1. 100100100
GULF - ITALY
INTERNATIONAL
The names that count for doing
business in Dubai, Abu Dhabi,
Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, as well
as all the job opportunities
100100100POWER
January 2015
SecondEdition
MFGulf-Italy,thespecialsofMF-MilanoFinanza–SupplementofMF-MilanoFinanzaRegisteredfordeliverybypostart.1p.1L.46/04,DCBMilan

2. 3 5
January 2015
6
COVER STORY
The big names in the
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
1 MOHAMED BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN,
head of the army, of the executive power,
as well as of the main companies in
Abu Dhabi, 2 MOHAMMED BIN RASHID
AL MAKTOUM, Vice president of the
UAE, ruler of Dubai, and head of Dubai
Holding, which controls the emirate’s
main activities, 3 HAMDAN BIN ZAYED
AL NAHYAN, President of the Red
Crescent and governor of Emirates West,
4 MANSOUR BEN ZAYED AL NAHYAM,
Deputy prime minister of the UAE and
President of IPIC, International Petroleum
Investment, 5 HAMDAN BIN MOHAMMED
AL MAKTOUM, Crown prince of Dubai, the
youngest son of the current ruler is in line
to succeed him, 6 AHMED BIN SAEED
AL MAKTOUM, President of Emirates,
the flagship company, he is the ruler’s
cousin, 7 LUBNA AL RASIMI, Minister for
Foreign Trade, the first woman to hold a
government position in the Emirates, 8
SAIF BIN MARKHAN AL KITBY, general
director of the Dubai Crown Prince’s office,
9 JUMÀ AL MAJED, President of the
Dubai Economic Council and passionate
bibliophile, one of the Emirate’s true wise
men, 10 RASHID AL HABTOOR, head of
one of the powerful families in Dubai, 11
SULTAN BIN SAEED AL MANSOURI, UAE
Minister for the Economy, based in Dubai,
12 KHALDOON KHALIFA AL MUBARAK,
CEO of Mubadala, one of Abu Dhabi’s
sovereign wealth funds, which owns
Piaggio Aero, 13 NASER AL BUDOOR,
director of the UAE Health’s Minister Office,
14 HUSSAIN JASSIM AL NOWAIS,
President of Senaat, has contributed in
planning for the non-oil future in UAE,
15 ABDULLAH AL FUTTAIM, CEO of
the Al-Futtaim Group, one 1 bn dollars
invested in real estate (Dubai Festival
City), 16 NASSER KHALIFA AL SOWAIDI,
President of the Abu Dhabi National Bank
and of Etihad Railways, 17 KHALED AL
TAYER, one of the Gulf’s largest retailers,
18 MOHAMED AL ABBAR, President of
Emaar Properties, Dubai’s king of real
estate, 19 HELAL SAEED ALMARRI,
CEO of the Dubai World Trade Center, 20
ABDALLAH RAWEH, surgeon, active in
the bilateral relations between Italy and
the UAE.
SAUDI ARABIA
21 FAHAD AL ATEL, President of FAL
Holdings, one of the Kingdom’s most
significant conglomerates, 22 KHALID
ABDULLAH AL FALIH, President and
CEO of Saudi Aramco, the largest oil
company in the world, 23 MOHAMMED
BIN ISSA AL JABER, founder and CEO
of MBI International, which has 9 billion
dollars’ worth of assets, 24 KHALID
A. AL ZAMIL, CEO of the Zamil group,
involved in petrochemicals, construction
and steel, 25 FAHD AL RASHEED, CEO
of King Abdullah Economic City, the
largest property development project in the
world, 26 BAKR BIN LADIN, President
of the Saudi Binladin Group, a powerful
industrial holding company linked to the
royal family, 27 BIN TALAL AL WALEED,
the richest and most well-known Saudi
Power 100

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January 2015
COVER STORY
7
Gulf’s business world…
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
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prince, he is the CEO of the Kingdom
Holding Company, 28 AMER ABDULLAH
ALIREZA, head of one of the top five
companies in industry and services, 29
LUBNA OLAYAN, founder of the Olayan
Financing Company, a unique example
in Saudi Arabia, 30 FAHD ALMUBARAK,
Director of Sama, the central Saudi Bank,
the real finance minister.
BAHRAIN
31 DAIJ BIN SALMAN BIN DAIJ AL
KHALIFA, President of Aluminium
Bahrain BSC, the largest company in
the Kingdom, 32 MAHMOOD HASHIM
AL KOOHEJI, CEO of the sovereign
wealth fund Mumtalakato, 33 ADNAN
AHMAD YOUSIF, President and CEO of
the Albaraka Banking Group, a leading
personality in the Gulf’s world.
KUWAIT
34 MOHAMMED ALSHAYA, CEO of
the Alshaya group, which has 70
brands in its portfolio and operates in
19 countries, 35 BADER AL KHARAFI,
member of the executive committee of
the Kharafi Group, one of the richest
and most diversified companies in the
Gulf, 36 MARWAN AL BOODAI, CEO
of Al Boodai, which has been active for
60 years, in fields from civil aviation to
media, from engineering to logistics,
37 FOUAD AL GHANIM, President of
Al Ghanim industries, an industry and
services conglomerate active in 40
countries, 38 BADER M. AL SAAD, CEO
of the Kuwait Investment Fund.
OMAN
39 OMAN AHMED SUHAIL BAHWAN,
CEO of Bahwan, the largest industrial
group in Oman, 40 RASHAD M. AL
ZUBAIR, his corporation, which is one of
the most significant in the area, is active
in fields ranging from energy to tourism
to real estate, 41 MOHSIN HAIDER
DARWISH, number one importer of
western brands, 42 HRITIK KHIMJI,
CEO of the Khimji group, which has
been active for 144 years in industry,
infrastructure and retail, 43 OMAR
ZAWAWI, President of the Omzest
Group, one of the top five companies, 44
HASSAN AHMED AL NABHANI, CEO of
the Oman Investment Fund, the SWF.
QATAR
45 MOZAH BINT NASSER AL MISNAD,
President of the Qatar Foundation,
she is a true political influence, 46
MOHAMMED BIN SALEH AL SADA,
President of Qatargas and Energy
Minister, 47 AHMAD AL SAYED, CEO
of the Qatar Investment Authority,
the sovereign wealth fund active in
investments in Italy, 48 MOHAMMED
AL EMADI, developer, opening one of
the iconic malls in Qatar, 49 HANADI
BINT NASSER AL THANI, Vice President
of one of the most diversified holding
companies in the area, 50 SAUD
ALMANA, CEO of the Almana Group,
one of the top five companies in Qatar
working in industry and services.
Power 100

4. 8
January 2015
COVER STORY
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
1 CARLO ACAMPORA, President and
CEO of the Jumeirah Grand Hotel, in
Rome, which acts as an important link
with the luxury tourism industry in Dubai,
2 PAOLA AMADEI, Italian ambassador in
Oman, 3 FERDINANDO ANGELETTI, Gulf
representative for Intesa Sanpaolo,
4 ANTONIO ARDIGÒ, Director of Pride,
the joint venture of Pizzarotti and De Eccher
in Saudi Arabia, which is in the running
for some of the most significant public
procurements, 5 GIORGIO ARMANI,
still the most popular fashion designer in
the Gulf, he has links to the owner of the
property company Emaar, 6 FRANCO
AUDRITO, founder of Studio65, he has
acted as a pioneer with significant Italian
projects in Saudi Arabia, 7 MASSIMO
BARNABÒ, CEO of the Permasteelisa
Group, one of the Italian companies most
involved in large construction projects,
8 GIAMPIETRO BENEDETTI, President
of Danieli, one the Gulf’s most popular
steel companies, 9 ENZO BENIGNI,
his company Elettronica supplies radar
and defense systems for ships and
aircrafts, 10 EDOARDO BETTO, lawyer
for DLA Piper in Riyadh and Jeddah, 11
ALESSANDRO BOCCHI MAGNOLI,
founder and President of Foresight
Advisors, one of the most senior advisers
in Kuwait City, 12 MARIO BOFFO, Italian
ambassador in Riyadh, 13 GIUSEPPE
BONO, CEO of Fincantieri, a company
which works in the Gulf in a joint
venture with Etihad Ship Building, 14
GIOVANNI BOZZETTI, a consultant who
boasts a special relationship with the Al
Habtoor Group of Dubai, 15 ROBERTA
CALARESE, head of the legal department
at the DIFC untill November, one of the
most successful careers for an Italian in
Dubai, 16 ALESSANDRO CASTELLANO,
CEO of SACE, the Italian export credit
agency, which has put 1.2 billion dollars
into new projects in the steel, plant design
and construction industries, 17 LUIGI
CIMOLAI, is part of a small group of
industrialists from the north-east of Italy
with special links within the GCC, 18
FABIO CIPRI, General Manager of Jesa
Investments in Riyadh, he is one of the
most dynamic consultants, 19 MASSIMO
D’AIUTO, CEO of Simest, the agency
controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
for the internationalization of SMEs, 20
GUIDO DE SANCTIS, Italian ambassador
in Qatar, a country which is investing in
Italy, 21 PASQUALE DELLAPENNA,
along with local shareholders, founded the
Harwal Group, which is one of the leading
companies in Dubai, 22 DANIELA DI
FRANCIA, an international lawyer, she
works as a legal adviser for small and
medium sized enterprises, 23 GIOVANNI
FAVILLI, the Italian Consul to Dubai, he
offers support to the Italian community,
which amounts to more than five thousand
residents, 24 FERDINANDO FIORE,
in charge of the ICE (Italian Institute for
Foreign Trade) in Dubai, where he has lived
for a number of years, also maintaining
links with Oman, 25 PIERROBERTO
FOLGIERO, CEO of Maire Tecnimont, the
engineering company
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...and the most influential Italians
Power 100

5. 9
January 2015
COVER STORY
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
26 ROBERTO GRANELLO, has run the
Middle-Eastern branch of Kelmer &
Partners since 1997 in Dubai, where it
operates permanently, 27 MARCELLO
GRASSELLI, an executive working in
luxury fashion retail, has lived and
worked in the Middle East for the last 15
years, 28 LUCIANO JANNELLI, chief
strategist of the Abu Dhabi Commercial
Bank, one of the most significant
banks in the region, 29 MAURIZIO LA
NOCE, CEO of Mubadala Petroleum,
executive director of the energy unit, he
is involved in large projects in the gas
sector, 30 ANTONELLO MARTINEZ,
lawyer in the law firm (Martinez &
Novebaci) which officially represents
the government of Dubai in Milan, 31
MATTEO MARZOTTO, President of the
company Fiera di Vicenza, has secured
an agreement with Dubai in the jewellery
industry, 32 GIORGIO MEDDA, senior
manager of AZ Global Sukuk, the largest
European sukuk investment fund, 33
LUCA MONTEZEMOLO, the former
Chairman of Ferrari and candidate for
the chairmanship of Alitalia, he has
close friendships with members of the Al
Nayhan family, 34 CAIO MUSSOLINI,
the trusted manager of Finmeccanica in
the Middle East, 35 ALBERTO NENCHA,
President of the Italian Business Council
in Abu Dhabi, 36 FABRIZIO NICOLETTI,
Italian ambassador in Kuwait, 37
MICHELE PIGNOTTI, head of the Africa
and Middle East branch of Euler Hermes,
a prominent corporate credit insurer in
the Gulf, 38 PIETRO PAOLO RAMPINO,
consultant and Vice President of the Arab-
Italian Chamber of Commerce, he is the
representative for commercial and cultural
development in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi
Arabia, 39 LUCIO RISPO, from the Qatar
Foundation Endowment, he played a
leading role in the negotiations regarding
investments in the hospital in Olbia, 40
PIETRO SALINI, CEO of Salini-Impregilo,
the most active Italian general contractor
in the Gulf, 41 ANGELO SANNA, has
had a career in Saudi Arabia, working in
engineering and construction companies,
he is now a ‘super consultant’ in
Riyadh, 42 STEFANO SASSI, CEO of
Valentino, now owned by Qatar, 43
FABIO SCACCIAVILLANI, a member
of the investment committee of the
Oman Investment Fund, one of the most
influential Italians in the Sultanate, 44
RICCARDO SENSI, a lawyer in the Gianni
Origoni Grippo Cappelli firm in Abu Dhabi,
45 GUIDO M. SOLARI, a lawyer at Roedl
& Partners in Doha, a legal reference
point for Italian companies, 46 GIORGIO
STARACE, ambassador in Abu Dhabi,
the most senior diplomat in the area, 47
MAURIZIO TAMAGNINI, CEO of the Italian
Strategic Fund, which is working in a joint
venture with SWF from Qatar and Kuwait,
48 MATTEO TRIGLIA, CEO of Italferr, a
reference point for investment programs
in transport in the Gulf, 49 ALBERTO
VECCHI, ambassador in Bahrain, 50
UMBERTO VERGINE, CEO of Saipem,
plays a leading role in the oil industry in
Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
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from Muscat to Kuwait City
Power 100

6. 27
January 2015
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
SUCCESS STORIES
“With AMOS (asset manage-
ment operating system)
keeping operating costs on a
ship under control, one can
offset their investment within
a few months”. According to
Nencha, this was a crucial el-
ement of SpecTec’s success.
The company is now aiming
for further development, with
an application which optimises
energy consumption, organis-
ing the fleet’s refuelling where
prices are most advantageous.
Since 60% of the cost of mari-
time management is spent on
fuel, this new application has a
direct effect on one of the larg-
est outgoings. Another string to
SpecTec’s bow is the Saudi mar-
ket. “Saudi Aramco has spent 3
billion dollars on SAP programs,
to which our AMOS software
can connect. This is a poten-
tial area for growth,” Nencha
told us.
SAVINGS WITH AMOST
he success of SpecTec Middle
East in Abu Dhabi was born out
of failure, as Alberto Nencha,
the man who founded the branch,
sportingly admits. “In the Gulf,
more so than elsewhere, a negative
experience is necessary to get a good
company going”, the current President
of the Italian Business Council in
the Emirates’ capital explained. In
2009 Nencha had tried to start up a
company producing pleasure boats,
able to ensure high quality and pristine
finishing touches, while maintaining a
competitive price. The brand, Emocean
Marine, was not as successful as had
been hoped. In the meantime, Nencha
moved to the Gulf and, in 2011,
accepted the offer of SpecTec in La
Spezia, to give himself to developing
business in the UAE. SpecTec in
La Spezia was the Italian branch of
an American multinational which
produces software for management
of maritime assets and is particularly
involved in the oil and gas industry.
Taking advantage of the large-scale
expansion of the offshore oil industry,
SpecTec’s product easily gained
a foothold. Even in Dubai, where
SPECTEC – SOFTWARE
IT and low costs the way to success
commercial traffic has compensated
for the lack of oil in the immediate
territory, SpecTec managed to do very
well. The real leap forward came in
2012, when the company from La
Spezia was bought by Constellation
Software, a Canadian company founded
by venture capitalist Mark Leonard,
which had been doing extremely
well on the Toronto stock exchange.
Constellation’s main business idea is
to acquire specialist software in the
most diverse industrial sectors and in
the tertiary sector. Their first move
was to propose that SpecTec’s sales
network, with 25 branches worldwide,
enter into a partnership with the
parent company. Each distributor was
offered the opportunity to buy out their
branch, with the guarantee of a lengthy
and exclusive contract giving them
products from the parent company.
“The Emirates are focusing a lot on the
savings that can be made through the
application of IT in key sectors such as
transport, energy, defence, industrial
production and public administration”,
Nencha, who has managed to ensure
a wider use of his software in defence
and general industry, revealed. With
offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,
SpecTec Middle East has
a multi-million euro turnover;
the company is also looking to set up
in Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
In the maritime sector in particular,
SpecTec software almost has a
monopoly, as it is the only platform
which easily integrates management
programmes from SAP, Oracle and
IBM, at a cost of between five and
eight thousand dollars.
Alberto Nencha is also President of the
Italian Business Council in Abu Dhabi.
X FACTOR
T
he company’s flagship is the
Clock Tower in Makkah, a
masterpiece of engineering
and design. Other than being the
largest clock tower in the world, five
times the size of London’s Big Ben,
its design and finishing incorporate
procedures which were studied
ad hoc. MAPEI had to develop
a special adhesive, Kerapoxy,
in order to stick together the
98 million tiles which make
up the mosaic on the face of
the giant clock. They also
had to make a varnish would
resist the intense sunlight in
the desert climate, which the clock is
exposed to all day long, throughout
the year. Furthermore, thanks to their
achievements in Saudi Arabia, the
company run by Giorgio Squinzi had
a special role in putting the finishing
touches to the Armani Hotel, on
the 80th floor of the Burji Khalifa,
the tallest skyscraper in the world.
Completion of this work necessitated
high quality materials and also great
speed of execution, so that areas
treated with the adhesive could be
used within 24 hours. MAPEI’s
business in the Gulf region has
MAPEI – CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
To fight competition from
Switzerland and Germany,
where the two multinational com-
panies most involved in MAPEI’s
target market come from, the
Italians have focused on flexibil-
ity; in other words, the ability to
offer tailor-made solutions to their
customers, as well as follow-up
support. This led to commissions in
some of the most prestigious pro-
jects: Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi;
terminals 1, 2 and 3 at the airport
in Dubai; the Burji Al Arab in Dubai;
and the lavish Emirates Palace in
Abu Dhabi, the height of luxury.
FLEXIBILITY
How to survive the sun in the desert
products to serve large-scale civil
construction, such as roads, tunnels
and underground transport systems.
They are a supplier for the main
contractors, such as Salini-Impregilo.
The company is also looking, in
the immediate future, to enter two
other markets in the area, Oman and
Kuwait, which are both involved in
large public investment programmes.
X FACTOR
grown continuously since 2005, with
double digit percentages, arriving at
a turnover of 100 million euros in
2013. “The margins are pleasing”,
explained Stefano Iannacone, the
company’s General Manager in the
area, who runs operations from the
factory in Dubai. In addition to the
Saudi market and that in the UAE,
MAPEI is aiming to do business
in Qatar, where they have opened
a second production plant, over an
area of around 80,000 square metres,
with 140 employees. In Qatar,
business is mostly focused around
The clock tower
in Makkah, with
the clock face,
in mosaic,
pictured below.
Below: Stefano
Iannacone