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 2020 with over 18,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 60,000 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 2020, DMCC has been named the ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record sixth 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 across 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.

Krzysztof Drynda

A manager with many years of experience in both government administration and the private sector, but also in non-profit non-governmental organizations.

In February 2021, he was appointed the Chairman of PAIH. Before joining the Agency, as the Director of the Department of Supervised and Subordinate Units, he was in charge of entities subordinate to the Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology.

Previously, he was a member of the board of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone, where from 2016 he was responsible, inter alia, for investments, finances and controls, as well as cooperation with institutes of higher education and universities. Over the four years of his tenure, more than 90 companies joined the Wałbrzych zone, including such significant investors as: Mercedes-Benz, Umicore, GTHR, LS, and Hongbo Clean Energy. During this time, the expenditure incurred in the zone increased by PLN 6 billion, exceeding PLN 30 billion in total.

In the past, Krzysztof Drynda was an advisor to the Minister for the economy. He was also professionally related to the financial sector and ran his own business in this field. Moreover, for many years he has been an active member of non-governmental organizations.

Krzysztof Drynda is a graduate of the Faculty of Electronics from the Wrocław University of Technology and is a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

He was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

Aleksander Siemaszko

Deputy director of the Department of Trade and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Development and Technology, responsible for international organizations and bilateral economic cooperation.

A graduate of the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw School of Economics and the College of Europe in Bruges, he also studied at Northeastern Illinois University and Sciences-po Paris.

In 2014-2017, an advisor in the European Parliament dealing with issues of foreign policy and energy security. He also worked in the European Commission and the Security & Defense Agenda think-tank.

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.

Grzegorz Słomkowski

Since 2019 Member of the Management Board of Polish Investment and Trade Agency. Resposible for FDI investments and operations of the Agency.

Grzegorz Słomkowski has over twenty years of experience in financial and general management, which he gained while working in both international and Polish companies.

He began his career at LG when the company first entered the Polish market, he participating in the creation of the company's first structures and first production plants.

Then he worked in the Management Consulting Department of Deloitte & Touche. Working on projects related to the implementation of integrated IT management systems, mainly in the financial sector, as well as in restructuring and organizational consulting.

Initially, for several years, he was the Financial Director, and later the President of the Management Board of the Japanese JVCKENWOOD, where he was responsible both for Poland and the entire region. He also held managerial functions in the European and global structures of the organization.

For eight years, Grzegorz was the Chairman of the Council of the Association of Importers and Manufacturers of Electrical and Electronic Equipment - "ZIPSEE CYFROWA POLSKA" - a non-profit employers' organization associating the largest RTV and IT companies operating in Poland.

For four years, he was the President of the Management Board of a company that distributes Clearplex industrial foils from the American MADICO group.

As a Certified Change Management and Strategy Advisor to companies and adviser to technology startups. He participated in building startup companies in the field of telematics and insurance.

Grzegorz Słomkowski graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Warsaw University of Technology, Executive MBA in Business from the Business School of Warsaw University of Technology / London Business School / HEC Paris / NHH (Bergen), the Faculty of Management and Marketing of the University of Warsaw, MBA studies from the University of Illinois, the Academy of Psychological Leadership at the Warsaw University of Technology.

Jacek Buda

Jacek Buda graduated from Arabic philology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and MBA studies at the Maastricht School of Management.

He started his professional career in 1985 on the Polimex-Cekop contracts in Libya. In the years 1994-99 Jacek was the deputy director of the branch of Polimex-Mostostal in Libya, and started his diplomatic career in 2000 at the Polish Embassy in Cairo. He continued the work at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tripoli as an economic and commercial counselor. In 2008-11, he was the director of the PGNiG branch in Libya, then worked in the PGNiG branch in Egypt, and in 2019-2021 Jacek created the PGNiG branch in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah as the company's management board representative.

Since April 2022, he has been a political and economic adviser at the Polish Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

HE Dr Eman Al Salami

• On July, 2021, Her Excellency Dr. Eman Ahmed Al Salami was named the UAE Ambassador to Poland.
• On 25th October 2021 Her Excellency presented her credentials to the President of the Republic of Poland.
• Previously Her Excellency was the Director of Strategy and Future Department of MoFAIC.
• A member of Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy Board of Trustees since June 2021.
• Master of Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates (2020).
• Granted DBA in organisation and innovation from Abu Dhabi University in January 2014.
• EMBA - University of Sharjah (2009).
• Interests: Classic music and art.

Adil Abdelwahab

Mr Adil Abdelwahab, MBA, MSc. is Head of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency office in Dubai since 2020.

He is multi-awarded international communication, stakeholder relations, crisis communications and management specialist.

Mr Adil Abdelwahab has over 19 years of direct P&L and C-suite management responsibility with experience spanning Banking, Insurance, as well as Management Consulting.

Apart from working in established companies in those sectors, Mr Adil Abdelwahab has also led an AI-empowered insurance startup in Central & Eastern Europe.

In addition to Polish, he is also able to communicate in English and Arabic.

Katarzyna Kowalska

Vice-President of the Management Board of KUKE since June 2016. She graduated from the University of Economics in Poznań in the field of Finance and Accounting, with a specialization in capital investments and financial strategies of enterprises. A graduate of the London School of Economics.

She started her professional career in financial consulting. From 2012, she worked as a Business Developer responsible for the development of a company from the payment sector in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, including in countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Kazakhstan. She provided services to the banking sector and interbank institutions, including clearing houses and central banks. Then, she was the Deputy Director of the Large Investments Support Department at the Ministry of Development, where she was responsible for managing relations with both domestic and international financial institutions and coordinating financial sources and instruments.

Maciej Owczarek

Graduate of the Warsaw Polytechnic and MBA programmes at University of Warsaw and the University of Illinois.

Academic teacher, entrepreneur, manager at Levi Strauss Poland, Amoco Poland, INTERSPORT Poland, Telekomunikacja Polska (Polish telecom incumbent) and subsidiary companies, Chairman of the Board of ENEA SA in 2009-2012, ongoing consultancy work.

Since June 2019, Chairman of the Board of Business Centre Ltd. and General Director and Vice Chairman of Business Centre Club (BCC).

Arkadiusz Zabłoński

A graduate of the University of Gdańsk in Sopot and postgraduate studies at the University of Administration and Management in Warsaw. He has over 20 years of experience in corporate banking and financing investment projects. He also dealt with the capital market (securities broker license) and owner supervision (former member of supervisory boards of companies from the PKO Bank Polski SA capital group).

Currently a member of the Supervisory Board of KUKE. He gained banking experience, among others, at Deutsche Bank Polska, Unicredit group and PKO Bank Polski. At BGK since 2011. Currently, he is responsible for the development of export financing in the field of direct financing of export transactions and foreign expansion of Polish enterprises, both under government programs and BGK's own activities.

Łukasz Grabowski

He graduated from Warsaw School of Economics with a degree in international economic relations. He has gained professional experience working, among others at Polish Oil and Gas Company, Deutsche Bank Headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, PwC Office in Warsaw, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Warsaw and STTAS, a UPS company, an advisory and consulting company in the area of international trade.

Supporting Polish businesses planning to internationalize their activities and safely enter foreign markets as well as promoting Polish economy abroad is his calling. He is on a mission to make PAIH the first point of contact for all Polish entities considering global expansion.

Bassel Bitar

Bassel Bitar is the Regional Representative – Asia and Eastern Europe 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, Mohammed 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.