussion topic for family firms in the region, as many of them are moving from first to second and third generation ownership. We discussed the key challenges faced by family business in the region, and shared insights on best practices in the sector,” said His Excellency Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of FBC – G.

“By bringing real succession stories told by multigenerational families and successful leaders from all over the world, we reflected on the challenges faced by companies during the succession phase. This added more value to this year’s Summit and provided the participants with different views on business strategies and ways of dealing with the current challenges,” he added.

‘A Dialogue of Generations’ was a an interactive session that hosted prominent speakers such as Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Rajhi, Chairman of Al Rajhi Holding,  and Alia Al Mazrouei, the COO of Mazrui Holdings. They shared with the audience their views on a number of topics including selecting the best successor, defining the key qualities of a family business leader, conflict resolution, and the role and involvement of women in family businesses.

Another session was held under the theme “Implementation of Family Governance: Hurdles and Solutions” hosted by Dr. Kay Windthorst, Professor, Member of Family and Supervisory Board, Franz Haniel & Cie Group. Dr. Kay highlighted during the session, the best strategies in preparing detailed constitutions and protocols and in developing a model of best practices in governance for family businesses. During the session Dr. Kay provided examples of how his company faced the challenges when it was moving to the next generation and demonstrated to the audience proven strategies for implementing best governance criteria.

The participants commended the programme of this year’s summit and the organizing committee for enabling the exchange of ideas and experiences, and for setting a constructive and inclusive multigenerational discussion with regional and international family business leaders and experts.

The Family Business Council - Gulf is a private non-profitable organization established in Dubai, UAE. FBCG focuses on providing effective initiatives and programmes to address issues related to family businesses in the region. It hosts regular meetings, conferences, panel sessions and training and developing courses to identity solutions to guarantee the sustainability of GCC family businesses.