STRATEGIC CONFERENCE SPEAKERS AND VISIONARIES
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
United Arab Emirates
Secretary General
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
State Minister of Transport
Uganda
Minister of Investment
Jordan
Minister of Transport
Cameroon
Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility
Spain
Chairman and CEO
Korea National Railway
CEO
Etihad Rail
Director - Rail Operations
Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)
Director General
Integrated Transport Centre (DMT)
Chairman & CEO
Renfe-Operadora
CEO
SYSTRA
President
Alstom Africa, Middle East & Central Asia (AMECA) Region
CEO & Managing Director
DP World GCC
CEO
Asyad Ports
Group CEO, Non Independent Executive Director
SBS Transit
Group CFO
Asyad
Senior Vice President - UAE Industries
Mubadala
Acting CEO & SVP Asset (Shah)
ADNOC Sour Gas
CEO
Siemens Mobility
CEO
Nurminen Logistics
CEO – Rolling Stock & Member of the Executive Board
CAF
Chairman
Rail Working Group
Director of National Engineering Research Center
CRRC
CEO
Trojan Construction Group
CEO
Hafeet Rail
Chief Transport Officer
BEEAH
CEO
Kalyon Holding
General Manager and Project Director
Renfe KSA
Chief Technology Officer
Bayanat
CEO and Chairman
Ineco
CEO
Presight
Chair
Arup
Chairman and Managing Director
RITES
Executive Vice President, Locomotive
Progress Rail
Chief Institutional Relations Officer & Global Head of Commercial Affairs
Técnicas Reunidas SA
Managing Director DSV Air & Sea Abu Dhabi & COO, DSV Solutions, Abu Dhabi
Global Head, Infrastructure & Development Finance Group
Standard Chartered Bank
Executive Chairman
Mercitalia Logistics
President, IEC International
Co-Founder, InfraEconomy Group
CEO
Globalvia
CEO
MESEA, a subsidiary of VINCI Railways and SYSTRA
CEO
TRA Consulting
CEO
HyperloopTT
Chairman
Thelo Group
Vice-President Commercial
Alstom AMECA
CEO, Railtraction Company (Italy)
Member of the Board, Brenner Base Tunnel
Chief Technology Officer
Huawei ME & CA
Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head
ESG Emirates NBD, Dubai
Executive Director, Project Finance
Standard Chartered Bank
Group COO
Gulftainer
Senior Vice President for Supply Chain Management
Borouge
CEO, Middle East & South Asia
Egis
CEO
Siemens Mobility, Turnkey MEA and Siemens Mobility UAE
CEO
DHL Global Forwarding Middle East & Africa
CEO
Etihad Rail Mobility
CEO
Etihad Rail Freight
Chief Financial Officer
Etihad Rail
Head of Infrastructure, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Co-Head, Business Group
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Co-Head of Global Origination
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
CEO
Yas Projects
Head of Land-based Transportation
KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Europe
Jacobs
EVP Global Transit
AECOM
Chief Revenue Officer
Via Transportation Inc
CEO
Ittihad International Investment
CEO
Stevin Rock LLC
Senior Railway Specialist
World Bank
Senior Transport Economist (MENA)
World Bank
Director, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE), Lead for UK Rail Research Network (UKRRIN)
Global Deputy Director, Transport
Egis
VP PMC & Rail Practice Lead, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)
Parsons
Operations Director – Transport
Serco
Global Director – Urban Solutions
Hatch
Director, Climate Services and Sustainability
Arup
Director of Mobility Consulting
DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH (DB E&C)
Head of Downtown Line (DTL)
SBS Transit
Senior Financial Advisor
Hafeet Rail
Head - Aerospace and Rail
L & T Technology Services
Partner, Dubai, UAE
Kearney, Worldwide Lead for the Kearney Center of Advanced Mobility
Senior Partner, MEA Mobility and Infrastructure Lead, Dubai, UAE,
Kearney
Global Rail Business Leader
Arup
Vice President of AI
Huawei Cloud Middle East & Central Asia
CEO
Rail-Flow GmbH
Partner, Regional Head of Arbitration
Al Tamimi Company
CEO
Iryo
Director
SYSTRA
Project Manager
European Union Agency for Railways
Partner - Energy and Infrastructure Projects
Allen & Overy Shearman
Partner
McKinsey & Company
CEO and Founder
SHIP247
Partner and Co-head, Middle East Banking and Finance Practice
Dentons
Partner, Global Railways and Roads Leader
PwC Italia
Partner, Infrastructure and Government
PwC Middle East
Director Infrastructure, Finance & PPP
PwC Middle East
Partner, Transport and Logistics Global and Middle East Lead
PwC Middle East
Director, Transport and Logistics, Middle East Rail Team Lead
PwC Middle East
Partner, Technology and Consulting in Digital Mobility
PwC Middle East
General Legal Counsel
Etihad Rail
Director, Advisory
PwC
Director
PwC Strategy& (Germany) GmbH
Editor-in-chief
The National
Director Public Policy & Sustainability
Etihad Rail
Chief Operating Officer
Abu Dhabi Transport
Executive Director of Commercial & Performance
Etihad Rail
CEO
ADNOC L&S
Director of Revenue Management and Network Planning
Etihad Cargo
CEO
Doğuş Construction
Executive Vice President & Head Minerals & Metals
Larsen & Toubro Construction
Railway Specialist
World Bank Global Transport Unit
Acting Manager Director
Etihad Cargo
Chief Operations Officer
Abu Dhabi Airports
Deputy Managing Director of Noatum Logistics – Middle East
AD Ports Group
Chief Commercial Officer
CPCS
Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer
Etihad Rail
Business Editor
The National
Partner and Co- head of Rail and Road
Stephenson Harwood
Deputy Chief Engineer CRRC QINGDAO SIFANG Co., Ltd,
Director, China National Key Laboratory of High-speed Maglev Transportation Technology
Senior Director of Operations
Careem
Vice President – Business Development
Orascom Construction
Director, Transport & Logistics (Aviation)
PwC Middle East
Associate Partner
Mckinsey and Company
Partner
Mckinsey & Company
A. TD. M. M., IPM, ASEAN Eng. Director General of Railways
Ministry of Transportation Republic of Indonesia
REALISING RAIL’S TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL FOR ECONOMIES, COMMUNITIES AND CLIMATE THROUGH COLLABORATION, INTEGRATION, AND INNOVATION
Held under the theme, ‘Setting Transport Infrastructure and Global Connectivity in Motion Global Rail 2024 will unite policymakers, network operators, transport authorities, financiers, technology pioneers, developers and OEMs, to discuss actionable strategies for realising rail’s transformative potential for communities, climate, and economies.
The three-day Global Rail Strategic Conference will identify strategic pathways for unlocking value in the railway project lifecycle, through global and cross-sector collaboration supported by regulation and policy mechanisms designed to accelerate innovation, scale new technologies, advance digital transformation and unlock rail’s potential as an enabler of economic growth, supply chain resilience and decarbonisation.
STRATEGIC CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Tuesday 08 October 2024
Wednesday 09 October 2024
Thursday 10 October 2024
10:00 10:05
Opening Ceremony
10:05 10:10
Opening remarks
Opening remarks
His Excellency Suhail Mohamed AlMazrouei
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
United Arab Emirates
10:10 10:15
Keynote
Keynote Speech
H.E. Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi
Secretary General
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
10:15 10:20
Keynote
Keynote Speech
H.E. Óscar Puente
Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility
Spain
10:20 10:25
Keynote
Keynote Speech
H.E Lee Seong-hai
Chairman and CEO
Korea National Railway
10:25 10:35
Agreement Signing Ceremony
10:35 11:05
Exhibition tour
11:15 11:45
PANEL: What is the next stage in automation?
Panelists
Raül Blanco Díaz
Chairman & CEO
Renfe-Operadora
H. E. Abdullah Al Marzouqi
Director General
Integrated Transport Centre (DMT)
H.E Lee Seong-hai
Chairman and CEO
Korea National Railway
Moderator
Adhraa Almansoori
Director Public Policy & Sustainability
Etihad Rail
11:45 12:15
ROLLING STOCK PANEL: High speed rail: why is it not faster?
Panelists
Michael Peter
CEO
Siemens Mobility
Andrew DeLeone
President
Alstom Africa, Middle East & Central Asia (AMECA) Region
Josu Imaz
CEO – Rolling Stock & Member of the Executive Board
CAF
Dr. Lin Peng
Director of National Engineering Research Center
CRRC
Moderator
Nicolas Petrovic
CEO
Etihad Rail Mobility
12:15 12:45
CONSULTING PANEL: Are we still getting value from multi-disciplinary consulting?
Panelists
Sergio Vázquez Torrón
CEO and Chairman
Ineco
Rahul Mithal
Chairman and Managing Director
RITES
Pierre Verzat
CEO
SYSTRA
Jerome Frost
Chair
Arup
Moderator
Sebastien Mangeant
Chief Operating Officer
Abu Dhabi Transport
12:45 13:15
FINANCE & GOVERNANCE PANEL: Beyond risk and return: unlocking capital for rail infrastructure development with ESG metrics
Panelists
Joanna Mobed
Co-Head of Global Origination
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Vijay Bains
Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head
ESG Emirates NBD, Dubai
Javier Pérez Fortea
CEO
Globalvia
Ekaterina Kozyreva
President, IEC International
Co-Founder, InfraEconomy Group
Moderator
Dr. Daniel Haag
Director
PwC Strategy& (Germany) GmbH
13:15 15:00
Networking Lunch
Sponsored by
15:00 15:30
PORTS PANEL: Synergies capitalised by multimodal operations in the Middle East and beyond
Panelists
H.E. Shadi Malak
CEO
Etihad Rail
H.E. Abdulla Bin Damithan
CEO & Managing Director
DP World GCC
Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi
CEO
ADNOC L&S
Omar Al Mahrizi
CEO
Asyad Ports
Moderator
Helmut Scholze
Senior Partner, MEA Mobility and Infrastructure Lead, Dubai, UAE,
Kearney
15:30 16:00
PROJECT FINANCING PANEL: Unlocking railway financing: closing the funding gap in Low and Lower - Middle Income Countries
Panelists
Jens Oliver Schünzel
Head of Land-based Transportation
KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH
Adam Harris
Co-Head, Business Group
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Ronnie Ntuli
Chairman
Thelo Group
Abbas Husain
Global Head, Infrastructure & Development Finance Group
Standard Chartered Bank
Moderator
Simon Kirby
Director, Advisory
PwC
16:00 16:15
Coffee Break
Sponsored by
16:15 16:45
CONSTRUCTION PANEL: Why is delivering on-time and on-budget so difficult?
Panelists
Guillermo Cobelo Fernandez
Chief Institutional Relations Officer & Global Head of Commercial Affairs
Técnicas Reunidas SA
Tolga AKKAŞ
CEO
Doğuş Construction
T Kumaresan
Executive Vice President & Head Minerals & Metals
Larsen & Toubro Construction
Eng. Mohamad Mahmoud
CEO
Trojan Construction Group
Tamer Shafik
Vice President – Business Development
Orascom Construction
Mustafa Koçar
CEO
Kalyon Holding
Moderator
Dr. Hazem Mobarak
CEO
Yas Projects
16:45 17:15
CONSULTING & PLANNING PANEL: Increasing the bankability of railways through transit -oriented development and strategic land-use planning
Panelists
Michael Sutherland
Global Director – Urban Solutions
Hatch
Matthew Botelle
VP PMC & Rail Practice Lead, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)
Parsons
Andrea Giuricin
CEO
TRA Consulting
Matthias Plavec
Railway Specialist
World Bank Global Transport Unit
Moderator
Vadim Pokotilo
Partner
McKinsey & Company
10:00 10:15
Global Rail welcome note
Welcome note
H.E. Shadi Malak
CEO
Etihad Rail
10:15 10:45
MINISTERIAL PANEL: The role of railways in driving economic development
Panelists
H.E. Mothanna Gharaibeh
Minister of Investment
Jordan
H.E. Hon. Fred Byamukama
State Minister of Transport
Uganda
H.E. Ngalle Bibehe Jean Ernest Massena
Minister of Transport
Cameroon
Eng. Mohamad Risal Wasal
A. TD. M. M., IPM, ASEAN Eng. Director General of Railways
Ministry of Transportation Republic of Indonesia
Moderator
Salim A. Essaid
Business Editor
The National
10:45 11:20
POLICY PANEL: From road to rail: policy and governance mechanism to drive modal shift and advance decarbonisation agendas
Panelists
Carlo Palasciano Villamagna
Executive Chairman
Mercitalia Logistics
Howard Rosen
Chairman
Rail Working Group
Keith Lawson
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Europe
Jacobs
Sacha Parneix
Vice-President Commercial
Alstom AMECA
Moderator
Dr. Christian Gasparic
Partner, Dubai, UAE
Kearney, Worldwide Lead for the Kearney Center of Advanced Mobility
11:20 11:45
INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PANEL: Exploring the role of aviation in an integrated transport ecosystem
Panelists
Frank McCrorie
Chief Operations Officer
Abu Dhabi Airports
Leonardo Rodrigues
Director of Revenue Management and Network Planning
Etihad Cargo
Moderator
Andrew Ward
Director, Transport & Logistics (Aviation)
PwC Middle East
11:45 12:00
Coffee Break
Sponsored by
12:00 12:40
MULTIMODAL PANEL: Multimodal transportation: compete or cooperate with trucking and maritime?
Panelists
Daniel Wright
Group COO
Gulftainer
Amadou Diallo
CEO
DHL Global Forwarding Middle East & Africa
Mohammad Jaber
Managing Director DSV Air & Sea Abu Dhabi & COO, DSV Solutions, Abu Dhabi
Olli Pohjanvirta
CEO
Nurminen Logistics
Khaled Al Sakran
CEO and Founder
SHIP247
Qusai Kankazar
Deputy Managing Director of Noatum Logistics – Middle East
AD Ports Group
Moderator
Salim A. Essaid
Business Editor
The National
12:40 13:10
SUSTAINABLE PANEL: Balancing operational costs with sustainability goals on the path to greener networks
Panelists
Armando Fombella
General Manager and Project Director
Renfe KSA
Alaa AbuSiam
CEO, Middle East & South Asia
Egis
Ayman Ashour
CEO
Siemens Mobility, Turnkey MEA and Siemens Mobility UAE
Moderator
TC Chew
Global Rail Business Leader
Arup
13:10 13:35
ENGINEERING PANEL: From vision to reality: enhancing infrastructure resilience
Panelists
Maria Marques
Global Deputy Director, Transport
Egis
Russell Jackson
EVP Global Transit
AECOM
Ian Horseman Sewell
Chief Commercial Officer
CPCS
Moderator
Graeme Overall
Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer
Etihad Rail
13:35 14:55
Networking Lunch
Sponsored by
14:55 15:25
CUSTOMERS PANEL: Challenges and benefits, for transitioning to rail
Panelists
Gunther Ferk
CEO
Etihad Rail Freight
Dr. Naser Al Bustami
CEO
Stevin Rock LLC
Amer Kakish
CEO
Ittihad International Investment
Ahmed Al Katheeri
Senior Vice President for Supply Chain Management
Borouge
Hassan Al Mutawa
Director - Rail Operations
Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)
Adel Saleh Mohamed Al Jaberi
Acting CEO & SVP Asset (Shah)
ADNOC Sour Gas
Moderator
Paulo Guglielminetti
Partner, PwC Global Railways and Roads Leader
PwC Italy
15:35 15:50
Coffee Break
Sponsored by
15:50 16:20
INTEROPERABILITY PANEL: Unlocking modal shift through cross-border interoperability and network harmonisation
Panelists
Martin Ausserdorfer
CEO, Railtraction Company (Italy)
Member of the Board, Brenner Base Tunnel
Christoph Kaupat
Project Manager
European Union Agency for Railways
Dirk Slodzinski
Director of Mobility Consulting
DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH (DB E&C)
Dominik Fürste
CEO
Rail-Flow GmbH
Moderator
Paolo Guglielminetti
Partner, Global Railways and Roads Leader
PwC Italia
16:20 16:35
FIRESIDE CHAT: Hydrogen and battery fleets, future or soon to be extinct?
Panelists
Jack Zhang
Executive Vice President, Locomotive
Progress Rail
Moderator
Ahmed AlMusawa AlHashemi
CEO
Hafeet Rail
16:35 17:05
LEGAL PANEL: External legal support: enabler or hindrance in Transport Infrastructure Implementation
Panelists
Stephen Knight
Partner and Co-head, Middle East Banking and Finance Practice
Dentons
Elliott Sawford
Partner - Energy and Infrastructure Projects
Allen & Overy Shearman
Paul Taylor
Partner, Regional Head of Arbitration
Al Tamimi Company
Tammy Samuel
Partner and Co- head of Rail and Road
Stephenson Harwood
Moderator
Iryna Telychko
General Legal Counsel
Etihad Rail
10:00 10:20
INNOVATION & AI PANEL: What is the true value of AI within transport?
Panelists
Dr. Fan Zhu
Chief Technology Officer
Bayanat
Martin Yates
Government Technology Advisor
Presight
Moderator
Prof. Paul Plummer
Director, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE), Lead for UK Rail Research Network (UKRRIN)
10:20 10:50
FINANCING SCHEME PANEL: Financing a major infrastructure project
Panelists
Ali Tabbal
Chief Financial Officer
Etihad Rail
Saif Al Qubaisi
Senior Vice President - UAE Industries
Mubadala
Saurabh Kumar
Executive Director, Project Finance
Standard Chartered Bank
Muhsin Alrustom
Group CFO
Asyad
Moderator
Frank Beckers
Senior Financial Advisor
Hafeet Rail
10:50 11:05
Coffee Break
Sponsored by
11:05 11:30
MAGLEV PANEL: Maglev: 1970’s fad, or tomorrow’s railway?
Panelists
Ding Sansan
Deputy Chief Engineer CRRC QINGDAO SIFANG Co., Ltd,
Director, China National Key Laboratory of High-speed Maglev Transportation Technology
11:30 12:00
MOBILITY PANEL: Safe, secure and affordable: driving public transport modal share through digitalisation and connected mobility
Panelists
Jeffrey Sim Vee Ming
Group CEO, Non Independent Executive Director
SBS Transit
Dillon Twombly
Chief Revenue Officer
Via Transportation Inc
Andrés de León
CEO
HyperloopTT
Moderator
Sebastien Mangeant
Chief Operating Officer
Abu Dhabi Transport
12:00 12:15
INNOVATION & AI: Fireside Chat
Panelists
Dr. Zhu Shenggao
Vice President of AI
Huawei Cloud Middle East & Central Asia
Moderator
Ekaterina Sheremet
Associate Partner
Mckinsey and Company
12:15 12:45
INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PANEL: Digitalisation: An Enabler Towards seamless end-to-end transport
Panelists
Nasir Al Shamsi
Chief Transport Officer
BEEAH
Faisal Ameer Malik
Chief Technology Officer
Huawei ME & CA
Nicolas Petrovic
CEO
Etihad Rail Mobility
Moderator
Ramzi Imam
Partner, Technology and Consulting in Digital Mobility
PwC Middle East
12:45 13:15
RESILIENT RAIL PANEL: Resilient rail: a whole ecosystem approach to future proofing rail infrastructure
Panelists
Juliet Mian
Director, Climate Services and Sustainability
Arup
Jean-Bruno Delrue
CEO
MESEA, a subsidiary of VINCI Railways and SYSTRA
Lee Yam Lim
Head of Downtown Line (DTL)
SBS Transit
Moderator
Adhraa Almansoori
Director Public Policy & Sustainability
Etihad Rail
13:15 13:45
TECHNOLOGY PANEL: Opportunities and challenges in scaling innovation in the rail and transport sector
Panelists
Sunil Prasad
Head - Aerospace and Rail
L & T Technology Services
Dr Séverine Maréchal
Director
SYSTRA
Prof. Paul Plummer
Director, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE), Lead for UK Rail Research Network (UKRRIN)
Moderator
Dr. Èric Pairet
Head of Research and Development
Etihad Rail
13:45 14:45
Lunch & Close of Global Rail 2024 Strategic Conference
Sponsored by
Tuesday 08 October 2024
Wednesday 09 October 2024
Thursday 10 October 2024
