The Fund advisory board consists of representatives of the GCC and MENA business community. They have been selected because of their skills, experience, industry knowledge, strong relationships with local participants, understanding of Arab culture, historical success in doing business in the region and their specific focus on the these markets.
John S. Samuels, 3rd
Mr. Samuels is a founder and chief executive officer of Translux and a resident of Dubai. He has been living and operating businesses in the Middle East for more than twenty years. He was President of United Energy Inc., a company organized under the laws of Bahrain, during which time United Energy had a contract with Caltex for the processing of pitch oil in ponds adjoining the BAPCO refinery which United, in association with FAL Oil of Sharjah, UAE, utilized in the bunker markets of the Arabian Gulf. In addition, Mr. Samuels was instrumental in the development of the Sohar Aluminum Smelter project in Oman.
Mr. Samuels practiced law in New York with Chadbourne & Parke and served as General Counsel to The Commodity Fund, a fund organized by Hayden, Stone, Inc. to trade in copper, platinum, sugar, food oils and cocoa. Mr. Samuels has a BA and an MS in Economics from Texas A&M University and a LL.D. from Harvard University.
Ron Ciccone
Mr. Ciccone was managing director for Turner Broadcasting/Middle East and is a director of Translux. At Turner Broadcasting he was responsible for the development and distribution of CNN and TBS Television. He was instrumental in launching CNN Turk, the joint venture Turkish channel that is enjoying historic success in Turkey and Central Asia. He created the CNN Arabic Website at Dubai Media City.
A dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom, Mr. Ciccone has lived and travelled extensively in the Middle East.
Ahmed Abdullah Al Amash
Mr. Amash is managing director of Gulf Cement Company in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Gulf Cement is one of the leading regional cement exporters in the Gulf region, currently exporting to eleven countries. Mr. Amash is also CEO of RAK Energy, a company in Ras Al Khaimah devoted to the development of power sources for use in the Emirate. In 2007, Mr. Amash was named by Arabian Business magazine one of the GCC’s top 100 executives.
Sheik Ibrahim Mohawish
Sheik Mohawish is a prominent land owner and developer headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq. Along with Translux, Mr. Mohawish has been offered the opportunity to be a prime developer of the Baghdad area which involves the construction of a community of 1.5 million people including schools, hospitals, roads and sewerage.
Salman Al Ashoor
Mr. Ashoor is the manager and owner of Barakatal Ashoor Shipping Co. LLC, Sharjah, UAE and Basra, Iraq. Barakatal secured the rights to develop 17 hectares of land at the Basra Port area as an Industrial Free Zone including the construction of a power plant to service the zone.