Abdul Latif Jameel hosted a delegation of 27 members of the Family Business Network (FBN) International from various countries around the world at its regional headquarters in the UAE, Dubai last week.

Deputy President and Vice Chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel Domestic Operations, Hassan Mohammed Jameel welcomed the delegation giving an in-depth insight into the group’s global activities. The visitors were also treated to a film about Abdul Latif Jameel, showing its commercial and social activities in 17 countries of the MENA region, Turkey, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Mariam Keblawi, the General Manager of Marketing & Public Relations at Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI), the group’s corporate social responsibility arm, gave the guests a presentation on all the social initiatives within the group, who were then invited to take a tour around the group’s offices led by Hasan Al-Alami, Senior Managing Director, International Automotive Operations.

The visit coincided with the FBN’s annual Family Business Global Summit 2014, which for the first time in its 25-year history took place in the Middle East, choosing Dubai as the host city, and attracted 800 of its members. The Summit was hosted by the FBN GCC Board chaired by His Excellency Abdulaziz Abdulla Al Ghurair, supported by Vice Chairman Omar Al Futtaim both from UAE and other founding members, including Abdullah Al Rajhi, Essam Al Muhaidib and Hassan Mohammed Jameel from Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Abdul Aziz Alshaya from Kuwait, Omar H Alfardan and Abdulsalam Abu Issa from Qatar, His Excellency Maqbool Sultan and Rashad M Al Zubair both from Oman.

The summit was held under the theme ‘a proud past, a sustainable future’, during which members discussed a variety of issues relevant to family businesses, including planning for the future, governance, wealth management and pioneering in the social arena.

FBN International as an organization spreads over more than 50 countries with the aim of increasing the success of family businesses throughout the generations. This year’s event marked the 25th anniversary of the ‘Network’ hoped to serve as the platform to launch into another 25 years of family businesses support in order to secure a sustainable future for the upcoming generations.