02 October 2005 - KIPCO Chief Faisal Al Ayyar Receives Prestigious Arab Banking Award

Faisal Al Ayyar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO), was presented with the Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA) 2005 ABANA Achievement Award in a ceremony attended by more than 300 international dignitaries, bankers and business leaders at the New York Palace, on the city’s famed Madison Avenue.

The prestigious ABANA Achievement Award is granted annually to an individual who has made a significant and lasting contribution in the field of banking and financial services in the Arab world, or to an individual of Arab descent who has made similar contribution to banking and financial services in general.

Al Ayyar began his corporate career in the 1980s and joined KIPCO in 1990, when it was a local investment company. Leading the management team, KIPCO has grown to become one of the leading diversified investment holding groups in the Middle East and North Africa region, with more than US$ 15 billion in Group assets.

In his acceptance speech, Al Ayyar said he was deeply honoured to receive the ABANA Achievement Award and paid tribute to the support received over the years, especially from his shareholders: "and in particular from our chairman Sheikh Hamad Al Sabah, who has been a leader, a friend and a brother," and from his family and colleagues.

He went on to detail the economic challenges and opportunities currently facing the Middle East, and sounded an optimistic note for the future.

“The people of the region are bullish and daring,” he said. “They are pushing ahead - making investments, starting companies, and launching projects at a scale and speed previously unheard of. This new wave of dynamic activity is boosting self confidence, hope - and at times, euphoria.”

Al Ayyar said record high oil prices, a vibrant private sector, booming tourism and gradual liberalisation of economies were clearly creating real and lasting value in the region.

“The normal euphoria that emerges in this environment is creating pockets of bubble. Like all bubbles they will eventually burst,” he said.

But his view was that the fundamental strength of the region’s economies would allow them to ride out the effects of such a situation; and speculative activity would be checked by the historically conservative stance adopted by regional regulators, to ensure banks and financial institutions’ exposure to stock market and real estate remained at prudent levels.

At the same time, he said regional society was evolving around two distinct broad blocks - one that wanted to progress and become part of the global world; and another that wanted to maintain, or go back to, old ways.

“Success perhaps can be achieved if governments in our region use these positive economic conditions to further social justice, democratic reform, education, and investment initiatives that will create jobs for the fast growing number of youth entering the job market,” he said.

“Government action can tilt the balance and will aid the process of our region in merging with the global economy."

Past recipients of the ABANA award include Lubna Olayan, CEO of Olayan Financing Company; Dr. Richard A. Debs, founding president of Morgan Stanley International; and HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin AbdulAziz AlSaud, founder of Kingdom Holding Company.

Al Ayyar is the third Kuwaiti to be honoured by ABANA in recent years, following Abdulatif Yousef Al Hamed, director general of the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development in 1993; and the late Mohamed Abdul Mohsin Al Kharafi, former chairman of National Bank of Kuwait, in 1988.

The KIPCO Group controls or holds substantial stakes in some 55 companies throughout the MENA region, with core activities in financial services and media & telecommunications, in addition to real estate, industry, management & advisory, medical services, aviation and education. KIPCO Group’s holdings and interests also extend to the U.S., Europe, and India.

A core component of the KIPCO portfolio is its network of banks in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria, that continues to expand across the region. A parallel network of insurance companies covers a growing number of countries, and its asset management arm KIPCO Asset Management Company (KAMCO) manages more than US$ 5 billion of client assets.

KIPCO is Kuwait’s largest private sector investment company, employing more than 12,000 people internationally, and its shares are among the most actively traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

ABANA is a not-for-profit professional association with members from the financial services industry in the Middle East and the United States. Through its programmes, website and publications, ABANA fosters improved relations, information-sharing and understanding between the Arab and American public and private financial sectors.

For further information please contact United Gulf Bank on telephone +973 17533233 or email info@ugbbah.com.