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The Red Sea Foundation, a non-profit policy think tank established to enhance trade and development in the Red Sea region, has assembled a Board of Trustees comprising some of the most influential names in global and regional business and policy.
The multi-national Board comprises prominent leaders from many areas of expertise:
• Mr. Abdullah Kamel, President and CEO of Dallah Albaraka Group, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate controlling some 300 companies across business, finance, and media;
• Mr. Diego Aponte, President & CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s second-largest shipping line;
• Mr. Fadi Ghandour, Executive Chairman and General Partner Wamda Capital and the Jordanian founder and Vice-Chairman of UAE-based logistics giant Aramex;
• Dr. Lawrence H. Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Treasury Secretary
• Mr. Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of Kuwait-based retail franchise leader M.H. Alshaya Co;
• Mr. Gassan AlKibsi, Senior Partner and Managing Director of McKinsey & Co. Saudi Arabia
• Mr. Mohammed Dewji, president and CEO of Tanzania’s MeTL Group and one of Africa’s most prominent leaders;
• Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, the world’s largest provider of advertising and marketing services;
• Mr. Fahd Al-Rasheed, GCEO and Managing Director of King Abdullah Economic City, and Chairman of the Red Sea Foundation.
“The overwhelming response to the establishment of the Red Sea Foundation reflects a growing recognition of the role this market can play as a growth engine of the global economy,” said Fahd Al Rasheed, Chairman of the Board of the Red Sea Foundation. “The Founding Board includes individuals who are widely recognized as visionaries in their respective fields. I am delighted that they have agreed to work with the Foundation in achieving its objectives.”
The Red Sea Foundation was announced at the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum on January 21, 2016. It was legally established in Geneva in May the same year. The Foundation’s objective is to champion an enhanced trade facilitation framework within the Red Sea market by raising global awareness of the potential of the region and informing the direction of policy.
The Board of Trustees guides the Foundation’s strategy and advises on its activities. Board members are appointed for a four year term.
According to data from the United Nations, the population of the twenty-eight countries that border the Red Sea or use it as their primary shipping corridor will double from 750 million today to 1.5 billion in 2050. The region includes some of the world’s fastest growing and most rapidly urbanizing economies. The Brookings Institution forecasts that the region’s middle class will increase by 150 percent from 137 million to 343 million in the next 35 years.
Approximately ten percent of global maritime trade passes through the Red Sea economic basin every year, but little of the wealth generated by global trade remains in the region. A 2013 study by the World Economic Forum, “Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Opportunities”, suggests that increasing trade facilitation measures to a level equivalent to 50 percent of global best practice would enhance GDP in the region by as much as 12 percent, increase imports by up to 55.3 percent and exports to 63.1 percent. Applied to the Red Sea market, those data equate to an increase in regional GDP of more than USD200 billion by 2020 and an increase in trade of almost USD400 billion.
“The Red Sea region is one of the fastest emerging markets in the world today. It is also one of the most under-invested,” said Fahd Al Rasheed. “With the support of our global Board of Trustees and our other partners, the Red Sea Foundation will work to actualize the enormous potential of this region to establish the Red Sea as the world’s next emerging market.”

About the Red Sea Foundation

The Red Sea Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan NGO established to support the development of the Red Sea market into a new growth engine for the global economy. The Foundation’s activities seek to increase global awareness of the potential of the Red Sea region; provide independent advice and a country-neutral perspective on issues relating to trade facilitation, performance and global best practice; and provide a platform for engagement between the private sector and the governments of the region to encourage investment.

Media contact:

Steve Bowen
Head of Communications
T: +966 12 510 6774
E: stephen.bowen@redseafoundation.org