Eelco Hoekstra, CEO of Royal Vopak, which is the largest international oil storage terminal operator in China, Singapore, and Fujairah, will head a group of industry leaders to be recognized for their respective companies’ pioneering work in connecting the energy markets of the Middle East and Asia
The inaugural New Silk Road CEO of the Year Awards, hosted by the government of Fujairah, will acknowledge Vopak’s Hoekstra in the category of ‘Storage’, and he will be joined by Mr. Ibrahim Al-Buanain, CEO of the wholly-owned trading unit of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, who will be recognized in the field of ‘Trading’. Mr. Bakheet Al-Rashidi, CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International, which will soon commission a US$9bn refinery in Vietnam, will receive the accolade for ‘Refining’, and Capt. Mousa Morad, General Manager of the Port of Fujairah, will receive the trophy for the advancement of ‘Ports’ on the New Silk Road.
“The new industry awards were conceived to celebrate the pioneering industry leaders who are spearheading the transformation of energy trading across this ancient route, which is literally changing the energy flow of world trade,” said Sean Evers, Managing Partner, Gulf Intelligence, founder and chairman of the Awards. “It is fitting to produce this celebration in Fujairah given it has been an active trader across these oceans for 500 years,” he said.
In recent years, the Gulf has seen the growth of an array of key features of a world-class oil trading hub – it has become a major logistics hub, with pipelines, vast storage and several deep-water ports. It is supported by growing financial centres and now the majority of banks, oil companies, multinationals, national oil companies and trading houses are represented there. The region is also in the midst of a refining construction boom, with plenty more to come.
The New Silk Road CEO of the Year Awards, produced by Gulf Intelligence on behalf of the Government of Fujairah, will recognize the distinguished industry leaders at a Gala Dinner in Fujairah on Sept. 18th, 2017, on the eve of the 7th Energy Markets Forum. The awards will be presented by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah and H.H. Sheikh Saleh Bin Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Chairman of the Department of Industry and Economy, Fujairah.
The rise of the Arab world, China and India are part of the same story, once historic trading partners via the old Silk Road. It isn't a coincidence that Arab traders have returned to Asia at the same time that China is leading an Asian wave of nations that are fast regaining their share of the global economy. Much of this economic reintegration from the Arabian Peninsula to the massive populations of Asia is built on a foundation of physical energy: Trading – Refining – Storage – Ports and Shipping.
