Spain’s Ferrometal Finance Group, a leading European trading and finance conglomerate, says it is actively seeking to invest in the Middle East and sees the region as a future world leader in energy, chemicals and construction.

Speaking in advance of the ‘Leaders in Dubai’ conference being held this November, Cornelia Man, partner and general manager of Ferrometal, which is sponsoring the event, says the region’s industrial sector was ripe for investment.
“The Middle East has indigenous companies with strong enough appeal to be future leaders in some industrial fields, most notably energy, chemicals, steel and cement. They must lead the future,” she said.
“We are currently financing projects in some countries within the region and now want to establish long-term business relationships and even invest ourselves in the area in some industrial projects, hotels and commercial centres. In addition, we would like to participate in offering state-of-the-art technology to new projects in the region.”
Ferrometal says it is looking to its headline sponsorship of ‘Leaders in Dubai,’ which will be held at the Dubai International Convention Centre from November 29 to 30, to build closer ties with regional developers.
“We want to be in closer touch with clients who want to develop projects that will create wealth and employment in their countries,” said Man. “Ferrometal Group is willing to do its best to accomplish these aims and believes the ‘Leaders in Dubai’ event will be a good opportunity to meet people within these important fields. We want to be a bridge between Europe and the Middle East.”
‘Leaders in Dubai’ is expected to attract an audience of up to 2,500 of the Middle East’s top executives and already, with a few months to go, over 1,000 places have been reserved.
“The appeal of this event is that it is a once-in-a-lifetime leadership experience enabling delegates to hear seven of the world’s top leaders and leadership thinkers,” said Jessica Sutherland, general manager, IIR Exhibitions & Conferences Middle East, which is organising the event under the Leading Minds brand.
“Delegates will get a clear view of what the world will look like in three, five or 10 or more years’         time so that they can more realistically adapt their business strategies. They will leave the event with innovative approaches to leadership to get them through the many hurdles that any organisation encounters.”
The ‘Leaders in Dubai’ speaker panel includes: former Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani; Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter; Tom Peters, the Ur-guru of management; best-selling author Frank Maguire; MIT’s Professor of Management and Economics, Lester Thurow; influential futurologist Alvin Toffler, and former GE chairman and CEO Jack Welch, who will address the audience via a videocast link.
‘Leaders in Dubai’ will also feature a half-day workshop with the world-acclaimed management guru Tom Peters. Charles Hodson, the anchor of CNN International’s daily business programme ‘World Business Today,’ is to moderate ‘Leaders in Dubai’. Other headline sponsors include Citigroup Private Bank, Sabic, Nokia, Visa and Shell.