AmCham Egypt Doorknock Mission to Washington D.C:
Egypt Moving Forward (March 7-March 11, 2005)

Delegates' Profile:


Taher S. Helmy
President – AmCham Egypt

Partner, Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker & McKenzie)

Taher S. Helmy was elected president of AmCham Egypt in May 2003. He is a partner of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie and a founding partner in the firm’s Cairo and Riyadh offices.
Dr. Helmy has participated in the drafting and/or reviewing of key economic legislation in Egypt over the years. He is the founder and chairman of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies and a founder of the International Economic Forum and the Future Generation Foundation. He also served for three terms as a member of the U.S.-Egypt Presidents’ Council.

In addition, Dr. Helmy is a member of the governing National Democratic Party’s Supreme Policies Council, as well as the party’s Economic Committee.

Dr. Helmy has been practicing law since 1974, specializing in corporate, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, and commercial law. He is a member of the Chicago, Illinois and Egyptian Bar Associations, was the first Arab national to be admitted before the U.S. Supreme Court, and has been admitted before the Egyptian Supreme Court.

After completing his studies in the United States, Dr. Helmy practiced almost 10 years in New York and Chicago before returning to the Middle East.

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D. Dan McCarthy
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and Managing Director,
General Motors Egypt, S.A.E.

Dan McCarthy began his 39-year career with General Motors in manufacturing with the Pontiac Division. Since then, he has held various manufacturing and general management positions in the United States, Egypt, Kenya and New Zealand.

Mr. McCarthy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Ohio State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Detroit. He is currently executive vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, as well as a board member of the Fulbright Foundation Egypt and the Community Services Association.

General Motors Egypt, SAE is a joint venture company for the production of Chevrolet and Isuzu pickups, a range of light-duty trucks, minibus chassis, and Opel Corsa and Astra passenger cars.

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M. Gamal Moharam
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Managing Director,
Egyptian Commercial Bank

Mohamed Gamal Moharam is the vice chairman and CEO of Egyptian Commercial Bank. He joined ECB on March 1, 2002.

Mr. Moharam has previously worked as chief representative at The Bank of New York, 1984-2002; Fleet National Bank, 1981-85; and Citibank, 1979-81.

Mr. Moharam is currently the executive vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and has been an active member since 1984, while also previously serving as chair of the Banking & Finance Committee.

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Anis Aclimandos
Vice President, Membership – AmCham Egypt
President,
TransCentury Associates

Anis Aclimandos joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in 1983. He was elected to the Board of Governors in 1987 and re-elected in 1988. He was chair of the AmCham Customs Committee in 1989, of the Investment & Trade Committee from 1991 to 1994, and chair of the International Donor Programs Committee up to his election as vice president, membership in 2001.

Mr. Aclimandos is the president of TransCentury Associates, which manages development projects worldwide. He is also president of “Woodies,” a subsidiary of TCA, which is the import agent for Eastman-Kodak.

A certified accountant, Mr. Aclimandos earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in accounting from Cairo University and holds Egyptian and U.S. certification in financial management and analysis.

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Thomas(TOM) E. Thomason
Vice President, Legal Affairs – AmCham Egypt
Vice President,
Globeleq/Sidi Krir

Tom Thomason joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in 1994. He has served as AmCham executive vice president, chair of the Engineering & Construction Committee and is currently on the Board of Governors serving as vice president, legal affairs. He also serves on the boards of the Bilateral Fulbright Commission and the American University in Cairo.

Mr. Thomason is vice president of Globeleq, which develops, owns and operates power plants and related fuel and electricity infrastructure with investments in 19 energy assets in 14 countries.

Joined by Edison SPA of Italy, Globeleq is the owner/operator of Egypt’s first privately owned and operated power plant, a $480 million project completed in January 2002 and now in operation selling electricity to the government.

Mr. Thomason holds a Bachelor’s of Arts and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas.

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Mohamed Taymour
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Chairman,
EFG-Hermes Holdings

Mohamed Taymour is the chairman and founder of EFG-Hermes, an investment bank covering a range of activities that include brokerage and asset management, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, privatization and private equity. EFG-Hermes is listed on both the London and Cairo stock exchanges.

Dr. Taymour has worked as a consultant – for both the Egyptian government and private institutions – on a variety of economic matters, and has held senior positions in investment banking and development banking institutions in Egypt, the United States and Kuwait.

Additionally, Dr. Taymour has been a prominent member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt since 1988, serving as chair of the Investment Committee from 1991 to 1997 and chair of the Stock Exchange Committee from 1998 to 2002. In 2003, he was elected as a member of the AmCham Board of Governors. He is currently the chairman of the Egyptian Capital Market Association; a board member of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies; and a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Taymour earned a doctorate degree from Dartmouth College in the United States and a Bachelor’s of Science in industrial engineering from Cairo University.

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Loula Zaklama
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
President and Managing Director,
RadaResearch & Public Relations Co.

Loula Zaklama is a public relations and marketing expert with 40 years of experience in advertising, marketing, data analysis and public awareness campaigning.
In 1982, she founded RadaResearch & Public Relations Co., a private marketing research and public relations firm in Egypt.

Ms. Zaklama joined AmCham Egypt in 1985, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors. She is a member of the board of Gallup International and a member of the board of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). She has been elected world president of International Public Relations Associations (IPRA) for 2006.

Ms. Zaklama was awarded a medal of merit by the International Advertising Association, Chicago, in 1986 – a medal given every two years for outstanding contributions to the advertising industry. She is one of 10 individuals to have been selected from around the world for this distinguished award.

She also received a certificate of excellence from the International Public Relations Association in 1993, and was selected as one of the 50 leading women entrepreneurs of the world by the Star Group, sponsored by IBM and Fortune Magazine, in May 1998.

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Rodney J. Eichler
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Executive Vice President, Apache Corporation
General Manager,
Apache, Egypt Region

Rodney J. Eichler, Apache Corporation executive vice president and general manager of the Egypt region joined the company in 1993 as regional exploration manager for the Rocky Mountain region.

In 1995, Mr. Eichler was named Western Region exploration manager before becoming Western Region vice president in 1996. He was transferred to Cairo in 1997 as vice president, exploration and development, Egypt and designated vice president and general manager of Apache Egypt Companies in 1999. In 2003, Mr. Eichler was promoted to corporate executive vice president and general manager, Egypt.

Prior to joining Apache, Mr. Eichler was associated with Axem Resources, Tenneco Oil Company and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Eichler received his Bachelor’s of Science and Master’s of Science in geological engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and is a Certified Petroleum Geologist and Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

Apache Corporation is a large gas and oil independent with core operations in the United States, Canada, Egypt, the British North Sea and western Australia. Apache has invested more than $2.5 billion in Egypt since 1996.

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James Pringle
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Senior Counselor,
M.A. Kharafi Group

James Pringle is a senior counselor for the M.A. Kharafi Group, one of the largest foreign direct investors in Egypt, representing assets and investments of approximately $1.8 billion. Mr. Pringle’s current activities in Egypt are mainly focused on directing new Kharafi projects at Marsa Alam, where the group recently opened an international airport – Egypt’s first successful BOT transportation project – and is also undertaking a $1.2 billion tourism and real estate development project.

Before joining the Kharafi Group, Mr. Pringle was vice president for global business development for Bechtel’s water business and director of business development for its hotel, theme park and urban development business groups for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

Mr. Pringle served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt from 1992 to 1994, and is currently a member of AmCham’s Board of Governors. He has been a member of the U.S.-Arab Council on Foreign Relations’ advisory board since 1985.

Mr. Pringle earned undergraduate degrees in economics and international relations from the University of Minnesota and completed his postgraduate studies in business administration at the European Institute of Business Administration in Fontainebleau, France.

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Hisham A. Fahmy
Executive Director
AmCham Egypt

Hisham A. Fahmy is the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. Mr. Fahmy previously held the position of general manager of AmCham Egypt from 1987 to 1993.
He is the chairman of the Egyptian Society of Association Executives (EgSAE), an association whose mission is to enhance the professional management of associations in Egypt.

Mr. Fahmy also served as acting director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, a non-profit think tank that carries out and disseminates independent economic research, and worked on implementing programs that furthered the center’s mission and oversaw the financing and administration that sustains them.

Mr. Fahmy developed quality systems and initiated business contacts between one of Egypt’s largest international corporations, International Group of Investment (IGI), and its clients and suppliers.

Mr. Fahmy spent a decade acquiring first-hand private sector expertise in travel and tourism, and representing engineering, construction and electronics firms.

Mr. Fahmy graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1974 with a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

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Ahmed Badrawi
Managing Director,
InfoFort Egypt


Ahmed Badrawi graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from University of London in 1990 and qualified from the College of Law, Guildford in 1991. After training in London and Bahrain with Palmer Cowen, he joined Clifford Chance as a solicitor and practiced with them in London and the UAE, specializing in corporate and commercial law. In total, he practiced British law for seven years.

In 1997, Mr. Badrawi joined a private, global catering group with operations in 35 countries as project coordinator and a member of the executive committee. He was recently re-appointed to the board and entrusted with supervising the management team entrusted with the sale of the group’s remaining businesses and assets.

In January 2000, Mr. Badrawi moved to Cairo where he set up a subsidiary of InfoFort Corp., an off-site document storage company founded in Dubai. In its first five years of operations, InfoFort has built up a considerable client base comprising over 150 of the biggest multinational companies operating in Egypt. The company is now expanding regionally.

Mr. Badrawi was appointed the Egypt representative for Lloyds TSB Bank PLC in Egypt in 2003, and is a member of the board of Nile Radio Productions, Egypt’s first private commercial radio station. He is also a founding member of a consortium that acquired the rights to publish the International Herald Tribune in Egypt starting in April 2005.

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Ahmed M. El Hakim
Health Policy & External Affairs Director,
Pfizer Egypt and Middle East Region

Ahmed M. El Hakim joined Pfizer Egypt in 1977, in the sales department. Over the years, he held different positions of increasing responsibility for Pfizer, in Egypt and the Middle East, in sales and marketing. In 1992, he was appointed general manager for Pfizer in Saudi Arabia, where he stayed until 1996, when he was located in Dubai as regional manager for the Middle East Arab Group (MEAG).

Dr. El Hakim has been in his current position since 1998, contributing to the growth of the external affairs’ function as one of the core competencies for Pfizer and the research-based pharmaceutical industry. In this current role, he also sits on the Management Leadership Team for Middle East Business.

He is a member of the executive committee of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Association of the Gulf (PhRMAG) and the secretary-general of the Egyptian Association for Research & Manufacturers of Pharmaceuticals (PhRMA-Egypt). He is a Licensing Executives Society (LES) member (USA & Canada). Dr. El Hakim holds a Bachelor’s of Science in veterinary medicine from Cairo University.

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Ahmed M. G. Abou Ali
Chair, Legal Affairs Committee – AmCham Egypt
Attorney at Law, Partner,
Hassouna & Abou Ali Law Firm

Ahmed Abou Ali holds a LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School and a diploma in private law and LL.B. from Cairo University. He is founding partner of Hassouna & Abou Ali Law Firm and an attorney before the Supreme Court of Egypt. He practiced law in the United States with the Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, before returning to Egypt to represent a number of multinational American and European companies. Dr. Abou Ali has extensive experience with Egyptian banking, commercial, corporate, investment, privatization, project-finance and securities laws and regulations.

Dr. Abou Ali is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Society of International Law, the Egyptian Society of International Law, the Egyptian Capital Market Association (chairman of the Committee on Legislation and Profession) and the Egyptian Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property (board member and general secretary).

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Akram E. Farag
Chair, Communications & Information Technology Committee – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and Managing Director,
Digital Systems Middle East, S.A.E.

Akram E. Farag is the chairman and managing director of Digital Systems Middle East, which he founded in 1996 as a regional ICT system integrator. Overall, DSME can be characterized as an aggressive dynamic regional integrator of state-of-the-art IT and communications solutions.

Throughout a career focused on ICT services, Mr. Farag co-founded and managed InTouch Communications Services in 1992 (the first ISP in the Middle East). Prior to that, he held managerial positions with Dialog Information Services, GE Information Services among others. He also founded Digital Technologies Corp., MagicWorx Enterprises Corp. offering value-added hotel entertainment systems, and co-founded Egypt Smart Village Co.

He is the chairman of AmCham’s ICT Committee, a founding member of the Internet Society of Egypt, an active member of AmCham and ISOC, board member of the Arab Business Forum for Information & Communications Technology (ABFICT), vice chairman of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Private Sector Task Force for the Arab Region and a member of the board of the newly formed IT Industry Development Agency as well as the American University in Cairo President’s Club.

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Al-Fahd Mansour Al-Tarzi
Corporate Finance Manager,
MIBC Group

Al-Fahd Al-Tarzi is a graduate of the American University in Cairo and holds a degree in political science, with a specialization in political economy and a minor in economics.

Mr. Al-Tarzi’s work experience includes BMW in Munich, Germany, McDonald’s Egypt and Merrill Lynch in London.

He went on to join Permal Investment Management Services in London as a member of the Islamic Products Team, later joining Pitcairn Properties, a real estate financing firm in Horsham, Pennsylvania. He went on to join Egyptian Advisory House, where he worked on establishing an Islamic, Shariah-compliant regional transient housing real estate fund, and a conventional, open-ended real estate investment fund.

Currently, Mr. Al-Tarzi is the corporate finance manager at MIBC Group, the corporate finance/investment bank arm of Manhattan-based Concord Investments.

Mr. Al-Tarzi is a member of the National Democratic Party, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, the Egyptian International Economic Forum and the Egyptian Shooting Federation.

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Anissa E. Hassouna
Assistant General Manager,
Misr Iran Development Bank

Anissa E. Hassouna is an assistant general manager at Misr Iran Development Bank, an investment and commercial bank comprising Egyptian and Iranian shareholding. She is also a Board member of the International Company for Building & Construction Materials.

Ms. Hassouna started her career as a diplomat in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed by 14 years with the Council of Arab Economic Unity, the League of Arab States. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics & Political Science, Cairo University where she is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in the field of political economy.

Besides her membership in the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Ms. Hassouna is engaged in civil society where she is an elected board member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, a friend of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement and co-chair of the Women Strategy Group, Egypt’s International Economic Forum. She is also a member of the Arab International Women’s Forum in London and a friend of Care Egypt Advisory Group.

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Ashraf M. El Attal
Chair, Trade & Commerce Committee – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and CEO,
Egyptian Traders Co., S.A.E.

Ashraf El Attal is chair of the Trade & Commerce Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce. He is also the chairman of Egyptian Traders Co. in Egypt, El Ahram for Development Co. in Sudan and Prima Soft Co. in Egypt.

The group consists of 130 employees, and is active in commodity trading and food aid supplies.

Egyptian Traders is currently the largest rice exporter in Egypt, and is a major supplier to the United Nations. The company also trades in other commodities such as wheat, sesame, sugar and corn, and is engaged in the IT business and software development.

Mr. El Attal is the honorary consul of Brazil in Alexandria. He also chairs the Egypt-Brazil Business Council. Mr. El Attal holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alexandria. After his graduation, Mr. El Attal worked for Schlumberger for five years, during which time he had many assignments in the Middle East and the Far East.

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Bassem Sultan
Managing Director,
Egyptian International Company for Knitting & Dyeing (Dyetex)

Bassem Sultan is the managing director and a shareholder of Dyetex, a company that has been exporting garments and textiles to the United States and Europe for the last 20 years, with four factories that employ more than 2,000 people.

Mr. Sultan graduated from the Faculty of Commerce in Alexandria in 1984, and subsequently completed several courses in marketing and management. He is a board member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ Chamber of Textiles, vice president of the Garment Exporters Association and a member of the Alexandria Businessmen’s Association.

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Cherine Scandar
President and CEO,
SODECO Group

Cherine Scandar obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in architectural engineering from Cairo University in 1981. He owned a company for a time in the United States then returned to Egypt where he established a group of companies in 1986.

SODECO Group consists of seven interrelated and complementary engineering and contracting companies that provide professional turnkey services for a multitude of projects in the industrial, commercial, public, private and resource sectors in the Arab world.

The group’s core company is Comet, which provides the Egyptian market and Arab countries with products and services in the field of irrigation and water supply projects, sewage, drainage and water treatment plants.

The group has recently opened a branch in Libya and will soon extend its activities in other countries.

Mr. Scandar has served on the Board of Governers of AmCham Egypt and chaired the Engineering & Construction Committee for two terms. He is also a board member of the Club d’Affaires Franco-Egyptien and a member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Canada-Egypt Business Council.

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Emad El Din Taymour
Owner and President,
AMENT Co. Egypt

Emad El Din Taymour is the owner and president of AMENT, the sole agent and representative of several German, Austrian and Russian companies in Egypt and the Middle East. The company is a major supplier of power transformers and for wind farms, hydro-power generators, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants and metallurgical industries.

Mr. Taymour is a former president of the Cairo Rotary Club, a member of the board of Egypt’s International Economic Forum and head of the European Strategy Group. He is also a member of the board of the Egyptian Austrian Friendship Association (Economic Committee chairman), head of the Egyptian-Austrian Business Council, and a member of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association and the German-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Taymour joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in 1995.

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Farid F. Naoom
Co-Chair, Transport Committee – AmCham Egypt
Owner and President,
Rainbow-Cairo, Egypt

Farid F. Naoom is the owner and president of Rainbow-Cairo, Egypt. Rainbow is the sole agent and representative of several U.S. companies in Egypt and the Middle East, and has been a major supplier of locomotive equipment and parts to the Egyptian National Railways since 1995.

Mr. Naoom is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Egypt and is a certified public accountant in the United States. He worked in the health-care industry in the United States from 1972 to 1984.

A citizen of both the United States and Egypt, Mr. Naoom holds a Bachelor’s of Science in science and business administration and has undertaken postgraduate studies in business administration at De Paul University in Chicago.

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Hala El Barkouky
Founder and Managing Partner,
Allied Business Consultants

Hala El Barkouky is the founder and managing partner of Allied Business Consultants. Since its inception in 1996, ABC has been contracted to assist in the privatization and restructuring of Egyptian public enterprise, conduct business viability assessments for energy efficiency services in Egypt, and provide financial and management consulting services to the private sector. ABC has also been contracted to provide advisory services to overseas clients in the field of investment banking and management consulting.

Prior to founding ABC, Ms. El Barkouky served for 18 years with Egypt’s leading banks. She spent nine years with Chase National Bank (later Commercial International Bank) as unit head for tourism, airlines and petroleum; senior manager for marketing support and new business development; and division head of the correspondent banking and trade finance division.

From 1993 to 1996, Ms. El Barkouky worked with Bechtel Inc. and Arthur Anderson as group head and team leader for the restructuring and privatization of public enterprise within mining and refractories and chemical holding companies,

Ms. El Barkouky received a Bachelor’s of Arts in communications from the American University in Cairo, graduated from the Chase Manhattan Bank credit appraisal course and attended the program in investment appraisal and development at the Harvard Institute for International Development.

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Hamed Ismail Fahmy
Managing Director,
Allied Corporation Egypt

Hamed Fahmy is the founder and managing director of Allied Corporation - Egypt, a management and economic consulting firm established in 1984.

The firm provides high-level consulting in the areas of public administration, institutional development, economic and trade policy, regulatory reform, commercialization of utilities, financial analysis and feasibility studies, local development, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as management, procurement and logistical support systems.

Among the U.S. firms with which Allied has been collaborating are Nathan Associates Inc., ABT Associates Inc. and Development Associates.

Mr. Fahmy is a founding member of the Arab Management Association.

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Hatem Ezzat Kheir
General Manager,
Kheir Group

Graduated From Cairo University as Mechanical Engineer on 1981 and worked one year in Mechanical Engineering Department at Mansoura University, then joined private sector company in Egypt, moved to Saudi Arabia from 1984 till 1989, returned back to Egypt as Area Manager for Peerless Pump Co. USA till 1993, when he moved to be their agent in Africa till today.

He is a one of the founders, and board member of Egyptian Fire Protection Association, and represented Egypt in many international conferences in fire protection, and he is now director of Confederation of fire protection association international, who run 28 associations all over the world.

He is also a the only foreign member serving in the technical committee of fire pump in NFPA, member of SFPE, USA, member of FPA, UK.

Also he was selected as member of the task group to prompt the relation ship between business sectors in Egypt, and India.

He is a member of British Egyptian Business Association.

His company is working in the field of fluid handling systems, including water, waste water, process, fire, power and industrial applications.

The company represents many pump companies, like Peerless Pump, Labour, Nash-Elmo, and EMI from USA, SPP pump limited from UK, Hyundai Pumps from Korea, Vonk valves from Netherlands, Indar from Spain, and Orlita from Germany, Mather + Platt from India, AMEC from China.

His company was selected as best dealer for Peerless Pump for 2003. He is married, with three children.

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Kamal Ibrahim
President,
American Orthopedic Consultants, LLC

Kamal Ibrahim resides and works in the suburbs of Chicago. He joined AmCham three years ago and he is a frequent visitor to Egypt.

Dr. Ibrahim is the founder and president of American Orthopedic Consultants, which offers consultation on health-care systems, development and management of advanced orthopedic hospitals and clinics. It also offers consultations on the designing of spinal-implant systems. It holds patents for spinal implant inventions.

Dr. Ibrahim practices orthopedic and spine surgery in the Chicago area and is a clinical professor at Loyola University of Chicago. He has written and published numerous scientific papers and has been invited extensively as a visiting professor and senior consultant to different universities and foreign hospitals.

He is an advocate of human rights, democracy and equality of all citizens in Egypt and Middle East in general.

Dr. Ibrahim is certified by the US boards of orthopedic and spine surgeries and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Canada. He recently completed a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts.

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Khaled Abubakr
Chair, Petroleum Committee – AmCham Egypt
Vice Chairman and Managing Director,
Genco Group

Khaled AbuBakr is the vice chairman and managing director of GENCO, a leading private sector natural gas group in Egypt that has recently begun operating regionally. GENCO Group is comprised of six companies, covering the various activities of gas transmission, distribution and utilization in vehicles.

Mr. AbuBakr is member of the International Gas Union, a board member of the Egyptian Energy Service Business Association and the Egyptian Junior Businessmen Association and secretary-general of the Egyptian Gas Association.

Mr. AbuBakr has a Bachelor’s of Science in mechanical engineering from Cairo University and an MBA from Montreal University. His advanced professional studies include courses in “reform and privatization” at Harvard University and “financial management of oil and gas companies” at the University of Texas.

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Lobna El Dessouky
Chief Financial Officer,
Coca-Cola Egypt

Lobna El Dessouky joined Coca-Cola Egypt in 1997. She previously worked in Price Waterhouse Egypt.

Coca-Cola operates eight plants and a wide network of distribution centers strategically located across Egypt, where it bottles and sells its soft drinks. Supported by the diligent efforts of 6,000 professionals, the company is a strong contributor to the Egyptian economy and the global Coke system.

Ms. El Dessouky joined AmCham Egypt in 2001 since which time she has been an active member of the Industry Committee. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science, is a certified public accountant (CPA), certified in financial management (CFM) and a certified management accountant (CMA). She is currently completing her MBA degree from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has lectured several professional and academic courses since 1994.

Ms. El Dessouky is a member of several professional institutes in the United States for certified public accountants, management accountants and internal auditors.

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Maha Abouelenein
Co-Chair, Women in Business Committee – AmCham Egypt
Managing Director,
Organizational Consultants, Inc.

Maha Abouelenein is an American Egyptian living in Egypt. She is a communications consultant specializing in strategic communications, public diplomacy and campaign management. Her communications approach brings unique perspective because she is able to blend her understanding of both the American and Egyptian viewpoints to create common ground.

She has been a leading figure in public relations in Egypt and the Middle East – providing communications consulting for governments and corporations alike. She most recently managed Egypt’s top PR firm Promoseven Weber Shandwick where she managed the reputation and communications strategies for some of Egypt’s biggest companies, deploying large-scale campaigns.

Her work also includes public affairs counsel for governments, including the US Department of State, the Egyptian ministries of foreign trade, tourism, youth and sport and the General Authority for Investment & Free Zones (GAFI). She is an active member and participant in the World Economic Forum and is under nomination for a 2005/6 Young Global Leader. She is also a member of Young Arab Leaders in Cairo.

In 2004, she was voted among Egypt’s 40 under 40 to watch, where she ranked third overall and was the only woman among the top five. She frequently lectures at universities, international conferences and to the international press on topics of the Arab image, boycott and crisis communications. She has been named to serve on AmCham’s nominating committee for the Board of Directors.

Ms. Abouelenein holds a Master’s degree in communications from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a Bachelor’s degree in international business and marketing with a minor in French.

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Mahmoud Salama
Partner and Director,
Ferromisr

Mahmoud Salama has been the director of Ferromisr since 1994. For more than 25 years, Ferromisr has represented several international industrial and commercial companies in Egypt in the field of shipbuilding, electronics, metal industrialization and turnkey projects.

Mr. Salama worked abroad with Ferrostaal AG – Germany and Atlas Elektronik GmbH in 1992 and 1993.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cairo University and has a diploma in German and business administration from Munich University.

Mr. Salama is an active member of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA), the German Chamber of Industry & Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

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Mohamed Abdallah
Co-Chair, Real Estate Committee – AmCham Egypt
President,
Coldwell Banker Affiliates of the Middle East

Mohamed Abdallah holds a Bachelor’s of Science in mechanical engineering from the American University in Cairo, which he gained in 1994, combined with pre-graduate courses from different international universities.

Mr. Abdallah started his professional career as a trader in the Egyptian stock exchange. In 1996, he held the position of vice president, trading in EFG-Hermes, one of the biggest financial groups in Egypt.

Currently, Mr. Abdallah is the president/CEO of Coldwell Banker Middle East, the master franchise holder in the region. Coldwell Banker is active in the real estate sector in the Middle East and works to promote this through a variety of activities via the Real Estate Committee in AmCham Egypt.

Coldwell Banker Middle East has succeeded in strategically positioning itself in Egypt as well as Lebanon. It is now working on the final stages of beginning operations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

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Mohamed S. Roushdy
Regional Director,
Pfizer Middle East

Mohamed S. Roushdy is the regional director of Pfizer Middle East (a subsidiary of New York-based Pfizer, Inc.), which locally manufactures a wide range of pharmaceutical and animal-health products.
In 1995, Dr. Roushdy joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. In 2000, he was elected chairman of the Pharma-Egypt Association, an organization for research-based pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt.

Dr. Roushdy received a marketing diploma from the University of Milan in 1978; his Bachelor’s of Arts in business administration from Cairo University in 1979; and his Master’s degree in pharmacology from the University of Ravenhurst in 1992.

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Mohamed Taha Mostafa
Treasurer,
Egyptian American Bank (EAB)

Mohamed Taha Mostafa graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1978 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in economics.

Prior to joining Egyptian American Bank in 1988 as assistant chief dealer, Mr. Mostafa worked for four years as a petroleum service manager in Mosafco International Co. and five years in the Islamic International Bank for Investment & Development as assistant chief dealer.

Mr. Mostafa was appointed chief dealer at Egyptian American Bank in 1988, where he was later promoted to deputy manager in 1989, first deputy manager in 1989, manager in 1990, senior manager in 1991, assistant general manager in 1992, deputy general manager in 1993, general manager in 1996 and executive vice president and head of treasury in 2000.

Mr. Mostafa is an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

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Omar Mohanna
Chairman,
Global Protection

Omar Mohanna is an economist and chairman of Global Protection, an Egyptian insurance brokerage and consulting firm.

Mr. Mohanna joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in 1986 and has held various positions within the organization. He served as treasurer of the Board of Governors for a number of terms. He has also served as chair of several AmCham committees, including the USAID and International Donor Programs committees.

Mr. Mohanna is a board member of the Cairo-based regional investment holding company Fleming CIIC and ACE/CIIC Insurance Co.; a board member and honorary treasurer of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES) and a board member of the New Civic Forum; as well as a member of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association. He is a former vice chairman and managing director of Egypt Arab African Bank (EAAB); and a former managing director of the ACCOR Hotels Group of Companies in Egypt. He has over 25 years of commercial and investment banking experience with Egyptian and international financial institutions.

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Soheir Farahat
President,
Ingyco Agencies

Soheir Farahat joined the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in 1995. She is president of Ingyco Agencies, a private marketing company established in 1984 that deals in electronics, communications, maritime services (vessels agencies for all Egyptian ports, Suez Canal transit attendance, inland transport and clearance), textiles, wastewater disposal and industrial turnkey projects in the Middle East. The company also deals with marketing projects in the Middle East, as well as marketing of projects under the privatization scheme of the Egyptian government.

Ms. Farahat holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in social sciences from the American University in Cairo and joined the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization in Cairo for three years before serving with the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Alexandria until 1983.

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Tarek M. Ahmed Selim
Co-Chair, Environment Committee – AmCham Egypt
Egypt Manager, Area Manager – Africa & Central Asia,

Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) International, Inc.

Tarek Selim has over 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors, as a consultant, program specialist and strategic planning officer. He is trilingual (Arabic/English/French) with experience in Egypt, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the United States and several African nations.

Mr. Selim holds both Engineer’s and Master’s degrees in project management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cairo University. He currently serves as co-chair of the Environment Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

Camp Dresser & McKee International, Inc., the global business unit of CDM headquartered in Cambridge, MA, provides environmental engineering, consulting, scientific, construction, program management and operations services to government and industry worldwide.

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