Ahmed Bin Sulayem

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 free zone in 2022 with over 22,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 65,000 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 2022, DMCC was named the ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record eight consecutive years.

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 much-anticipated Uptown Dubai district.

Mr Bin Sulayem currently serves as the Chairman of 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 in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Mr Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016.

H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi

H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi is an embodiment of exemplary Emirati talent. After completing several graduate courses in the United States, he joined the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) as Senior Analyst specializing in the US market. From 1992 to 1997, he was responsible of analyzing US companies for investment opportunities and preparing recommendations for selling and buying shares.

In 1997, Al Nuaimi was seconded to the Privatization Committee for the Water & Electricity Sector in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, taking on the role of Director of Independent Water and Power Producers Projects (IWPP). As part of his responsibilities, he became the first Emirati to preside over a unique UAE privatization enterprise that aims to produce water and electricity in one integrated project. His success with the project was recognized with a number of awards, including the MENA Energy Sector’s coveted Power Personality of the Year for 2014.

In 2011, he was appointed as Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), where he continues to serve as an advisor till now. In deference to his expertise and leadership in the power and water sectors, he has been nominated as Chairman of the Board for many public and private enterprises including: the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company and Al Ain Distribution Company; the Abu Dhabi Transmission & Dispatch Company (TRANSCO); Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (ADWEC); Al Wathbah Central Services Company; and Taweelah Asia Power Company (TAPCO).

He served as Vice Chairman of the First Energy Bank; Abu Dhabi National Takaful Insurance Co. and Vice Chairman & CEO of The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, TAQA.

In addition, Al Nuaimi has been a board member for Sohar Aluminium Company LLC; the Federal Electricity and Water Authority and Oman Insurance Company.

He was a member of the Follow-up UAE President’s Initiatives Committee until 2014 and President of the Canadian Emirati Businessmen Council.

Al Nuaimi was shortlisted for Abu Dhabi Excellence Award, administrative sector (2008/2009) and was awarded the UAE Prime Minister's Medal for the Best Ambassador within the sixth edition of the Mohammed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award ( March, 2022)

From November, 2016 till present, Al Nuaimi assumes the duty as the UAE Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Korea.

Hyeong-joo Kim

Hyungjoo Kim is the chairman of Korea Blockchain Industry Promotion - Association(KBIPA). Founded in 2017, KBIPA is Korea's first blockchain-related association and is a non-profit corporation officially approved by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

As a member of the National Assembly and the deputy mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Hyungjoo Kim was dedicated to improve regulations and legislate with experts in various fields such as politics, administration, law, society, and culture for the domestic blockchain industry revolution. Currently, KBIPA has grown into a healthy platform that promotes the development of blockchain technology by forming close cooperative relationships with more than 100 member companies in Korea.

Based on his expertise in international relations as a Ph.D. in Russian politics, he added his enthusiasm as a global businessman and promoted the development and co-prosperity of international digital finance by serving as a standing member of the ICIE(International Congress of Industrialists Entrepreneurs) Asia-Pacific region. Also having close relations with DMCC to create a global blockchain industry ecosystem with UAE and Dubai, and now the full-fledged start will begin at DMCC Road Show in Korea.

As an adjunct professor, he specializes in blockchain lectures for the general public and executives.

Hyangja Yang

Chairman of the Special Committee for Strengthening the Power of the People’s Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness.

Rep. Yang Hyang-ja is the first female executive at Samsung Electronics to become a prominent figure in the semiconductor memory field.

After entering the 21st National Assembly, she serves as a bridge to convey the voices needed by the science and technology world as well as semiconductors and current issues in the industry to the government and the National Assembly.

Currently, she is presenting a new milestone for the Korean semiconductor industry by serving as the ‘Chairman of the Special Committee for Strengthening the Power of the People’s Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness’, transcending political factions.

JeongHa Park

Ethan Kim

Ethan Kim is the business expert in the United Arab Emirates and Arab region. Since 2010, he has run his own business in UAE as the CEO of MMK and he has been acknowledged as the only Korean specialist for UAE business.

More than 10years living & business experience in UAE, Ethan Kim has built a very compresensive local human network and connections. He has offered market advices & professional consultation about UAE, especially about Dubai as a leading global business hub to Korean community to help them know correct information as well as potential business opportunities.

Thanks to his help, many of world-class Korean Medical services, Korean cultural contents, and manufacuring & tech Industry from Korea have successfully landed and expanded businesses to Dubai and UAE.

Recently Ethan Kim has focused on introducing & promoting DMCC to Korean enterpreneurs & community to encourage them to set-up global office in DMCC. It is important for him to announce and promote widely but precisely how business-friendly infrasturcture & attractive lifestyle environment Dubai DMCC offers to businessmen from the world and how Koreans can have easily access to DMCC in terms of business set-up & expansion.

Rayol Hwang

Hillstone Partners is an investment company established in 2010 with investment experts with long experience in Samsung Asset Management, Merrill Lynch, and Mirae Asset. Based on our expertise and strong network in the fields of information technology (IT) and clean tech, we are forming PE funds and associations in Korea, China, and Japan, which are major investment targets. Hillstone is not just proceeding with the formation of funds, but also implementing a business strategy with the development of a platform that supports other PE funds and unions. In addition, since 2017, Hillstone has been focusing on the blockchain sector and conducting essential technical research and investment by opening the Hillstone Blockchain Center, a research institute, and holding technical conferences to develop the overall blockchain industry.

Hwang Rayol, CEO of Hillstone Partners, is trying to innovate finance by combining new blockchain technologies based on his rich experience and know-how in start-up incubating and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Hillstone will act as a bridge between the decentralized financial industry and the investment financial industry within current legislation, creating a strong link with the services it can provide. It will create time and examples for government and financial institutions to think about decentralized finance and create industrial and legal aspects, and eventually try to grow Hillstone into a fully decentralized form of comprehensive financial platform.

Marwan Saleh

Marwan Mohamed Saleh is the Director of Sales and Business Development, Free Zone at DMCC. He brings over 25 years of work experience in strategic planning, marketing and business development, driving international sales and realising business objectives.

Prior to joining DMCC, Mr. Saleh was the Head of Business Development and International Sales at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).

Mr. Saleh is well-known for his extensive work with Etisalat Afghanistan from 1996 to 2015. He began his career journey as a Government & Corporate Segment Manager. Demonstrating excellence and business acumen, he then climbed the corporate ladder to become Vice President for Etisalat Afghanistan between 2011-2014, before
assuming the role of the CEO at Etisalat Afghanistan.

Mr. Saleh completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). He also holds multiple certifications in leadership and organisational leadership from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School.

Belal Jassoma

Belal Jassoma is DMCC’s Head of Business Development and plays a key role in promoting DMCC as a world-class business district and attracting new member companies to the free zone. 

Belal joined DMCC in 2011 as a Business Development Executive, working his way up to become the Head of Business Development in 2018. Earlier in his career, he was a real estate portfolio manager at Leo Sterling, and a senior sales consultant at Tameer Holding Investment. Belal holds a BSc in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah.

Belal has been instrumental in expanding the Free Zone offering, introducing new products and services, member engagement programs, and developing key strategic relationships and ecosystems, which resulted in both business growth and member retention. As part of his current responsibilities as Head of BD, Belal leads several key functions for DMCC, including business setup, partnerships, product development and DMCC’s Crypto Centre. DMCC is now home to over 21,000 businesses and was named Global Free Zone of the Year by the Financial Times’ fDi Magazine for 7 consecutive years.   

Bohwa Choi

Suhan Yun

Suhan Yun is the manager of the KOTRA, Asia, middle East and Africa Research Team.

He is graduated from Myongji University, Department of Arab Regional Studies. He started his work at KOTRA in 2015 and this is his 8th years working at KOTRA.

He was stationed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as an officer of KOTRA from 2017 to 2021. After that he worked in Middle East & Africa & CIS Market study team, KOTRA. He was awarded a merit of medal in 2019 by KOTRA in a celebration of its 57th anniversary of founding.

KOTRA is established to contribute to the development of the national economy by performing work such as trade promotion, investment between domestic and foreign companies and support of industrial technology cooperation.

Changseok Hong

Sanjeev Dutta

Sanjeev Dutta is the Executive Director of Commodities and Financial Services at DMCC. He oversees DMCC’s commodities vertical, and directs the development, implementation and regulation of the organisation’s financial products, platforms and services.

An expert on trade finance and commodity markets, Sanjeev is responsible for identifying new business opportunities for DMCC and nurturing existing commercial partnerships. He was instrumental in establishing the DMCC Tea Centre, DMCC Coffee Centre and the award-winning DMCC Tradeflow platform, and now tasked with enhancing the trade of agri and softs, precious metals and stones through Dubai.

Sanjeev is a senior member of DMCC’s executive leadership team and supports the general management, strategic direction and growth initiatives of the organisation. Sanjeev devised and implemented the organisation’s Code of Corporate Governance, and established its comprehensive risk management protocol.

Joining on its inception, Sanjeev has held a number of senior roles within DMCC and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DCGX). A distinguished speaker, Sanjeev regularly represents DMCC at international industry events and is an expert on trade, commodities and Islamic Finance.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Sanjeev has over two decades of multi-industry expertise in auditing, financial controls, consulting, risk management, corporate governance and general management with both PwC and KPMG.