Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa yesterday presented the awards to six GCC-based companies at the opening ceremony of the regional business summit: Gulf Excellence Forum (GEF) 2005.

Organised by Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding Co. (BFH) and Kuwait-based Gulf Excellence Consultancy Company, GEF is being held at the Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain, Hotel and Spa.

The Gulf Excellence Awards are a coveted recognition to companies based in the Gulf region, honouring the commitment of the management of these entities to pursue excellence in performance by putting in place cutting-edge and globally benchmark standards to be competitive in their spheres of operation.

This year’s award winners are: Dr Nasser Mohammed Marafi, chief executive officer of Qatar Telecommunication; Shaikh Abdulmalak bin Abdullah Al Khalili, chairman, MuscatBank; Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer, Al Marai Company; Bruce Hall, Alba’s CEO; Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of UAE-based Al Habtoor Group, and Maha Al Ghunaim, deputy chairman, Global Investment House.

Commenting on the Gulf Excellence Awards 2005, BFH chairman Esam Janahi, said: “On behalf of GEF, we thank the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, for his support and patronage of this initiative. The 2005 awards are a way of honouring the pioneering spirit of those companies in the GCC that have shown leadership and enthusiasm in putting in place business-performance standards to be globally competitive.”

Congratulating the award winners, he said: “The GCC business and economy is passing through a phase of paradigm change with sharp focus on growing regional businesses in a globalised economic environment. We are confident that the Gulf Excellence Awards will promote the spirit of pioneering excellence and innovation among the regional business community.

“It is imperative that regional businesses wake up to the need to put in place best practices and corporate-governance standards to be rated as global in outlook,” Janahi said.

“These winners have played a leading role in presenting a modern face of regional businesses to the world and certainly the regional business community can look up to them,” the BFH chairman said.

Winners were selected by a judging committee chaired by Dr Nasser Al Sane after a thorough scrutiny of their performance in enhancing their company’s pursuit of excellence.

The award ceremony also marked the formal opening of GEF which runs until tomorrow. Apart from global business and economic experts who have converged in Manama for the forum, the winners of the Gulf Excellence Awards 2005 will also present working papers on their successful implementation of a competitive business strategy.

The GEF expert sessions start today. Speakers include Prof. John Quelch, senior associate dean of the US-based Harvard Business School; Dr Sa’ad Al Barak, director general, Mobile Telecommunication Company; Hisham Al Razzuqi, CEO, Gulf Investment Corporation; Dr Silver Silverstein, President of US-based Breakthrough Management Group, and Hussein Rifai, CEO, Injazat Technology Fund, UAE.

On the closing day of the forum tomorrow, Prof. Jeremy Cripps, professor of business management, American University of Kuwait; Raed Al Saleh, assistant general manager, assets manager, Kuwait Investment Company; Waleed Khalaf, manager, corporate communications, American Express Middle East, and Dr Thomas Addington, co-founder, Cornerstone International Group of the US, will make their presentations.