March 17, 2021

Retail Leaders Circle Draws A Prominent Group Of Industry Visionaries And Leaders For Its 7th MENA Summit

Retail Leaders Circle, the preeminent global platform for expert-led debate between policymakers, industry CEOs, and key opinion leaders, will assemble some of the region’s most prominent decision-makers over three consecutive days to address the current retail industry during Stream One of the 7thRetail Leaders Circle MENA Summit, scheduled to take place virtually on 29, 30 and 31 March 2021.

Under the theme “The Great Retail Reset: Disruption, Resilience, and the Power of Collaboration”, the Virtual Summit aims to be a collaborative effort to rebuild and renew an industry in transformation and highlight the areas in which retail and retail-related industries most urgently need it.

The most significant regional retail meeting of the year will digitally connect more than 60 influential speakers and audiences from around the region and around the world to share their insights, define today’s most pressing challenges in the industry, and build a strategic agenda as the industry navigates the new realities following the pandemic.

“The retail industry is currently being reviewed, reimagined, and reinvented in the midst of this pandemic” said Panos Linardos, Chairman of Retail Leaders Circle. “By expanding the program of the 7^th Retail Leaders Circle MENA Summit, the Virtual Stream will provide a more accessible platform for the industry and will even actually broaden the industry participation and bring more of them closer to RLC MENA. This will allow for new ways of inspiration, deal-making and getting business done.”

Headline Partner for 2021 Virtual Summit: Visa.

Retail Transformation Partner: Facebook.

Platinum Partners: Chalhoub Group, TikTok.

Knowledge Partners: McKinsey& Company, PwC.

Speakers will continue to be added in the coming weeks. A complete list is available here. Featured speakers include:

John Hadden, CEO, Alshaya Group
Patrick Chalhoub, Group President and CEO,Chalhoub Group
Alain Bejjani CEO, Majid Al Futtaim Group
Anna Germanos, Head of CPG, Retail & E-commerce MENA, Facebook
Waleed Al-Saud, Founder & CEO, Mukatafa
HosamAlqurashi, Senior Advisor, The Royal Commission for Riyadh City
Ahmad AR. BinDawood, CEO, BinDawood Holding
ArefYehia, Client Partner for Omnichannel Retail, TikTok
Timothy Earnest, Group Director, Al-Futtaim Malls
Faraz Khalid, CEO, noon
Nisreen Shocair, CEO Middle East, Yoox Net-a-Porter
Omar El Hamamsy, Group CEO, Orascom Development Holding
Marwan Mukarzel, CEO, Fawaz Al Hokair Retail
Barbara Kahn, Patty and Jay H Baker Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School
Chris Baker, SVP & Head of Retail North America, Visa Inc.
Pierre-Yves Roussel, CEO, Tory Burch, USA
Matt Shay President & CEO National Retail Federation, USA
Marigay McKee, Managing Partner, Fernbrook Capital Management, USA
Steve Sadove, Former Chairman & CEO Saks Fifth Avenue

The Retail Leaders Circle MENA Summit has consistently focused on addressing the regional retail agenda with exclusive research reports, in-depth and often intimate conversations, one-on-one interviews, and taskforce roundtables. This year the Virtual Summit will deliver critical insights from prominent international speakers and key industry partners, namely McKinsey & Company and PwC among others.

Participants will have the opportunity to gain valuable information on the future of retail in the region, learn from key industry stakeholders about the pandemic’s impact on shopping malls, explore the role e-commerce, omnichannel and data play in their strategy and how they deal with today’s consumer who is more demanding than ever.

“Retail CEOs, board members, investors, and key stakeholders face issues in the industry that grow more urgent and complex everyday” said Panos Linardos, Chairman of Retail Leaders Circle. “This year’s Virtual Summit will bring together prominent speakers and valuable partners that will address these challenges, inspire change, and promote collaboration in the region and beyond.”