March, 2013 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - ArabianBusiness.com has published the list of 500 of the world’s most powerful Arabs. Among them was Amjed Shacker, Country Manager of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Pedersen & Partners. The Pedersen & Partners’ team is very proud of his personal achievements and are wishing him future success and fame within both the Arabian and International markets.
The 2013 list featured a record 155 new entries, and also a record 118 women – the highest ranked being 12th place Sheikha Lubna. The UAE accounted for most places on the list with 102 people based in the country, though ranked by origin, Saudi Arabia came top with 84 entries. Banking and Finance dominated the list with 93 entries, followed by Culture & Society accounting for 73 entries.
Ed Atwood, Editor of Arabian Business, said: “Once again we have produced what we believe to be the most comprehensive guide ever to Arab influence. We have Arabs living in a record 36 different countries making this year’s list, from all walks of life. This list is a celebration of the great work and contribution of Arabs all over the globe.”
The initial shortlist comprised of 1,960 names. In simple terms, the magazine defines power as influence – the more people you influence, the more powerful you are. This can be done through, for example, having thousands of employees or being responsible for billions of dollars of projects. This can also be done by being involved in projects that are or have the potential to influence many people (in particular, scientists and doctors). It was also taken into account other fields such as sports, arts and entertainment, where individuals can attract huge followings. In many of these areas, it was looked closely at other measures such as their prominence through social media.
The rankings were executed by strict and precise rules:
- Do not include any royals on the list, unless their influence is deemed to be specifically through business or other activities that they have personally led/started in their own right.
- Do not include any politicians in the list – again with the exception of individuals who has great influence through wider work.
- To consider Arabs from every single country, not only the Arab world. So, for example, many American-Arabs are on the list because of their Lebanese descent.
- To consider Arabs from every single sector of society, not just business.
For the top ten places, the exact positions were determined by a closed voting system whereby each member of the team awarded points to each of the ten names (10 points for top place, 9 points for second place etc).
Amjed Shacker is the Country Manager for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at Pedersen & Partners. Mr. Shacker’s career spans over 20 years of strategic corporate communications and marketing services in Saudi Arabia with exposure to such sectors as investments, telecoms, real estate, education, healthcare, military, training support and public sector, utilities. He began his career as a News Anchor for Channel 2 for Saudi Arabian Television, and was the Executive Manager of Corporate Communications for Kingdom Holding Company (the investment arm of HRH Prince Alwaleed) for nearly eight years. Following that, Mr. Shacker managed corporate communications for the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, and was the CEO of Buchanan Middle East (a JV with the London-based financial communications firm Buchanan Communications), was the corporate communications VP of ACWA Power Projects and the owner of DCC, a marketing services and PR firm.
Prepared by Arabian Business