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Under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court

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Supported by His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Etihad Rail

30 SEP - 2 OCT 2025

ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi

30 SEP - 2 OCT 2025

ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi

SETTING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY IN MOTION

Test page for GRITEC

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CONFERENCE

Tuesday 08 October 2024

Wednesday 09 October 2024

Thursday 10 October 2024

10:00 10:05

Opening Ceremony

10:05 10:10

Opening remarks

Opening remarks

His Excellency Suhail Mohamed AlMazrouei

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure

United Arab Emirates

10:10 10:15

Keynote

Keynote Speech

H.E. Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi

Secretary General

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf 

10:15 10:20

Keynote

Keynote Speech

H.E. Óscar Puente

Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility

Spain

10:20 10:25

Keynote

Keynote Speech

H.E Lee Seong-hai

Chairman and CEO

Korea National Railway

10:25 10:35

Agreement Signing Ceremony

10:35 11:05

Exhibition tour

11:15 11:45

PANEL: What is the next stage in automation?

Panelists

Raül Blanco Díaz

Chairman & CEO

Renfe-Operadora

H. E. Abdullah Al Marzouqi

Director General

Integrated Transport Centre (DMT)

H.E Lee Seong-hai

Chairman and CEO

Korea National Railway

Moderator

Adhraa Almansoori

Director Public Policy & Sustainability

Etihad Rail

11:45 12:15

ROLLING STOCK PANEL: High speed rail: why is it not faster?

Panelists

Michael Peter

CEO

Siemens Mobility

Andrew DeLeone

President

Alstom Africa, Middle East & Central Asia (AMECA) Region

Josu Imaz

CEO – Rolling Stock & Member of the Executive Board

CAF

Dr. Lin Peng

Director of National Engineering Research Center

CRRC

Moderator

Nicolas Petrovic

CEO

Etihad Rail Mobility

12:15 12:45

CONSULTING PANEL: Are we still getting value from multi-disciplinary consulting?

Panelists

Sergio Vázquez Torrón

CEO and Chairman

Ineco

Rahul Mithal

Chairman and Managing Director

RITES

Pierre Verzat

CEO

SYSTRA

Jerome Frost

Chair

Arup

Moderator

Sebastien Mangeant

Chief Operating Officer

Abu Dhabi Transport

12:45 13:15

FINANCE & GOVERNANCE PANEL: Beyond risk and return: unlocking capital for rail infrastructure development with ESG metrics

Panelists

Joanna Mobed

Co-Head of Global Origination

UK Export Finance (UKEF)

Vijay Bains

Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head

ESG Emirates NBD, Dubai

Javier Pérez Fortea

CEO

Globalvia

Ekaterina Kozyreva

President, IEC International
Co-Founder, InfraEconomy Group

Moderator

Dr. Daniel Haag

Director

PwC Strategy& (Germany) GmbH 

13:15 15:00

Networking Lunch

15:00 15:30

PORTS PANEL: Synergies capitalised by multimodal operations in the Middle East and beyond

Panelists

H.E. Shadi Malak

CEO

Etihad Rail

H.E. Abdulla Bin Damithan

CEO & Managing Director

DP World GCC

Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi

CEO

ADNOC L&S

Omar Al Mahrizi

CEO

Asyad Ports

Moderator

Helmut Scholze

Senior Partner, MEA Mobility and Infrastructure Lead, Dubai, UAE,

Kearney

15:30 16:00

PROJECT FINANCING PANEL: Unlocking railway financing: closing the funding gap in Low and Lower - Middle Income Countries

Panelists

Jens Oliver Schünzel

Head of Land-based Transportation

KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH

Adam Harris

Co-Head, Business Group

UK Export Finance (UKEF)

Ronnie Ntuli

Chairman

Thelo Group

Abbas Husain

Global Head, Infrastructure & Development Finance Group

Standard Chartered Bank

Moderator

Simon Kirby

Director, Advisory

PwC

16:00 16:15

Coffee Break

16:15 16:45

CONSTRUCTION PANEL: Why is delivering on-time and on-budget so difficult?

Panelists

Guillermo Cobelo Fernandez

Chief Institutional Relations Officer & Global Head of Commercial Affairs

Técnicas Reunidas SA

Tolga AKKAŞ

CEO

Doğuş Construction

T Kumaresan

Executive Vice President & Head Minerals & Metals

Larsen & Toubro Construction

Eng. Mohamad Mahmoud

CEO

Trojan Construction Group

Tamer Shafik

Vice President – Business Development

Orascom Construction

Mustafa Koçar

CEO

Kalyon Holding 

Moderator

Dr. Hazem Mobarak

CEO

Yas Projects

16:45 17:15

CONSULTING & PLANNING PANEL: Increasing the bankability of railways through transit -oriented development and strategic land-use planning

Panelists

Michael Sutherland

Global Director – Urban Solutions

Hatch

Matthew Botelle

VP PMC & Rail Practice Lead, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)

Parsons

Andrea Giuricin

CEO

TRA Consulting

Matthias Plavec

Railway Specialist

World Bank Global Transport Unit

Moderator

Vadim Pokotilo

Partner

McKinsey & Company

10:00 10:15

Global Rail welcome note

Welcome note

H.E. Shadi Malak

CEO

Etihad Rail

10:15 10:45

MINISTERIAL PANEL: The role of railways in driving economic development

Panelists

H.E. Mothanna Gharaibeh

Minister of Investment

Jordan

H.E. Hon. Fred Byamukama

State Minister of Transport

Uganda

H.E. Ngalle Bibehe Jean Ernest Massena

Minister of Transport

Cameroon

Eng. Mohamad Risal Wasal

A. TD. M. M., IPM, ASEAN Eng. Director General of Railways

Ministry of Transportation Republic of Indonesia

Moderator

Salim A. Essaid

Business Editor

The National

10:45 11:20

POLICY PANEL: From road to rail: policy and governance mechanism to drive modal shift and advance decarbonisation agendas

Panelists

Carlo Palasciano Villamagna

Executive Chairman

Mercitalia Logistics

Howard Rosen

Chairman

Rail Working Group

Keith Lawson

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Europe

Jacobs

Sacha Parneix

Vice-President Commercial

Alstom AMECA

Moderator

Dr. Christian Gasparic

Partner, Dubai, UAE

Kearney, Worldwide Lead for the Kearney Center of Advanced Mobility

11:20 11:45

INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PANEL: Exploring the role of aviation in an integrated transport ecosystem

Panelists

Frank McCrorie

Chief Operations Officer

Abu Dhabi Airports

Leonardo Rodrigues

Director of Revenue Management and Network Planning

Etihad Cargo

Moderator

Andrew Ward

Director, Transport & Logistics (Aviation)

PwC Middle East

11:45 12:00

Coffee Break

12:00 12:40

MULTIMODAL PANEL: Multimodal transportation: compete or cooperate with trucking and maritime?

Panelists

Daniel Wright

Group COO

Gulftainer

Amadou Diallo

CEO

DHL Global Forwarding Middle East & Africa

Mohammad Jaber

Managing Director DSV Air & Sea Abu Dhabi & COO, DSV Solutions, Abu Dhabi

Olli Pohjanvirta

CEO

Nurminen Logistics

Khaled Al Sakran

CEO and Founder

SHIP247

Qusai Kankazar

Deputy Managing Director of Noatum Logistics – Middle East

AD Ports Group

Moderator

Salim A. Essaid

Business Editor

The National

12:40 13:10

SUSTAINABLE PANEL: Balancing operational costs with sustainability goals on the path to greener networks

Panelists

Armando Fombella

General Manager and Project Director

Renfe KSA

Alaa AbuSiam

CEO, Middle East & South Asia

Egis

Ayman Ashour

CEO

Siemens Mobility, Turnkey MEA and Siemens Mobility UAE

Moderator

TC Chew

Global Rail Business Leader

Arup

13:10 13:35

ENGINEERING PANEL: From vision to reality: enhancing infrastructure resilience

Panelists

Maria Marques

Global Deputy Director, Transport

Egis

Russell Jackson

EVP Global Transit

AECOM

Ian Horseman Sewell

Chief Commercial Officer

CPCS

Moderator

Graeme Overall

Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer

Etihad Rail

13:35 14:55

Networking Lunch

14:55 15:25

CUSTOMERS PANEL: Challenges and benefits, for transitioning to rail

Panelists

Gunther Ferk​

CEO​

Etihad Rail Freight

Dr. Naser Al Bustami

CEO

Stevin Rock LLC

Amer Kakish

CEO

Ittihad International Investment

Ahmed Al Katheeri

Senior Vice President for Supply Chain Management

Borouge

Hassan Al Mutawa

Director - Rail Operations

Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)

Adel Saleh Mohamed Al Jaberi

Acting CEO & SVP Asset (Shah)

ADNOC Sour Gas

Moderator

Paulo Guglielminetti

Partner, PwC Global Railways and Roads Leader

PwC Italy

15:35 15:50

Coffee Break

15:50 16:20

INTEROPERABILITY PANEL: Unlocking modal shift through cross-border interoperability and network harmonisation

Panelists

Martin Ausserdorfer

CEO, Railtraction Company (Italy) 
Member of the Board, Brenner Base Tunnel

Christoph Kaupat

Project Manager

European Union Agency for Railways

Dirk Slodzinski

Director of Mobility Consulting

DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH (DB E&C)

Dominik Fürste

CEO

Rail-Flow GmbH

Moderator

Paolo Guglielminetti

Partner, Global Railways and Roads Leader

PwC Italia

16:20 16:35

FIRESIDE CHAT: Hydrogen and battery fleets, future or soon to be extinct?

Panelists

Jack Zhang

Executive Vice President, Locomotive

Progress Rail

Moderator

Ahmed AlMusawa AlHashemi

CEO

Hafeet Rail

16:35 17:05

LEGAL PANEL: External legal support: enabler or hindrance in Transport Infrastructure Implementation

Panelists

Stephen Knight

Partner and Co-head, Middle East Banking and Finance Practice

Dentons

Elliott Sawford

Partner - Energy and Infrastructure Projects

Allen & Overy Shearman

Paul Taylor

Partner, Regional Head of Arbitration

Al Tamimi Company

Tammy Samuel

Partner and Co- head of Rail and Road

Stephenson Harwood

Moderator

Iryna Telychko

General Legal Counsel

Etihad Rail

10:00 10:20

INNOVATION & AI PANEL: What is the true value of AI within transport?

Panelists

Dr. Fan Zhu

Chief Technology Officer

Bayanat

Martin Yates

Government Technology Advisor

Presight

Moderator

Prof. Paul Plummer

Director, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE), Lead for UK Rail Research Network (UKRRIN)

10:20 10:50

FINANCING SCHEME PANEL: Financing a major infrastructure project

Panelists

Ali Tabbal

Chief Financial Officer

Etihad Rail

Saif Al Qubaisi

Senior Vice President - UAE Industries

Mubadala

Saurabh Kumar​

Executive Director, Project Finance​

Standard Chartered Bank

Muhsin Alrustom

Group CFO

Asyad

Moderator

Frank Beckers

Senior Financial Advisor

Hafeet Rail

10:50 11:05

Coffee Break

11:05 11:30

MAGLEV PANEL: Maglev: 1970’s fad, or tomorrow’s railway?

Panelists

Ding Sansan

Deputy Chief Engineer CRRC QINGDAO SIFANG Co., Ltd,

Director, China National Key Laboratory of High-speed Maglev Transportation Technology

11:30 12:00

MOBILITY PANEL: Safe, secure and affordable: driving public transport modal share through digitalisation and connected mobility

Panelists

Jeffrey Sim Vee Ming

Group CEO, Non Independent Executive Director

SBS Transit

Dillon Twombly

Chief Revenue Officer

Via Transportation Inc

Andrés de León

CEO

HyperloopTT

Moderator

Sebastien Mangeant

Chief Operating Officer

Abu Dhabi Transport

12:00 12:15

INNOVATION & AI: Fireside Chat

Panelists

Dr. Zhu Shenggao

Vice President of AI

Huawei Cloud Middle East & Central Asia

Moderator

Ekaterina Sheremet

Associate Partner

Mckinsey and Company

12:15 12:45

INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PANEL: Digitalisation: An Enabler Towards seamless end-to-end transport

Panelists

Nasir Al Shamsi

Chief Transport Officer

BEEAH

Faisal Ameer Malik

Chief Technology Officer

Huawei ME & CA

Nicolas Petrovic

CEO

Etihad Rail Mobility

Moderator

Ramzi Imam

Partner, Technology and Consulting in Digital Mobility

PwC Middle East

12:45 13:15

RESILIENT RAIL PANEL: Resilient rail: a whole ecosystem approach to future proofing rail infrastructure

Panelists

Juliet Mian

Director, Climate Services and Sustainability

Arup

Jean-Bruno Delrue

CEO

MESEA, a subsidiary of VINCI Railways and SYSTRA

Lee Yam Lim

Head of Downtown Line (DTL)

SBS Transit

Moderator

Adhraa Almansoori

Director Public Policy & Sustainability

Etihad Rail

13:15 13:45

TECHNOLOGY PANEL: Opportunities and challenges in scaling innovation in the rail and transport sector

Panelists

Sunil Prasad

Head - Aerospace and Rail

L & T Technology Services

Dr Séverine Maréchal

Director

SYSTRA

Prof. Paul Plummer

Director, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE), Lead for UK Rail Research Network (UKRRIN)

Moderator

Dr. Èric Pairet

Head of Research and Development

Etihad Rail

13:45 14:45

Lunch & Close of Global Rail 2024 Strategic Conference

Tuesday 08 October 2024

Wednesday 09 October 2024

Thursday 10 October 2024

Back

BBB

BBB

Chen Qi
Chen Qi

Director, Enterprise Business Group

Huawei
Dominik Baumeister
Dominik Baumeister

PwC Global and Middle East Transport & Logistics Leader

PwC Middle East Team​
Eng. Mohamed Fikri
Eng. Mohamed Fikri

Director, Road Transport and Land Transport Affairs Department

MOEI
Gunther Ferk​
Gunther Ferk​

CEO​

Etihad Rail Freight
John Newman
John Newman

CEO

Progress Rail
Paulo Guglielminetti
Paulo Guglielminetti

Partner, PwC Global Railways and Roads Leader

PwC Italy
Pierre Verzat
Pierre Verzat

CEO

SYSTRA
Raül Blanco Díaz
Raül Blanco Díaz

Chairman & CEO

RENFE-Operadora
Russell Jackson
Russell Jackson

​EVP Global Transit ​

AECOM​
Saurabh Kumar​
Saurabh Kumar​

Executive Director, Project Finance​

Standard Chartered Bank
Sayed Al Hashemi
Sayed Al Hashemi

Director, Marketing and Communications

Khalifa University
Yongcai Sun
Yongcai Sun

Chairman and Executive Director

CRRC Corporation Limited