Dubai: The two-day TOP CEO Conference and Awards came to an end late Wednesday (May 18) with a grand yet somber awards ceremony where the chief executive officers of the top listed companies were recognised for their leadership. The 90-minute awards gala at the posh Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai was attended by CEOs from all GCC countries. The 6th edition of the TOP CEO Awards was spread across 10 industries and in each category 10 CEOs of the publicly-listed companies are awarded – a total of 100 CEOs were recognised out of more than 700 companies listed on stock markets in the GCC.

Speaking on the occasion, organising firm Special Edition’s CEO Julien Hawari paid tributes to late UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. In a passionate speech about TOP CEO, Hawari said: “The TOP CEO Awards are the most transparent and credible business awards in the region because the evaluation process is based on a transparent formula that compares annual financial statements of two latest financial years.
“There is no nomination, no fee, and no jury for the awards. The formula has been jointly developed by the TOP CEO team and the prestigious INSEAD Business School (France) along with Dubai-based Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance,” he said.
“One of the Big Four has audited the results, and KPMG is auditing the TOP CEO ranking for the 2022 awards,” he added.

Some CEOs who could not attend personally were represented by their senior officials who received trophies on behalf of their CEOs.
The awards were created in 2012 to recognise those who created value and boosted the region’s economy while maintaining transparency and good corporate governance.
The companies have been split into 10 categories and the Top 10 CEOs in each category were recognized, totalling 100 awards.

The 10 categories include Banking; Energy and Utility; Financial Services and Investment; Insurance, Logistics and Industrials; Malls, Real Estate and Construction; Mining, Metals and Chemicals; Retail, FMCG and Consumer Care, Shariah-compliant Banks and Financial Services; and Telecom, Tech and Media.