MARCH 2022 #178 UA E AED 20 KSA SAR 20 BAHR AIN BHD 2 KUWAIT KWD 2 OMAN OMR 2 EM P O W E R I N G FUTU RE GR O W T H Olayan M. Alwetaid, CEO of Saudi telecom powerhouse stc is driving the kingdom’s meteoric rise4 CEO MIDDLE E A ST MARCH 202 2 MARCH 2022 #178 6 EDIT OR’S LETTER 8 COMMEN T Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Advisors, shares what CEOs can learn from the Djokovic, Johnson, and Horta- Osório affairs 10 COMMEN T The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on mental wellbeing, believes Professor Paul Hopkinson 12 COMMEN T Mary Elizabeth Elkordy, president and founder of Elkordy Global Strategies, says the pandemic has brought new challenges to management 14 OUTL OOK CEO Middle East meets Marius Ciavola, the CEO of B2B marketplace Tradeling, for his outlook on the future of the supply chains following unprecedented disruption caused by Covid-19 16 OUTL OOK Being humble, transparent and authentic are among the key values that today’s post-pandemic millennial employees are looking for in corporate leadership 16 1412 8CONTENTS MAR C H 2 0 22CEO M IDDLE E A ST 5 28 SUSTAINABILIT Y Achieving CSR targets needs a collective effort from public and private stakeholders of both genders 32 T E CHNOL OG Y Sam Nazarian, founder and CEO of foodtech platform C3, sheds light on the future of F&B in the Middle East 48 L UXUR Y WAT C HES We take a look at the iconic Tag Heuer Monaco and the modern Chrono 4 50 FI NA L TH OU G H TS Cybersecurity failure is a serious risk, but the tide can turn, believes Bernard Montel, EMEA technical director at Tenable 20 28 32 48 50 A MES Olayan M. Alwetaid, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s digital enabler stc, talks CEO Middle East through how his firm is helping power the kingdom’s meteoric growth CO VER S T OR YEDITOR’S LETTER 6 C EO M I D D L E E A S T MAR C H 2 0 22 H ello and welcome to the March edition of CEO Middle East. We are moving towards the end of the first quarter of the year, a year where we started with businesses expressing their optimism for 2022 as the world emerged from the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic positioned new challenges in front of employers and employees, with mental health placed firmly in the spotlight as Covid-19 lockdown orders kept people locked at home and unable to socialise. While I am delighted to see that the conversation around mental health has continued to grow, more needs to be done for leaders to embrace the changing needs of the workforces. PwC, in its 25th annual CEO Survey, found that for today’s post-pandemic millennial employees, humility, transparency and authenticity are the key values that they look for in corporate leadership. Further coverage of this survey, along with the thoughts of a powerhouse roundtable of CEOs, can be found beginning on page 16 in this magazine. On the cover this month we have featured Olayan M. Alwetaid, the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s telecom giant stc. The growth and vision of KSA’s economy has been remarkable in recent years as the country strives to attain the aspirations of Vision 2030. While announcements of mega-investments tend to drive headlines in reporting of the kingdom, stc’s story as a digital enabler of the economy is a key segment in Saudi Arabia’s growth. Turn to page 20 for the full, in-depth, interview. March also marks this year’s International Women’s Day. ITP Media Group, the publisher of CEO Middle East, joined UN Women’s Media Compact in 2021, a global partnership established in 2016 to advance women’s empowerment. In this vein, we feature a story on how achieving corporate sustainability targets will only be possible with a collective effort from public and private stakeholders of both genders – the full story can be found on page 28. While efforts are ongoing to increase gender diversity and inclusion, more needs to be done. For businesses, the potential is enormous, with data long pointing to firms with women on their boards as outperforming those with lower female participation. Gender inclusion does not happen by accident, however, so to seize this potential, businesses need to work to help women rise. For coverage on this topic on page 34. Finally, calls for climate change action have continued to increase, with investors increasingly putting sustainability practices at the heart of the investment decisions. The path to invest for climate change, rather than just recognising its importance, can be unclear, however. On page 38 we feature the thoughts of Steven Rees, head of investments for MENA at JP Morgan Private Bank, on how investors can make impactful change with their investment choices. On that note, I’ll let you get to reading. Until next time. Share your views on thought leadership and innovation by getting in touch: matthew.amlot@itp.com QU ESTI O N S? CO M M E NTS? MATTHEW AMLÔT Editor @MatthewAmlot TRANSITIONING TO THE POST- PANDEMIC Employee wellbeing, KSA’s Vision 2030, gender diversity and climate change are taking the spotlight in this month’s issueMAR C H 2 0 22C EO M I D D L E E A S T 7 To receive your copy delivered directly to your door, subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The most important business people and CEOs talk to the most important magazine The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. 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