Speakers

H.E. Asaad Abdulamir Abdulghafar Al – Idan

Governor of Basra

Federal Government of Iraq

HE Assaad Abdel-Amir Abdel-Ghaffar El-Eidan , Governor Basra, holds a BSC in Electronic Engineering, he held several positions including; Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Bank of Al Bilad, he has an extensive experience in investment, banking and trade, he also worked at the Iraqi Trade Bank as a Director from 2006-2011. He participated in the Shaaban Uprising, he fled to Islamic Republic of Iran, he was then  arrested and sentenced to death and then his sentence was reduced to life in prison. After the fall of the Baathist regime, he worked within the National De-Baathification Commission.

H.E. Cesar Abi Khalil

Minister of Energy & Water Resources

Lebanese Republic

H.E. Cesar Abi Khalil, serves as Minister of Energy and Water, in the Government of Lebanon from December 2016. In parallel to heading the Energy & Water sector, Abi Khalil serves as a member in a number of ministerial committees. Prior to taking on the office of Minister, Abi Khalil served in the role of Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Water as well as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs starting in 2009.  In his role as advisor to the Minister of Energy and Water, Abi Khalil played an instrumental role in setting the strategy as well as legal and operation frameworks for the sector.

Prior to joining public service, Cesar Abi Khalil, led the life of a political activists, joining the Free Patriotic Movement in 1989 and quickly rising through the ranks to his current position. He ran for Parliamentary elections as a representative of the Free Patriotic Movement in 2009. In parallel to his public activism, Abi Khalil’s private industry endeavors included the role of founder and director of Fundamentals S.A.L, a real estate construction company with development projects spanning Lebanon and Iraq.

Abi Khalil holds a masters of civil engineering degree from St Joseph University of Beirut.

H.E. Ali Dawai Lazem

Governor of Maysan

Federal Government of Iraq

Ali Dawai Lazim Al-Fartusi holds a Bachelor Degree in Islamic sciences.  The governor of Maysan held many posts including member of Council of Maysan, head of The Integrity for four years and official at the public company for sugar.

Safa Sabah Mahdi

Director of the Southern Region

Information and Communication Authority, CMC, Federal Government of Iraq

H.E. Thamir Ghadhban

Former Oil Minster & Advisor to Iraq’s PM

Federal Government of Iraq

Mr. Thamir Abbas Al Ghadhban is a former Iraq Oil Minister and currently the Energy adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq.

In recent years, Mr. Al Ghadhban served as a member of the National Assembly in Iraq and was a member of the committee tasked with drafting the new constitution for Iraq. He served as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Prime Minister between 2007-2015.

Mr. Al Ghadhban represented Iraq on the Executive Bureau of OAPEC, led Iraq’s post war delegation to OPEC ministerial meeting in 2004, was awarded OAPEC Scientific Prize in 2000 and is a three time holder of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil scientific award for excellence. His career in Iraq’s oil sector spans over three decades, starting in the field as a petroleum engineer, then at Ministry of Oil headquarters as Director General of Reservoir and Field Development, and later as Director General for Planning before becoming Minister of Oil. He played a leading role in rehabilitating the severely damaged oil industry after the fall of the regime in 2003. Mr. Ghadhban has been a frequent lecturer and keynote speaker in international conferences and seminars on the state of the global oil industry and particularly on the role of Iraq on the global energy.

In May 2016,Mr.Al Ghadhban was awarded the "Order of the Rising Sun, Golden and Silver Star" from the Emperor of Japan for his outstanding contribution in enhancing economic relations and promoting friendship between Iraq and Japan. Mr. Ghadhban was awarded in April 2017 the award of Iraq Energy Forum 2017 for his significant contribution to the development of Iraq's Energy Sector.

MP Dr Jamal Abdul-Zahra Muhammadawi

Member of the Parliament Representing Basra

Federal Parliament of Iraq

Dr Jamal Abdul-Zahra holds a Degree in Medicine, Member of the Iraqi Parliament representing Basra, Member of the Oil and Gas Committee, one of the main leaders of Al Fadhila Group at the Iraqi Parliament.

MP Fatimah Salman Zbare Al-Zerkani

Member of the Oil and Gas Committee

Federal Parliament of Iraq

Mrs Fatima Al-Zerkani is a chief chemist, and member of Iraqi parliament and member of oil, energy and natural resources committee.

She completed her graduation in 1991 and got B.Sc. in chemist from chemistry department, college of science, university of Basra.

She joined South Oil Company in 2000 as chemist, and was working in research and quality control department, and gradated till she got chief chemist degree.

In 2010 she elected as a member in Iraqi parliament, and member of oil, energy and natural resources committee. And in 2014 she was elected again as a member in it.

She edited many researches especially in chemical and radioactive pollution.

She has participated actively in many oil and gas industry events which were held inside and outside of Iraq.

MP Dr Mowaffak al Rubaie

MP & Iraq Former National Security Advisor

Federal Parliament of Iraq

Dr Mowaffak al Rubaie is a neurologist by profession from Britain. He founded and operated several entrepreneurial commercial firms in Britain until 2003 when he became a member of the Governing Council. He served three administrations as NSA (2004-2009 covering military, intelligence & security strategies & policies) until he became a Member of Parliament (2009-2018). He authored five books & hundreds of articles covering human rights, National reconciliation, Federalism, a modern understanding of Islam; and respect for moderation, and rejection of extremism and terrorism. Dr Rubaie was awarded (2009) the Peace Prize of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East in recognition of his efforts for respect for human rights and reconciliation in Iraq. He was awarded the Dr. Jean Mayer Award (2012) at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University Boston, MA. He was EPIIC INSPIRE Fellow at Tufts University Global Leadership 2012 & Senior Statesman in Residence at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts and an INSPIRE Fellow at the Institute for Global Leadership Tufts University (2014).

Mazin Sabeeh Dhahir Al-Mazini

Member of Parliament representing Basra

Federal Parliament of Iraq

Simon Daman Willems

Managing Director

Basrah Gas Company

Simon Daman Willems was appointed Managing Director for Basrah Gas Company (BGC) in June 2014.

With more than 5100 employees spread across 26 different locations and multibillion dollar portfolio, Simon oversees the strategic growth of the largest midstream gas company in Iraq’s history. The company was established by the Iraqi Government in a visionary drive to utilise the country’s associated natural gas currently being flared and turn it into clean energy that can play a vital role in improving the lives of Iraqi people and powering the economy. Simon advocates a safe, reliable and sustainable energy supply to the Iraqi people.

Simon began his career with Shell in 1981 and has worked in many locations including the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, Gabon, the Netherlands and Sultanate of Oman. With more than three decades of worldwide oil and gas industry experience, he has held numerous leadership roles and worked in a various capacities such as technical, commercial, human resources and general management.

In his previous assignment, he was the Managing Director of the Majnoon project in Iraq, one of the world’s largest oil fields.

Originally from the Netherlands, Simon holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and Energy Studies from the University of Wales in the UK, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Simon is also the Dutch Honorary Consul in Basrah.

Wissam Chbat

Chairman of the Board

Lebanese Petroleum Administration

Mr Wissam Edmond Chbat has 20 years experience in the Oil and Gas E&P. Wissam graduated from the American university of Beirut in 1995 (B.E Electrical Engineering) and holds a Masters in Finance from the Ecole Superieure Des affaires- Beirut and ESCP-EAP Europe. He joined Schlumberger oilfield services in 1997 and held various field operations, operations management (Multi-segments) and business development positions with considerable technical experience in challenging operations such as under-balanced wells, HPHT and deep water operations. He worked in Venezuela, Indonesia, West and South Africa, Algeria and India gathering wide international experience before Joining the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water as the upstream advisor to the Minister late 2009. Since 4 December, 2012 he is a board member at the Lebanese Petroleum Administration and head of the Geology and Geophysics department and since the 4th of December, 2016 he assumed an additional role as the chairman of the board of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration.

Ali Shadad Al Fares

Head of the Energy Committee

Basra Council, Federal Government of Iraq

Member of the Basra Council and the head of the Oil & Gas Committee for the elected local council – 2013-2017- Mr Al Fares holds a University degree in law from the University of Basra, and has extensive experience for more than 10 years in strategic planning and projects case studies; with Iraqi international laws; and has extensive experience in dealing with the international companies working in Iraq. He has worked and helped the Basra community with a number of projects, participated in a number of workshops and training programmes both locally and internationality and has participated in a number of local and international conferences.

Ihsan Abduljabbar Ismaael Al – Saade

Director General of the Basra Oil Company

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Mr Ismaael succeeded Mr Ali Khudair AL Saady as the DG of the South Gas Company and brings more than 17 years of experience into the role.

He joined the SOC as Operation and Shift Engineer – Gas compressor station, then became a Technical Member in Commercial and Technical Committee at the SOC , then he became the Director of Coordination Office – for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil for the South Region,  then he became Manager for Technical and Coordination Department at the SGC, then a manger of Green Fields Project Department  at the BGC , then he became the Deputy Director of Project and Engineering Commission at BGC, then became a Member in JMC for Majnoon Field between (2012-2013) then a member in Gas consultant committee/South Region, then he became Basra Gas power and investment Advisor, then a member and Head in Multi Commercial and Technical Committees for the last 10 years , then he became Basra Gas Company Project Manager between ( 2013-2015 ), then he became South Gas Company Director General Assistant (2015-2016 ) then the South Gas Company Director General  as from 2016.

 Ismaael graduated with a Chemical Engineering Degree from Basra University, Iraq and achieved and completed a number of training programmes and researched a number of technical papers at the SGC, speaks both Arabic and English.

Zaid Elyaseri

Country Manager

BP Iraq

Zaid Elyaseri is responsible for managing BP’s business integration in Iraq and is responsible for working with key energy officials in Iraq. BP is the lead contractor for developing Rumaila oil field, Iraq’s largest field. Zaid has held various central and regional finance/commercial roles and was involved in setting up business processes for Rumaila. Prior to working at BP, Zaid worked for KPMG UK and has headed advisory and risk positions in the Middle East. In 2014, Zaid took up the position of BP Iraq Deputy Country Manager and in 2015 was appointed as BP Iraq Country Manager.

Dr Carole Nakhle

Director

Crystol Energy Ltd

Dr Carole Nakhle is the founder and CEO of Crystol Energy, an advisory, research and training firm based in London. An Energy Economist, she specialises in international petroleum contractual arrangements and fiscal regimes; upstream oil and gas regulations; petroleum revenue management and governance; energy policy, security and investment; and world oil and gas market developments.

With a unique breadth of experience, she has worked with oil and gas companies (NOCs and IOCs), governments and policy makers, international organisations, academic institutions and specialized think tanks on a global scale. She is a regular contributor to Geopolitical Intelligence Service on energy matters, a program advisor to the Washington based International Tax and Investment Centre and a Member of the Executive Sessions on the Political Economy of Extractive Industries at Columbia University. She is also involved in the OECD Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development and is active on the Advisory Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). She acts as a Visiting Lecturer at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, The Graduate School of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Saint Joseph University in Beirut and the University of Surrey in the UK. 

Dr Nakhle also founded the not-for-profit organisation ‘Access for Women in Energy’ in 2007, with the aim of supporting the development of women within the energy sector.

She has published two widely acclaimed books: Petroleum Taxation: Sharing the Wealth published in 2008 and re-printed in 2012, and used as primary reference in leading universities and industry training courses; and Out of the Energy Labyrinth (2007), co-authored with Lord David Howell. She is currently working on a new book: Petroleum Fiscal Regimes and Wealth Management.

Dr Nakhle has worked on energy projects in more than 40 countries and has been on exploratory visits to the Arctic and North Sea. She is also fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Aamer Al Mousawi

Chief of Experts, Iraq National Security Advisory

Federal Government of Iraq

Amer Al Moswi holds a Master of Law, General Section, and Constitutional Law from the College of Law at Al-Mustansiriyah University. He also holds a Masters of Strategic Planning from the National Defense College in Iraq as well as a Bachelor of law from the College of Law at Al-Turath College in Baghdad, Iraq.

From 2006 to 2009 Mr Al Moswi was the Chief of Staff and National Security Advisory in Iraq as well as a Member of the committee that wrote the Iraqi National Security Strategy from 2007 to 2014.

From 2010 to present he has been the Chief of Experts and National Security Advisory in Iraq. In February 2015 he became a Member of the Scientific Committee at the AL-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies and National Security Advisory in Iraq.

In July this year Mr Al Mousawi became a Member of the security team responsible for the preparation  and comprehensive reform of the national strategy of the security sector in Iraq and has conducted extensive research papers covering Iraq’s defense plans.

Nafaa Abdulsada Ali Al-Hmidawi

Director General of Training and Development Office

Ministry of Electricity, Federal Government of Iraq

Mr Ali Hmidawi holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering  and attended a number of courses related to power and energy both in Iraq and abroad, the last in 2016 is the United States program (IVLP) entitled “Increasing Energy Efficiency”, he held several posts and these include Director of Rusafa Operation Department, Director of Control and Communications department, Assistant General Manager of Baghdad Distribution, Director General of Baghdad Electricity  Distribution, Director General of Energy  Distribution Office, and for the present time Director General of Training and Development Office.

Mohammed Hashim

Director General of Electricity Distribution

Ministry of Electricity, Federal Government of Iraq

Mohammed Hashim Jaafar Al-Araji gained a B.Sc of Electrical Engineering in 1977; and in 1979 became Assistant Engineer, Directorate of Electricity Distribution Maysan. Between 1979 and 2003 he held several positions – Engineer, Official Implementation of the Projects; Senior Engineer, Technical Officer; Chief Engineer, Deputy Director; Director; and Expert- Director. In 2006 he became Deputy Director, Electricity Distribution in the South; and in 2009, Export-General Directorate of Training and Development – in 2011 he was promoted to Director of Experts. Some of Mr Al-Araji’s outstanding achievements include the design and implementation of the lines of modern lighting, electrical networks and the implementation of the lighting within the campaigns of modern reconstruction of Basra, FAO, Uzayr and Ali-alsharqi cities.

Salah Mahdi Abdulah

Director General's Assistant for Administration

Basra Oil Company, Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Salah Mahdi holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Basra, a BA in English Literature from the University of Basra and a High Diploma in the Economics of Energy Sciences. He has more than 3O years of experience as a Civil Official in the SOC. He is a member of: the Iraqi Engineers’ Union, the Iraqi Translations Association, and the Iraqi Economists Society. Mr Hasani is a Judical Expert authorized by Federal Basra Court. He is the former Chairman of JMC of Exploratory Block 10, former Chairman of JMC (Alternate) of Western Qurna 1 Oilfield and former Chairman of JMC of Rumaila Oilfield.

Naser Muhsin Muhan

Head of Licensing & Contracts

Basra Oil Company, Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Naser is Mechanic Engineer graduated in 1981 from Basra University.  He has been working on upstream sector since 1985. Most of Naser’s career is in drilling but he also worked in operations. He was a manager of Iraqi Drilling co. South branch from 2003 to 2008. Ha has experience in operating and maintenance of various types of rigs. Currently he holds a position of Head of Licensing Contracts in Basra Oil Company. 

Captain Adnan Mohsin Badr Al Waheed

Deputy Director General for Iraq Terminals

Ministry of Transportation, Federal Government of Iraq

Munther Nima Hashem

Advisor for Energy

Governorate of Basra, Federal Government of Iraq

Munther Nima Hashem, current Governorate of Basra Energy Advisor, holds a BSC in Electrical engineering from the University of Basra, and has held various posts and responsibilities, including responsibility for the execution of a number of construction and infrastructure projects as well as for nearly 300 projects in electricity transmission and distribution.

Raed Hanna

CEO

Maward Al Basra Group

Raed was born to a business family with ancient roots in Basra. The family however left Basra for the UK in the late 1970’s to exploit multinational business and economic opportunities. Under the stewardship of Raed, the family business has expanded and grown significantly.
Raed obtained his BSc and MSc degree from City University in London. He expanded the family business activities in Basra during 2003. Raed has established a very successful business portfolio with multinational companies such as RSK, Cegelec (part of Vinci Group), Alstom, DYNASAFE BACTEC and others. Among services afforded are local support, contacts in all aspects, logistics, representation, procurement, banking expertise including payroll, lending and other related functions.

Ali H. Khudhier Al-Saady

Former DG

South Gas Company, Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Chairman of the Joint management committee meeting, with over 37 years of extensive experience in oil and gas industry, responsible for approving the BGC annual production plans and signing for approval on Tenders/ purchase orders $ 5 m, nominating the BGC Deputy Manager and the O&M Committee Managers from SGC share. As the Director General of the South Gas Company – Ministry of Oil Presenting the Ministry of Oil at international meetings, approving the company annual plan for OLM and directing the SGC production activities.

Major achievements included the re starting the KAZ LPG / NGL  plant after 5 years shutdown , increase LPG production daily rate from 900 to 2600 ton / day. Refurbishment and starting the dry gas compressor at KAZ after 27 years shutdown, this compressor added 100 ton / day of LPG and 65 MMSCF/D of dry gas to the network, establishing Basra Gas Co. with Shell and Mitsubishi and west Qurna Oil Fields, recruiting more than 2000 Iraqi nationals, put the plans for the gas utilization project and minimizing new NGL plant in N. Rumail Artawi field.

David I. Taylor

Director

RSK

Mr Taylor has a master’s degree in marine geology and over 40 years’ experience in engineering and environmental geology and geophysics for marine and land-based projects. Mr Taylor is responsible for business development in RSK’s global division, with specific focus on the Middle East, Africa and former Soviet Union. His particular experience in Iraq includes project managing environmental and social baseline and impact assessment studies as well as the operations of a sustainable waste management centre in the Rumaila oilfield. In addition, he project manages health, safety and environmental due diligence projects for a range of clients including oil majors.

Olga Labai

Director

Oil and Gas Consultants

Olga Labai is practicing lawyer, speaker and trainer. Olga has fifteen years of professional experience in providing legal advice within upstream oil and gas sector - mix of both contentious and non-contentious experience acting for Sakhalin Energy, operator of major "Sakhalin-2" project in Russia and Weatherford in the Middle East, solid upstream contractor, where she covered all legal issues for Iraq operations. Olga’s current clients include procurement teams of major upstream operators and various contractors. 

For the last three years Olga provides consultancy and training services across multiple sectors.

Olga is a renowned speaker at numerous conferences and business workshops, with a passion for promoting awareness to procurement and contracts.

Olga is a Direct Associate of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

Elena Kornienko

Senior Procurement Consultant

Oil and Gas Consultants

Elena Kornienko has eighteen years of professional experience in Contracts and Procurement area in various roles in major international oil and gas projects. Having worked for Operators, Contractors and Consulting companies, Elena developed the unique skill set for handling both operational and strategic matters.

Whilst working on various international assignments, Elena developed significant practical experience in all matters of Contracting and Procurement – from demand identification, tendering, contract award and administration up to close out and support in dispute resolution.  

Elena is a fluent English and Russian speaker, graduate of the Moscow State University of Commerce, holding a degree in Economics. She also graduated with distinction from School of Business Administration at Portland State University and holds diploma of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

Mohammed Shawkat Jasim

Head of Technical Affairs Department/Energy Distribution Office

Ministry of Electricity, Federal Government of Iraq

Chief Engineer, Ministry of Electricity (MoE) / Iraq

Mohammed Shawkat Jasim gained a B.Sc of Electrical Engineering in 1999 and has 15 Years Electricity Industry Experience. In 2002 he became an Assistant Engineer at Baghdad State Company for Electricity Distribution. Between 2003 and 2006, he worked at the National Dispatch Control Center (NDCC) in the department of operation. From 2006 until now, he joined the Energy Distribution Office at MoE headquarters. During this period, he involve in several duties such as:

• Joining all the operational activities that related to the distribution sector in Iraq (2006 – 2015).
• A member and coordinator of the PMT for the distribution projects, which financed from JICA ODA loans (2009 – now).
• A member of the committee that accomplished the updated technical specifications of the Distribution substations, which work together with TEPSCO (Tokyo Electric Power Services Company).
• A team member, which work together with PB (Parsons &Brinkerhoff) at 2009 to accomplish the Central plan for MoE for the years (2010 – 2030).
• A member of the ongoing committee, which is responsible of the studying and updating the technical specification of the distribution sector network equipment (2009 – now).
• Preparation and introducing the current tariff structure which adopted from January 2016.
• A member of the PMT for the new ODA loan which financed from JICA (IQ-P24), the scope is building 6x132 kV SS + supply of 46 mobile SS.
• Awarded the High Diploma Degree from the University of Technology (UoT) in Baghdad in the power systems protection in December 2016.

Laury Haytayan

Acting MENA Manager

Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)

Laury Haytayan is the Acting MENA Manager at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), an international organization that aims to promote effective management of resources.  For 5 more than five years, Ms. Haytayan led the MENA parliamentary and media development programs at NRGI and played a fundamental role in the launch of the "MENA Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub," based in Beirut. Prior to joining NRGI, she was the Executive Director of the "Arab Parliamentarians Against Corruption", where she worked closely with parliamentarians from the Arab region to develop strategies and action plans to strengthen the oversight and legislative capacity of parliamentarians to curb corruption. For the past twelve years, Ms. Haytayan worked with various stakeholders promoting a culture of accountability, transparency, and rule of law in public institutions in the Middle East.

In 2014, the Arab Women's Council granted her an award for her active role in the field of social responsibility and accountability.

In 2015, the Lebanese Green Party granted her an award for her efforts in strengthening the role of the Lebanese women in politics.

In 2016, the Tunisian Association of Parliamentary Advisors granted her an award for her support to the Tunisian parliament in natural resource governance. 

Ricardo Khoury

Advisor

ELARD Group

Ricardo Khoury is an environmental Engineer with nearly 20 years of experience who has worked for more than 12 years delivering environmental and HSE services to the oil and gas sector. As the Managing Partner and Head of the environmental division at ELARD consultancy group, he regularly provides environmental/HSE advice and

consultancy services to governments, international oil companies, national oil companies, and FEED and EPC contractors. Some of his clients include the Ministry of Economy in Montenegro, Ministry of Oil in Iraq, the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, ADNOC in Abu Dhabi, Qatargas, Saudi Aramco, Technip Italy,

Samsung Engineering and Foster Wheeler UK. Ricardo Khoury has worked with 20 countries on three continents and has in-depth knowledge of environmental requirements at all stages of the oil and gas development cycle with significant experience in upstream, midstream and downstream phases of oil and gas E&P.

Ahmed Tabaqchali

CIO

Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) Iraq Fund

Ahmed Tabaqchali, Chief Investment Officer of the AFC Iraq Fund: is an experienced Capital Markets professional with over 25 years experiences in US and MENA markets.  Currently a board member of the Credit Bank of Iraq. He is a former Executive Director of NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Bank of Kuwait as head of Brokerage.

Prior to these roles Ahmed was Managing Director and Head of International Institutional Sales at WR Hambrecht + Co. based in London, New York and San Francisco. This followed on from roles as a Managing Director at KeyBanc in London and before that Director & Head of Capital Markets & Institutional Sales at Jefferies International in London. He started his career at Dean Witter International in London.

Ahmed has an M. Sc. in Mathematics from Oxford University in the UK, a B.Sc. (Hons, 1st class) in Mathematics from Victoria University in New Zealand and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Canterbury University in New Zealand. Ahmed is an Iraqi & a British national.

Andy Edwards

Vice President for Strategic Clients

GardaWorld

Andy Edwards is Vice President, Strategic Clients for GardaWorld International Protective Services. In this role he focuses on development and relationship management for key clients in the oil and gas sector. Before joining GardaWorld, Andy was the Global Operations Director for Peak Group Incorporated and presided over the company’s operations until 2008, when he completed the purchase of Peak. Shortly after completing the purchase, he changed the name of the company to Consilium Risk Strategies (CRS). GardaWorld acquired CRS in August 2012 and he was retained as Managing Director Iraq. After leaving the British Special Forces in 2001, Andy worked as a security consultant to a number of blue-chip companies, news networks and international development agencies around the world, including the World Bank Group, USAID, CBS news and the BBC. In 2003, he was appointed as Security Director for Orascom Telecom Iraq (Iraqna) and in this capacity managed the security operations for the rollout of the country’s first GSM mobile phone network. During his time with Orascom, Andy and his team recruited, trained and managed a workforce of over 2,000 security personnel.

Johnson Jiang

President

Jereh Group

Johnson Jiang (Jiang Zheng), who majored in MBA/EMBA of Peking University, has worked as the general manager in EPC projects for nearly ten years. He is very experienced in EPC projects management and used to work in Lybia, Saudi Arabia and other middle Eastern countries for several years.

Now he holds the position of the president of Jereh Group and is in charge of Jereh’s business development in the middle Estern area.

Simon Barry

Managing Director

Al Murabit Security Services

Simon Barry came to Iraq to establish the Op Matrix US Reconstruction oversight contract in 2004; at that time the largest security contract in history. In 2005 he ran the Iraq Referendum and Elections security and logistic oversight project for the UN. Since then, as well as in Iraq, he has worked extensively in Africa for blue chip companies like Rio Tinto, De Beers, and also Far East. He holds an MSc in Risk Management. 32 years in the British Army’s Parachute Regiment was concluded by a post in the MoD Air Operations Branch managing air support to Airborne and Special Forces, after having been Regimental Colonel. Previous service includes several operational theatres, 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade as Chief of Staff and formation of the Pathfinders.

Alessandro Bacci

Independent Energy Consultant

Independent Petroleum Consultant

Alessandro Bacci is an independent energy consultant in relation to business strategy and corporate diplomacy (policy, government, and public affairs). A good part of his activity is linked to the MENA region, an area where he lived for four years. Alessandro is now based in London, U.K. (www.alessandrobacci.com). At the same time, he is a member of the Italy-Kuwait Association, a governmental institution between Italy and Kuwait. Before becoming an independent energy consultant, Alessandro worked for an Italian information and communications technology consultancy where he carried out analyses of the regulatory landscape of the telecommunications markets in Europe and in the Middle East. Alessandro, a multilingual professional, holds a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws from the University of Florence (Italy), a Master in Public Affairs from Sciences Po (France), and a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore).