Back to work in the 90% economy

Robert is the Director of the Economist Corporate Network based in Dubai and covering the MENA region. Robert works closely with network members to help inform their business strategies through political, economic and operational insight and to connect them with their senior leadership peers.
Robert is a business journalist, editor and publisher with nearly 25 years of experience covering a wide variety of sectors, including hospitality, retail, construction, energy and transport, and a particular interest in human capital management.
He is an accomplished event chairman, moderator and speaker.
Robert completed an MBA at the University of Leicester School of Business in 2012 and holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nottingham.

Alaa Abushawish has over 11 years of experience within human resources with a focus on strategic planning, business partnering, performance & talent management, employee engagement, organizational design and development. She kicked-off her career in Human Resources with talent acquisition covering several industries while working with Michael Page then later with Nestlé and PwC. In 2016, Alaa moved to Nestlé Middle East to become a HR Business Partner leading the development of people strategies for the businesses she managed. In 2018, she moved and is currently working with CPW – a JV between Nestlé and General Mills leading HR for the Asia, Middle East, and Africa region

Hisham Darwish is HR Leader for Middle East and Pakistan for IBM, based in Dubai since 2015. Hisham joined IBM in May 2011 as HR Leader for Egypt, and in August 2013, was HR Leader for North and West Africa before moving to Middle East in 2015. Prior to IBM, Hisham was head of HR at Merck Sharp & Dohme. He has held other positions in a variety of multinational Pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer Abbott and Sanofi Aventis where he started his professional career in Sales and Marketing. Hisham holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ain Shams in Cairo and is a certified IBM Design Thinking and Earning Advocacy Practitioner.

Nuno is a Principal and leads Mercer’s Talent line of business for the MENAT region (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey). Nuno has been based in Dubai since 2008; he transferred from the Mercer Lisbon office where he joined in 2005. In his current role, Nuno leads a team of highly qualified consultants that support organizations throughout the region and across a variety of products and services (data, insights and consulting) that addresses their most complex talent challenges.
Nuno began his career at Deloitte Consulting in the Strategy and Operations service line and later worked for companies in the energy and real estate sectors, including Shell, before joining Mercer.
Nuno holds a BA in Economics from Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (Lisbon). He attended the Leadership and Strategic Change summer course at the New York University in 2005.