October 31, 2021

Global Meets Local 2021

Large multinational corporations bring many benefits to the Middle East, including employment, capital, expertise, and technology. As such, governments in the region compete with each other in numerous ways to attract these global heavyweights, on the one hand simplifying rules to make their markets more attractive, and on the other mandating that international companies increase their on-ground presence to take advantage of those markets.

Leading these companies is a tough task. Those that head regional offices for multinationals need to navigate a variety of laws, rules, and regulations that differ from country to country and often change. They also need to keep in mind socio-cultural sensitivities and differences while growing their businesses and increase profitability.

These companies and their leaders are often seen as holding up high international standards of ethical behavior in business. Several of the CEOs on our Global Meets Local list advise Middle Eastern governments about international trends and business, as well as advising international governments about doing business in the Middle East.

Methodology

For our annual Global Meets Local ranking, we first look at Forbes’ Global 2000 ranking of the world’s biggest companies and identify those with significant operations in the Middle East.

We then analyze the top-ranking executive working at the company’s Middle East headquarters. This year, due to the pandemic leading many executives and employees to work from home, we allowed for leaders who, while in charge of the Middle East office, are temporarily living elsewhere.

We ranked the executives based on the following criteria:
• Impact: Published thought leadership, sustainability and CSR initiatives, public image.
• Scope: Designation and geographical area that they oversee.
• Size of business: Number of employees, revenues if given, project value, product reach.
• Experience: Number of years of corporate experience.
• Global 2000 rank: Rank of the global organization on Forbes Global 2000 list 2021.