The twelfth edition of the Forbes Middle East "Global Meets Local" list — which recognizes regional heads of the world's largest international companies based in MENA — includes 15 Lebanese executives, including two women, for the first time. Lebanese Samer Abu Ltaif, Vice President of Microsoft worldwide and the President of Microsoft in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa ranked first in this edition.  This year's list, published on Aug. 15, features 104 CEOs from 40 nationalities, all leading companies ranked among Forbes' Global 2000 largest public companies. Lebanon "leads with 12 executives, followed by eight Indians, then the U.K. and France with seven executives each," according to Forbes' website. Three of the 15 Lebanese leaders have another nationality, according to local media outlets, which might explain the difference in the numbers.  The executives were ranked based on their regional impact, recent achievements, performance, leadership in sustainability and CSR initiatives and the size of their business, including employee count, revenue, project value and product reach.  Abu Ltaif, Hussein Freijeh and Rawad Sarieddine all work in the technology sector. Freijeh is the MENA vice president of Snap Inc., a company that develops and maintains technological products and services, namely Snapchat, Spectacles and Bitmoji. Sarieddine is the Vice President for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at CrowdStrike, an American-based cybersecurity company.  Two executives work in the sector of food and beverages: Yasser Abdul Malak and Ahmad Nasser. Abdul Malak is the Chairman and CEO of Nestle Middle East and North Africa, while Nasser holds the position of General Manager of the Middle East and Africa region at Hershey.  Thierry Sabbagh and Samir Cherfan, also on the list, work in the automotive sector. Sabbagh is the President of Nissan and Infiniti in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), while Cherfan is the Chief Operating Officer of the Middle East and Africa in Stellantis Automotive, a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation.  Moreover, two Lebanese executives work in the manufacturing industry: Naji Skaf, President of the Middle East, Turkey, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand at Xylem (an American water technology provider) and Ronald Boueri, Regional Managing Director at Olympus MEA, which is a leading medical technology company.  Khaled El Dabag is CEO and Head of Investment Banking for the MENA region at Barclays, and Nadim Najjar is the Managing Director of the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa region at the London Stock Exchange Group.  Two executives who work in the medical field are also on the list: Olfat Sami Berro, the Area Head of the Middle East for Roche (pharmaceutical company) and Joe Naoum, the MENA General Manager at Stryker (American multinational medical technologies corporation).  Finally, the two remaining people on the list are Elda Choucair, CEO of the MENA region at the Omnicom Media Group, and Aziz Koleiat, Vice President, Sales & Marketing and General Manager of the Middle East, Türkiye, Eastern Europe and Russia/CIS region at GE Aerospace.  Commenting on the Forbes list, Lebanon's caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam said last Friday that these Lebanese leaders are the "best proof of the exceptional competencies that Lebanon has, which go beyond the borders of the country to positively impact the global economic arena.”  In a post published on X, he said “Lebanon's success abroad is not a coincidence, but the result of continuous efforts and unwavering determination to excel and innovate."  "Lebanon will always remain at the forefront of countries that contribute to building a bright economic future for the region and the world," he said. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: L'Orient Today