Creating New Opportunities for the Chemicals industry in the Middle East & the UAE

Cem Kurkcuoglu, is currently holding the position of Commercial Manager – Industrial Zones at KIZAD with focus on the development of the Chemical & Pharmaceutical Cluster. He started his career in Management Consultancy advising companies across various projects and industries. He later on moved to the Middle East and to the Chemical Industry where he spent more than 12 years at BASF, the world’s leading Chemical Company. He held various roles, with leadership, global and regional responsibility, including Business & Market Development, Strategy and Sales & Marketing. He holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Cologne in Germany.

Mr. Edwin Lammers, Vice President Commercial and Business Development at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi.

Coming from the Port and Industrial Zone in Sohar, Mr. Lammers joins Abu Dhabi Ports with over 20 years of experience in Logistics, Commercial and Operational Management, Maritime Logistics, Port and Free Zone Development across the GCC and Europe.

In 2016 he served as Corporate Development Manager at Florencis Group, a holding company for a group of logistics companies. In this role he was responsible for business strategy, developing reporting schemes and increasing customer service experience. In early 2016 he was also the Managing Director and Board Member at Progeco Holland, a company specialised in the running of containers and storage facilities throughout Europe, including Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bordeaux and Marseilles.

From 2015-2016 he was Director of Breakbulk at the Port of Rotterdam. In this role he was responsible for the development of the breakbulk segment, improving the handling infrastructure, attracting new cargo flows, re-routing cargo flows from competing ports, facilitating the growth of heavy lift/project cargo handling in Rotterdam.

From 2009-2015 he was the Executive Commercial Manager at Sohar Industrial Port Company, a deep-sea port and adjacent free zone in the Middle East. There he was responsible for the development of a port (both on the land as well on the marine side) and free zone in Sohar, Oman. Prior to this he was General Manager at Waalhaven Terminal BV, a terminal in the port of Rotterdam. In this role he was commercially and operationally responsible for the cost-efficient handling, storage and repair of containers for the customer base of international shipping lines.

Mr. Kasper Castricum is of Dutch origin and has lived in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) for the last 9 years. He holds a B.Sc. in nautical engineering (master mariner), an MBA in global management, and a (pending) PhD in strategic management and is strong in lean (master BB) management and entrepreneurial organizations. Mr. Castricum has been on several Dutch industrial advisory boards such as VOW (liquid and gasses ship-handlers association) and VOTOP (independent terminal association) to provide guidance and reviews for liquid (hydrocarbons, chemicals and vegetable oils) and gasses handling as per ISGINTT or ISGOTT or other international standards.

Mr. Castricum has over 22 years of experience in several roles in the oil and gas industry, mainly the chemical sector. His employment record includes Vopak, NuStar, and Odfjell. He has sailed on chemical tankers as chief officer, and since 2006 ashore in various senior management positions at port industrial facilities such as tan -terminals and biodiesel refineries. Currently Mr. Castricum is GM for Arabian Chemical terminals greenfield tank terminal in Khalifa Port Abu Dhabi and for logistics company ICL in KSA under the same Alireza Investment Group.

Mona Ahmed Balalaa is an ICV Execution Manager in the Commercial Directorate, ADNOC. In her role, Balalaa is responsible for the smooth implementation and monitoring of the company’s In-Country Value (ICV) program in the entire Procurement Function process of ADNOC Group of companies. She has more than 12 years of experience in ADNOC, starting her career in the Procurement Division of ADNOC Drilling in 2008. Balalaa graduated with a Bachelor of Business, specializing in Business and Information Technology, from Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE. She also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Zayed University, UAE and CIPS certified as well.

Mr. Udit Arora is Head of Committees Affairs and of Responsible Care® (A) at the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA), where he is responsible for the strategy development and execution for the working committees of the Association. He is a member of various regional and international committees focused on areas such as trade policy, regulatory cooperation and circular economy.

Udit is a strong believer and advocate of environmental sustainability and works closely with the value network to promote best practices, develop policies and regulations through various initiatives linked to establishing a plastics circular economy within the Arabian Gulf and globally.

Udit holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southampton in the U.K. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and contributes to the development of various reports.