Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair (; born 1 July 1954) is an Emirati

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and billionaire businessman who is chairman of

Mashreq The Mashriq (; ), also known as the Arab Mashriq (), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western) region, and located in West Asia and easter ...

and a director of the Abdullah

Al Ghurair Group Al Ghurair Group (), also known as Saif Al Ghurair Group, is a Dubai, United Arab Emirates–based business group founded by the Al Ghurair family. A diverse conglomerate, it has operations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North Ameri ...

. Al Ghurair was speaker of the UAE's

Federal National Council The Federal National Council (FNC) (, ''al-Majlis al-Watani al-Ittihadi'') of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an advisory quasi-parliamentary body in the UAE. The FNC consists of 40 members. Twenty of the members are indirectly elected by the ...

from 2007 to 2011. As of 2022, his net worth was estimated by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' at US$2.6 billion.

Education

Al Ghurair trained as an

industrial engineer Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

and earned a bachelor's degree from

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

. He joined Mashreq in 1977, and worked in various capacities until 1988, and he took over responsibility for the bank's international operations, setting up branches in New York, London, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, India and Pakistan. He was appointed executive director in 1989 and became CEO the following year.

Career

Al Ghurair is currently the chairman of Mashreq, a financial institution in the UAE founded by his uncle, Majed Ahmed Al Ghurair during the Gulf's first oil boom in the 1960s. His family has holdings include real estate, cement, contracting, among others. The food division of his holdings includes the Middle East's second-largest flour mill and Masafi mineral water. Al Ghurair also chairs the Arab Business Angels Network. Al Ghurair was the speaker of the House of the

(FNC) in the United Arab Emirates from 2007 until 2011. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Senate of Poland 04

Al Ghurair was also the CEO of Mashreq since 1990. Mashreq was the first to launch

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...

s (ATMs); debit and credit cards; travellers' cheques; consumer loans;

point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

(POS) terminals in the Middle East. Al Ghurair is also the chairman of Al Ghurair Investments, a diversified group with a core focus on foods, commodities, construction and properties. He previously sat on the board of directors of

Emaar Emaar Properties (or simply Emaar) is an Emirati real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. The two largest shareholders are Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the UAE's sovereign wealth fund Investment Corpor ...

, Visa International, MasterCard,

Dubai International Financial Centre The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a special economic zone in Dubai covering , established in 2004 as a financial hub for companies operating throughout the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) markets. DIFC is regulated ...

, and was co-chairman of the Arab Business Council. He currently serves as Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Philanthropy

Al Ghurair supports many charitable organizations including

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and the UAE Disabled Sports Federation. Al Ghurair was part of the official delegation from the UAE to visit the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

and meet with

Pope Benedict Benedict has been the papal name of fifteen Roman Catholic popes. The name is derived from the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally ...

on 21 October 2008. In 2015, Al Ghurair pledged one-third of his group's assets to the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghurair, Abdul Aziz Speakers of the Federal National Council Emirati chief executives 1954 births Living people Businesspeople from Dubai Emirati billionaires Emirati industrial engineers Emirati businesspeople Emirati philanthropists