Ahmed Bin Sulayem

Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
DMCC

Ahmed Bin Sulayem is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC and has driven its growth from a start-up of 28 member companies in 2003 to the world’s leading international business district in 2025 with over 25,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 80,000 people.

Tasked with enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai, DMCC has introduced to the market a number of value-added products and services under Mr Bin Sulayem’s leadership. In 2023, DMCC was named ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record ninth consecutive year.

Mr Bin Sulayem oversaw the exponential growth of the DMCC Free Zone master development in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), a 200-hectare business and residential community in Dubai of over 100,000 people living and working in 87 towers. Mr Bin Sulayem also oversees the development of DMCC’s latest real estate project, the Uptown Dubai district.

Mr Bin Sulayem currently serves as the Chairman the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

The Kimberley Process officially appointed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the first and only Arab country to Chair the Kimberley Process (KP) in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Mr Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s Chair of the KP for 2016. Mr Bin Sulayem was reappointed Chair of the KP for a historic second time in 2024, and has continued his leadership role with the position of Custodian Chair in 2025.

Dian F Suzabar

Chairman,
Indonesian Business Council of Dubai

Dian F Suzabar is  an Executive Leader with more than 21 years of international banking leadership experience, specialising in market entry, international expansion, government & regulatory affairs, corporate governance, and Islamic finance across Southeast Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Throughout his career, he has been entrusted with assignments requiring strategic leadership, institutional development, and regulatory engagement in highly regulated environments.

Most recently, he served as Senior Executive Officer of PT Bank Syariah Indonesia's Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Branch, where he led the establishment of the first Indonesian banking presence in the Middle East while strengthening relationships with regulators, governments, institutional partners, and key stakeholders across the UAE. He also played a leadership role in initiatives supporting the bank's strategic expansion into Saudi Arabia.

Previously, Dian has served as Group Head Corporate Secretary of Bank Syariah Mandiri, advising Boards of Directors and Commissioners on governance, corporate actions, shareholder relations, regulatory affairs, and institutional strategy.

Across every leadership assignment, his  focus has remained consistent:
*Building institutions
*Leading strategic expansion
*Strengthening governance
*Creating trusted partnerships

His expertise includes:
* International Banking
* Market Entry & Expansion
* Government & Regulatory Affairs
* Corporate Governance
* Strategic Partnerships
* Public Policy
* Executive Advisory
* Business Development
* Islamic Finance
* Cross-border Strategy
* Executive Stakeholder Management

Brent Yap Hon Yean

Malaysian Business Council UAE Board Member, and Co-founder of Viknesh & Yap law firm, Malaysia
Brent Yap is a Malaysian lawyer based in Dubai, specialising in cross-border investment, corporate transactions, financing and commercial advisory across ASEAN, China and the GCC.

He is the co-founder of Viknesh & Yap law firm in Malaysia, the Deputy Director of Foreign Law Practice at Win Long Guangdong Law Firm in China,  OF Counsel with Kaden Boriss Legal Consultants in UAE, as well as an Associate Director at Krystal Financial Consultants in Dubai, where he facilitates corporate, trade, project and structured financing.

Brent is also Legal Advisor to the Malaysian Business Council UAE and actively works with Malaysian, ASEAN, Chinese and Middle Eastern businesses on market entry, investment structuring and cross-border commercial opportunities.

With his experience across Malaysia, China and the UAE, Brent brings a practical legal and commercial perspective to connecting ASEAN businesses with the wider Gulf market.

Dao Thi Huong

CEO & Founder,
Vietnam–UAE Business Connector

Dao Thi Huong is a Vietnamese entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the UAE and GCC. Since moving to Dubai in 2006, she has built extensive expertise and networks across Vietnam and the Middle East, including supporting the deployment of more than 20,000 Vietnamese workers to the UAE and GCC.

Since 2017, she has expanded into logistics, cargo and trading. She is currently CEO & Founder of Jamal Al Yasmin General Trading LLC and Founder of Viethub, a B2B platform connecting Vietnamese businesses with global markets through Dubai.

Her vision is to connect people, businesses and investment opportunities between Vietnam, the UAE and the world.

Mariben Christine Eustaquio

Founder and Managing Director,
EZONE

Mariben Christine Eustaquio is a Filipina entrepreneur, business advisor, podcast host and community leader based in Dubai. One of the pioneers in the UAE business setup industry, she has spent the past 14 years helping more than 5,800 entrepreneurs and businesses establish, structure and grow in the UAE.

She is the Founder and Managing Director of EZONE, where she advises entrepreneurs, investors and companies on UAE market entry, company formation, corporate structuring, residency and long-term business growth. Her experience also includes being part of the core team involved in establishing and structuring a UAE free zone that launched in 2017, giving her first-hand insight into the development of the free zone ecosystem as well as the businesses it is designed to support.

Her entrepreneurial portfolio extends beyond business setup. She is Managing Partner of AccountAbility UAE, providing tax, accounting and compliance support to businesses, and Co-Founder of YouWill, a UAE estate-planning platform for individuals, families and business owners.

Mariben currently serves her second term as a Board Director of the Philippine Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates, where she works to strengthen Filipino participation, representation and collaboration within the wider UAE business community. 

She is also the host of Entrepreneurship Is Not For Everyone, a podcast that goes beyond the polished success stories to explore the realities of entrepreneurship, from risk, failure and reinvention to leadership and personal growth.

A mother of three, Mariben has built her career and businesses while raising a family in Dubai. That experience continues to shape her perspective on ambition, leadership and what sustainable success looks like.

At the heart of her work is a belief in strong relationships, honest guidance and creating opportunities for people to build businesses that are not only successful, but built to last 

Ali Yaakub

Founder & CEO,
Feesable Technologies

Data Infrastructure and AI leader with experience across banking, fintech, insurance, and several notable tech companies. Founder of an AI-native Treasury and Debt Capital Management software company, backed by 500 Global and Sanabil Investments.

Key Strengths: 
• Technical Expertise: Built and deployed production-grade machine learning and AI models for several use cases including pricing and incentives, hyper-personalized offers, product recommendations, and credit decisioning.

Built and led the data practice since launch till unicorn at Tamara Pay, Saudi’s first fintech unicorn, growing team from zero to 30+ data analysts, scientists, and engineers.

Business and GTM expertise: Strong core hands-on programming and technical skills paired with business acumen and communication skills for non-technical audiences. Built effective teams and products to scale.  

Running an AI-native enterprise software company that builds Treasury and Debt Capital Management software for private credit funds, fintech lenders, and NBFIs across the GCC and Southeast Asia. Backed by 500 Global and Sanabil Investments. 

As part of being AI-native, we built a company knowledge engine that supports vector embeddings and semantic search through an MCP tool. The knowledge graph stores both business and technical information about everything in Feesable. Benchmarks show between 81-97% token savings on agentic data and knowledge retrieval costs.

Khalid Sharaf

Senior Director – Corporate Sales and Business Development,
DMCC

Khalid Sharaf serves as the Senior Director of Corporate Sales and Business Development at DMCC, the world’s leading business district and a global authority on commodities trade and enterprise.

In his role, Khalid leads the expansion of the organisation’s corporate sales strategies and business development initiatives. His work focuses on attracting global companies, strengthening DMCC’s international footprint, and driving strategic partnerships that reinforce DMCC’s position as the premier hub for trade, commodities and innovation.

Prior to joining DMCC, Khalid held several senior roles within the UAE Government. As Director of the UAE Government Leaders Programme at the UAE Prime Minister’s Office, he oversaw national leadership development initiatives and guided high-level engagements during the annual World Governments Summit in Dubai. He also held roles at Expo 2020 Dubai and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA).

He holds an Executive MBA from Georgetown University in Washington, DC; a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston; and a Higher Diploma in Mechatronics Engineering from the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai.

Bassel Bitar

Senior Manager - Corporate Sales,
DMCC

Bassel Bitar is the Senior Manager, Corporate Sales at DMCC, the world’s leading Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise.

Joining DMCC as a Team Leader in 2015, Bassel is responsible for promoting the benefits of doing business in Dubai and setting up companies in DMCC.

Prior to joining DMCC, Bassel held senior sales positions at both Etisalat Telecom and Emirates NBD in Dubai.

Bassel earned a Bachelor of Business administration degree in Hotel Management and tourism from the National American University in 2002.