20 outstanding young maritime leaders revealed
The finalists were announced earlier today at a ceremony during the three-day conference at Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, which is taking place this week at Dubai World Trade Centre from 6-8th May as a major highlight of UAE Maritime Week. Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, this flagship maritime event has brought together key stakeholders in the maritime sector, governmental and semi-governmental entities, as well as innovators in the fields of technology, energy, finance, investment and services, in addition to the most prominent suppliers, decision-makers and shipping companies.
The SMN20Under40 Class of 2025 are:
Mr Ahmed Sati, Operation Manager / Harbour Master, P&O Maritime
Dr Akanksha Batura Pai, Executive Director, Sinoda Shipping Agency Pte
Mr Anant Dhandhania, Director, Adel Shipping & Logistics Ltd
Ms Anna Mkrtchyan, Senior Associate, Fichte & Co.
Mr Arthur Richier, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Vortexa
Mr Dan Aldrich Tolentino, Cadet Training Manager, Sharjah Maritime Academy
Mr Gagan Deep Katyal, Director, Avid Marine
Ms Gina Panayiotou, Founder & CEO, Oceans Arena
Ms Gisa Paredes, Managing Director, WellAtSea
Ms Huma Qureshi, General Manager, Emirates Shipping Association (ESA)
Mr Ian Chew, Founder and CEO, Greenie Web
Ms Jaquelyn E. P. Burton eMBA, BS, AFNI, Director of Experience Design / President WISTA Norway, Kongsberg Maritime
Mr Karim Hasab El Nabi, Chief Operating Officer, Allianz Middle East and Stanford Marine
Ms Maimoona Nalkhande, Legal Counsel - Corporate & Commercial – GCC, DP World
Mr Numair Imtiaz Shaikh, CEO, Tomini Group
Mr Paul Katsouris, Partner, Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP
Ms Sarah Al Qahtani, Commercial and Operations Manager, Bahri Dry Bulk
Mr Vikas Vijay Laul, Founder & CEO, Myvessel Technologies
Ms Yosra Hofeizavy, MD, SeaMaster Management Co.
Ms Zoe Upson, Director, FACT (Freight & Commodity Talent) / Women Together
Seatrade Maritime's Content Director, and leading the judging, Emma Howell, said: 'Choosing the final 20 candidates from an already excellent shortlist of 40 was no easy task – the quality of entrants from our many young maritime leaders around the globe was truly overwhelming. We hope that the Class of 2025 shows how their outstanding talent is set to shape the future of our industry. To all the entrants, we'd like to extend our thanks to taking part and we hope they continue to inspire their peers and encourage others to take part in next year's Seatrade Maritime 20Under40 initiative.'
About Seatrade Maritime News 20 Under 40
The initiative last took place in 2023, and while previously only open to entries from the Middle East, this year's search also heralded some key changes, with entries actively encouraged from the whole of the global maritime industry. From this year, the initiative will also run on annual basis.
About Seatrade Maritime
For more than 50 years, Seatrade Maritime has brought the international maritime industry together, building an extensive global community through its news website, themed reports, podcast, global events and marketing solutions.
Seatrade Maritime global B2B events offer excellent opportunities to reach new markets quicker and more successfully than any other maritime trade show. Through our events, thousands of shipping professionals establish and grow their business, build networks and learn about the latest industry innovations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
25 minutes ago
- Zawya
Southeast Asia Youth Join Global Innovation Movement at Xiamen University Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 5 August 2025 - The final competition and award ceremony of the Southeast Asia Division Contest of China International College Students' Innovation Competition (SEA-CICSIC) 2025 and Malaysia-China Youth Innovation Competition (MCYIC) 2025 concluded successfully at Xiamen University Malaysia on 20 July 2025, bringing together young innovators from all over the Southeast Asia region to present and compete with their innovation ideas and projects. With the Ministry of Education of China as the main organiser and Xiamen University China and Xiamen University Malaysia as co-organisers, the competition attracted over 1,200 students from 10 Southeast Asian countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), with projects covering topics such as sustainable technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and social entrepreneurship. Ultimately, 50 teams from 7 countries received awards, including 10 First Prize Awards, 15 Second Prize Awards, and 25 Third Prize Awards. These winning teams represented Xiamen University Malaysia, University of Malaya, Sampoerna University, the National University of Singapore, Cambodia University of Technology and Science (CamTech), and various universities across the region. The outstanding projects will be recommended for participation in the 2025 China International College Students' Innovation Competition finals. Minister-Counsellor Chen Youliang from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Malaysia attended the ceremony and presented the awards. Ms. Sun Yan, Executive President of the Promotion Association for Global Youth Innovation Leaders Community, noted that this was the first time a cross-regional sub-competition of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition was held. She emphasized that this marks a new chapter for the event and addresses the pressing need for enhanced regional collaboration. Associate Professor Zhang Ying, Vice President of Xiamen University Malaysia, stated that the university has long been committed to fostering students' innovation abilities, and hopes that this event will strengthen people-to-people friendship between China and Southeast Asia, while promoting economic exchange with Southeast Asian countries. Mr. Li Cheng, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office at Xiamen University (China), delivered a speech on behalf of the university top management, emphasizing that the main campus and Malaysia campus will continue to deepen educational cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, promote science, technology, and talent exchange, and cultivate globally minded and innovative talent. The China International College Students' Innovation Competition is one of the world's largest student innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. Since its inception in 2015, the competition has attracted millions of teams and tens of millions of participants from thousands of universities in over 100 countries spanning five continents. The China–Malaysia Youth Innovation Competition, first launched in 2019, has now completed four successful editions. The event continues to garner strong participation from Malaysian students and has produced a number of notable outcomes. The launching ceremony of this year's competition took place on 25 April 2025, and was attended by Mr. Zheng Xuefang, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia; Dato' Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, President of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association; Professor Li Cheng, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at Xiamen University; and Mr. Zhu Lei, Executive President of the Global Youth Innovation Leadership Community Association. Southeast Asia Youth Join Global Innovation Movement at XMUM Final Results of the Competition Facebook- Xiamen University Malaysia Instagram- IEC Xiamen University Malaysia Hashtag: #XiamenUniversityMalaysia The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Xiamen University Malaysia
Al Etihad
43 minutes ago
- Al Etihad
Lower interest rates spur strong loan growth at UAE banks amid Gulf-wide lending boom
5 Aug 2025 18:36 A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)Leading UAE banks posted robust loan growth and strong second-quarter profits in 2025, capitalising on a lower interest rate environment across the Gulf, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The favourable monetary conditions helped stimulate lending across the GCC, but UAE lenders, particularly First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Emirates NBD, stood out for their growth momentum and upgraded full-year the country's largest bank by assets, reported a 10.71% year-on-year increase in loan growth, accelerating from 6.34% in the same period last year. The performance prompted FAB to upgrade its full-year loan growth guidance to the low double-digit range, from an earlier single-digit outlook. The bank also posted a record net profit of $1.50 billion in the second quarter, marking a 29% jump from $1.16 billion a year NBD, another top-tier UAE bank, reported even higher loan growth at 14.28%, also revising its full-year guidance upward to the low double digits. Its net interest income (NII) grew 6% year-on-year to $2.28 billion. However, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) narrowed by 22 basis points to 3.36%, largely due to pressure from its Turkish subsidiary, DenizBank. A $31 million impairment charge dragged Emirates NBD's quarterly profit down by 10% compared to a year earlier, when the bank had posted a reversal of $374 million in positive loan growth trend was mirrored across other Gulf markets, with Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank reporting the sharpest year-on-year rise among major regional lenders. Al Rajhi's loan book expanded by 19.31%, up from 7.37% a year earlier. The bank also posted a 25% jump in NII to $1.95 billion, supporting a 31% rise in net profit to $1.64 billion for the National Bank (QNB) posted 9.38% loan growth and revised its full-year loan guidance to 7%–9%, up from 5%–7%. Almost half the growth stemmed from Turkey, according to Durraiz Khan, senior vice president for group financial consolidation. QNB's NII rose to $2.34 billion, up from $2.12 billion a year ago, although margin pressures persisted due to high rates in Turkey. Khan noted that a projected rate cut in Turkey could aid NIM recovery in the second half of the National Bank also recorded solid loan growth, rising to 12.21% from 10.25% in the prior-year UAE-based banks, such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), also saw steady growth. ADCB reported high single-digit loan growth and continued to expand its retail and SME lending book. DIB maintained its strong performance in corporate and Islamic finance segments, benefitting from improved liquidity and lower funding costs. S&P analysts said they expect loan growth momentum to continue in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, supported by anticipated US Federal Reserve rate cuts later in the year, which Gulf central banks are expected to follow. As rates soften further, banks in the region—particularly those with diversified portfolios and strong funding bases—are poised to benefit from increased credit demand and margin stabilisation.
Khaleej Times
43 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
UAE leads youth-driven startup surge in the Middle East
Entrepreneurial ambition among young people in the Mena region is on a sharp rise, with 46 per cent of workers expressing interest in starting their own business. Nowhere is this intent more visible than in the UAE, where a dynamic ecosystem of startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is enabling youth to turn vision into reality. A new PwC Middle East report, Future Ready Mena, highlights the urgent need to strengthen entrepreneurial capabilities across the region. It notes that the survival rate of small businesses doubles when guided by experienced mentors, and that mastery of emerging technologies — from artificial intelligence to digital commerce platforms — has become critical as the global workforce braces for the disruption of more than a billion jobs by 2030. The UAE's record in fostering entrepreneurship is already world‑leading. According to the 2024–2025 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the nation ranks first globally for the fourth consecutive year as the best destination for startups and SMEs, surpassing 55 other economies. It leads in 11 out of 13 indicators that measure institutional support for entrepreneurship, including access to financing, regulatory ease, integration of entrepreneurship in education, and supportive cultural attitudes toward enterprise creation. SMEs are a cornerstone of the UAE's non‑oil economy, numbering around 557,000 and contributing an estimated 63.5 per cent of non‑oil GDP. That share is expected to rise as the nation pushes towards its target of one million SMEs by 2030, driven by an expanding digital economy, government funding programmes, and improved access to financial services. The third edition of the Mastercard SME Confidence Index shows that 91 per cent of SMEs in the UAE are optimistic about their business prospects this year, while 90 per cent expect revenue to match or exceed 2024 levels. The country's startup scene is equally vibrant. More than 5,600 active startups operate in the UAE, the highest number in the GCC. In May 2025 alone, these ventures attracted nearly $87 million in funding across 14 deals. Abu Dhabi's Hub71 has become a key catalyst, hosting over 260 startups as of mid‑2023 and offering equity‑free incentives, investor introductions, and global market access. In Sharjah, the Sheraa entrepreneurship centre has helped over 450 startups raise $297 million in capital and generate $372 million in revenue, with more than half being women‑led. This growth in entrepreneurial activity is supported by evolving education and cultural attitudes. Surveys among Emirati university students show a strong correlation between self‑confidence, institutional support, and entrepreneurial intention. While public sector careers remain attractive, a growing share of youth see business ownership as a viable, even preferred, career path. PwC's report recommends that governments, educators, and the private sector collaborate to expand structured entrepreneurship education, develop mentorship networks, empower women entrepreneurs, and promote technological proficiency. Programmes such as university incubators, government‑backed accelerators, and industry‑linked training are critical in translating youth ambition into scalable enterprises. The UAE already has a track record of producing high‑growth, tech‑driven ventures. Success stories like Talabat, Tabby, Swvl, and Tamara demonstrate how digitally native business models can rapidly scale when built on a foundation of entrepreneurial agility and strong market understanding. The World Economic Forum notes that Gulf states benefit from a maturing startup environment, strong investment flows from sovereign wealth funds, and regulatory innovation that reduces barriers for new businesses. Nearly 49 per cent of GEM's global respondents cite fear of failure as a barrier to launching a business, a sentiment shared by many in the region. But policymakers and investors in the UAE are addressing these concerns with simplified licensing processes, early‑stage funding opportunities, and structured mentoring support designed to build resilience among young founders. The convergence of strong youth ambition, robust ecosystem frameworks, and institutional backing positions the UAE as a model for inclusive, sustainable entrepreneurial growth in the Mena region. Yet experts stress that maintaining this momentum will require deeper mentorship engagement, embedding entrepreneurship across all levels of education, and ensuring equal opportunities for women and underrepresented groups. As PwC Middle East's education lead Roland Hancock points out, entrepreneurial capabilities extend far beyond traditional business knowledge. 'It's about adaptability, creativity, problem‑solving, and digital fluency. By investing in these capabilities now, the region can unlock the full potential of its youth and establish itself as a global hub for innovation and industry leadership.'
