Majed M. AlGhanim

Majed M. AlGhanim
Managing Director
Tourism & Quality of Life, Ministry of Investment(MISA)

Within his role, Majed has a responsibility for the development of the tourism, entertainment, cultural and sports industries within the Kingdom. The role requires working across the eco-system identifying and developing investment opportunities and projects, conducting studies, promoting these projects locally and internationally, and supporting investors in their journeys to invest in Saudi Arabia.

Majed started his career with Ernst & Young, within the Transaction Advisory Services, leading hospitality transactions. He then worked with hospitality development companies and travel and tourism companies before joining MISA.

Paul Griffiths

Paul Griffiths CEO Dubai Airports

Paul Griffiths is Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Airports, with the responsibility for the operation and development of Dubai International (DXB) – the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, as well as Dubai World Central (DWC).

Paul joined Dubai Airports as its first CEO in October 2007. Exactly a year later, on 14 October, he orchestrated the flawless launch of Terminal 3 at Dubai International and on 27 June 2010 successfully opened the Emirate’s second airport, Dubai World Central (DWC). He achieved another milestone in Dubai’s aviation history on 2 January 2013 with the similarly flawless opening of Concourse A, the world’s first purpose-built A380 facility and again with Concourse D on February 24, 2016. Paul also oversaw the historic opening of the passenger terminal at DWC on 27 October 2013. On December 20, 2018, Paul joined Dubai Airports’ Chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum in welcoming Dubai International’s billionth passenger.

Prior to moving to Dubai, Paul was Managing Director of London’s Gatwick Airport, the second largest airport in the UK. Before joining airport operator BAA in 2004, he spent 14 years with the Virgin Group, working closely with Sir Richard Branson as a Board Director of the Virgin Travel Group, embracing the commercial activities of both Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Trains.

Partnerships & Tourism Investment

 

The development of the tourism sector in Brazil is a top-priority for the Ministry of Tourism. In that sense, the Ministry has worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Infrastructure to coordinate policies that directly impact the tourism sector, especially those related to credit and infrastructure.

Since 2019, Brazil has had an intensive agenda of reforms that aim at cutting red tape and improving the business environment. For example, the pension reform modernized the social security system in Brazil and the tax reform, which is under discussion in Brazil’s Congress, aims at streamlining the tax system and fostering legal certainty. All these measures comprise a robust agenda of reforms that are much needed to boost Brazilian economy in the coming years.

To advance an important agenda of public private partnerships (PPPs) and concessions for tourism development, we have worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, especially with the Investment Partnership Program (known in Portuguese as PPI).

Brazil is developing a unique portfolio of projects for PPPs and concessions, which includes historic sites, natural parks and public properties with touristic potential. Economic and assessment studies are underway and the PPPs and concessions will be carried out in 2021 and 2022.

The synergy and integration of these initiatives add momentum to a necessary policy shift in Brazil. We are working hard to guarantee a better environment for the industry and to create a prosperous environment for investments in tourism.

Follow us on for the latest news on tourism investment opportunities in Brazil.

For more information on investment opportunities in Brazil, contact our team: [email protected]

Wang Wei (Duma)

Wang Wei (Duma)
CEO and Chairman of Board
Hiseas International Tourism Group

Member of European Travel Commission
Member of European Tourism Association
Member of Europe China OBOR Culture & Tourism Development Committee
Member of UK Inbound
Exectutive Chairman of The European Union Working Committee of the China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation
Education
2019 to present
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology(HKUST)Business School 2015-2019
Master Degree, Peking University Guanghua School of Management 2000-2004
Beijing International Studies University
Work Experience
2015 to present General Manager, Chengdu Weihong Technoloy
2013 to present CEO and Chairman, Hiseas Group
2008 – 2017 Deputy General Manager, Hiseas Sino-Europe Consultancy (Beijing)
Language
Chinese mother tongue, he speaks also English and Russian

Daniela Wagner

ITIC Speaker
Daniela Wagner
Director, International Partnership
Jacobs Media Group

With an international remit, Daniela leads the overseas operation, bringing together travel professionals across the globe.

Daniela heads up strategic international business development for Travel Weekly Group and is responsible for creating new international events in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as bringing new clients into the UK market through existing Travel Weekly channels.

She has a demonstrable track record of outstanding achievement within the travel industry and has had great success growing businesses due to her commercial creativity. She has applied her entrepreneurial and interpersonal skills very effectively in large corporate and start-up environments. Fluent in both German and French, she has an extensive network of top-level industry contacts around the globe.

Daniela is also responsible for co-ordinating European PATA chapters, recruiting and retaining members, co-ordinating key events (including the PATA Advocacy dinner) and securing sponsorship.

Lord Rami Ranger

Lord Rami Ranger
President Entrepreneurship,
Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Club

Raminder Singh Ranger, Baron Ranger, CBE (born July 1947) is a British businessman, and the founder of Sun Mark, an international marketing and distribution company. He is also chairman and managing director of Sea Air and Land Forwarding Ltd. He was nominated for a life peerage and a seat in the House of Lords in Theresa May’s resignation honours. He was created Baron Ranger, of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, on 11 October 2019.

Ranger was born in July 1947 in Gujranwala (in undivided India). He has seven brothers and a sisters. Since the family had migrated to Patiala in the Punjab state of India during India’s partition, Ranger was given admission to the Modern School in Patiala. After the completion of his school education, he went to Mohindra College, and then obtained a BA degree from the Govt. College Chandigarh. Ranger ceased his studies after reaching the UK where he had gone to study Bar at Law in May 1971.

In 1987 he founded shipping company Sea, Air & Land Forwarding and in 1995 founded Sun Mark, which exports British supermarket products to over 100 countries worldwide. Sea, Air & Land Forwarding received The Queen’s Award for Export in 1999, and Sun Mark won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Ranger was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to business and the Asian community and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to business and community cohesion.

Ranger was appointed the joint chairman of the Conservative Friends of India in 2018, with Zac Goldsmith MP, a group affiliated to the Conservative Party which aims to build stronger links between the Party, the British Indian community and India.

Ian Liddell-Grainger

Ian Liddell-Grainger
MP UK & Chair
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association – UK

I was born in Scotland on February 23rd 1959 and christened Ian Richard and (of all things) Peregrine – in honour of the falcons that swooped and hunted near my childhood home. My parents sent me to Millfield School in Somerset, From there it was straight to work – first in farming (I learned to run a 250-acre arable farm), then in building and property.

I joined the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Major and became a consultant to Army Land Command HQ in Salisbury and to the MoD in London. I’m still on the reserve list. I keep in regular contact with my regiment and I have visited Iraq and Afghanistan several times with British forces.

My taste for politics began when I tried (and failed) to win a seat in the European Parliament in the North East of England. My chances of winning were slight, but I quickly realised that meeting people and trying to find answers to their problems was my real vocation.

I first ran for the Westminster Parliament in Torridge and West Devon (and losing is good for the soul). The Conservative party picked me as their candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset within just a few months of the 2001 general election. I was treading warily in the footsteps of Tom King (now Lord King) who represented Bridgwater for 31 years and served in Government – latterly as Secretary of State for Defence – a hard act to follow.

I know the area well . I love it and I live in it (a few miles outside Williton) These days you’ll catch me at Westminster during the week where I chair and participate in a wide range of committees.

I fervently believe that Parliament is there to help people. The best way I can assist my constituents is by getting stuck into the whole Parliamentary process and making it work for all our benefit. This extends far beyond debates in the Chamber and the right to ask questions. I think I can best serve my constituents by helping to develop new ideas which extend the political debate. That is why I have taken the trouble to form several important Parliamentary Groups to examine issues from an all-party perspective and help to highlight your concerns.

  • All-Party Taxation Group, which examines the way revenues are levied and conducts detailed research into ways of making taxes more efficient and fair.
  • All-Party Pharmaceutical Group, which keeps tabs on the development of new medical drugs. Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies, a body that tracks developments in this vital field.
  • All-Party Nuclear Energy Group, which recognises the importance of Bridgwater as a hub for the new nuclear energy programme.
  • All Party Group for Dyslexia and Special Learning Difficulties – a subject in which I maintain a keen personal interest.

In addition to these influential bodies I have joined around a dozen other specialist subject groups in order to increase my knowledge and be of better service to people in Bridgwater and West Somerset. For example I chair the All-Party Cider Group which helps promote one of Somerset’s best-known industries.

My committee work now occupies a great deal of time at Westminster. It is fascinating and immensely useful, but I still find opportunities to ask searching questions of Ministers about matters closer to home. I also make time to campaign on behalf of everyone who seeks the intervention of a friendly but forceful local MP.

Dale Keller, DipM ACIM

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
Dale Keller, DipM ACIM
Chief Executive
BAR UK

Dale Keller was appointed in November 2012 as chief executive of The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), the airline trade organisation representing the interests of the majority of international network airlines operating to the UK. His role is to present a vital international perspective of the airline industry at a local UK level through close engagement with government ministers, departments and industry stakeholders.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the aviation, travel and tourism industries, the New Zealand born professional commenced his aviation career in the start-up team at Ansett New Zealand, prior to relocating to the United Kingdom in 1990.

His travel retail management experience in the UK with Anglo Pacific Travel and London Flight Centre’s was followed by a return to airline management roles in 1993 with China Airlines (CAL Taiwan), where he was sales & marketing manager UK for five years. Then eight years with Air Malta, where as general manager he was instrumental in the airline’s commercial preparations for Malta’s accession to the EU instrumental and in growing the UK and Ireland flight schedule to a record 55 services per week. He then joined Air Mauritius as regional manager UK where he successfully delivered upon a brief to increase the airline’s schedule to a daily operation.

A strong interest in marketing and public relations, including a diploma in marketing from the London College of Communication, saw him join a management buyout of aviation, travel and tourism specialist consultancy KTA Public Relations in 2007, where he was managing director until October 2012.

He remains intensely passionate about aviation at every level and is an avid supporter of the significant benefits of a strong and sustainable aviation sector to the UK.

Kee Chong LI KWONG WING, G.O.S.K. ( K.C. LI)

Kee Chong LI KWONG WING, G.O.S.K. ( K.C. LI)
Independent Director
AFREXIM Bank

Mr. K.C Li, Economist, is currently Chairman of Union Pay International Africa Regional Council and sits on the Boards of various international financial institutions as Independent Director.

He is holder of a B.Sc.(Econ) from the London School of Economics and LLM in International Tax Law. He started his professional career in 1974 as a Lecturer in Public Finance at the University of Mauritius.

Afterwards, he held different prominent positions in the Mauritius public sector, including Advisor to the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Stock Exchange Commission. He launched the first Unit Trust and the first Property Fund in Mauritius in 1989.

K.C. LI was Board member of the State Trading Corporation, the National Remuneration Board and the National Economic and Social Council. He also sat on the Council of the University of Mauritius and the Financial Services Consultative Council.

K.C. LI was an external lecturer for the University of Surrey School of Management (UK) and has published numerous reports and articles on cooperative banking, project management, development finance, structural adjustment and fiscal planning issues.

In 1992, Mr. Li started his own private consulting firm and served as Consultant to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

In 1993, he founded the Mauritius International Trust Co. Ltd (MITCO), one of the first professional firms licensed to provide international tax and investment advisory services in Mauritius.

He was also a Member of the Parliament of Mauritius (2010-2014) and sat on the Public Accounts Committee.

In 2015, Mr K.C Li was awarded the national honour of ‘Grand Officer of the Star and Key’ (GOSK) of the Indian Ocean by the Republic of Mauritius for distinguished services in the economic, social and political fields.

In May 2018, he was granted the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award by the Banker Africa for his outstanding contribution to the financial sector in Mauritius and in Africa.

He sits on the Board of Directors of several Emerging Markets Funds and Asia Hedge Funds, including Private Equity, Infrastructure and Real Estate Funds in Africa & Asia.

He is currently a Board Director of Afreximbank (based in Cairo).

He was until March 2020, the independent non-executive Chairman of SBM Holdings Ltd (SBM Group), the 2nd largest banking group in Mauritius and a public listed company, while being also Chairman of SBM Bank (Kenya) Limited, Banque SBM Madagascar SA and SBM Bank Seychelles.

In this capacity, in 2017, he pioneered the partnership between SBM and Alipay, the leader of digital financial services and lifestyle platform of the giant e-Commerce Group Alibaba, thus making of SBM, the first banking group to offer Alipay services in Africa.

He was awarded the Magnolia Award by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government in 2014.

In September 2018, in the context of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Beijing, the Inter-Bank Association between China and African Countries, a consortium of major African banks and China Development Bank, was launched, of which Mr KC Li is a Founder Council Member.

He is also the Chairman of the UnionPay Africa Regional Council since June 2019 and member of the Kisumu Economic and Social Council in Kenya since January 2020.

Filipe Silva

Filipe Silva
Board Member
Visit Portugal

Past experience

  • Director at VisitPortugal (Benelux office)
  • Director at VisitPortugal (UK office)
  • Market Research and Development at VisitPortugal
  • Project analysis at Portugal Trade and Investment Office – Senior auditor at KPMG Peat Marwick