LONDON, 15 February 2006 — The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) — the business-led development organization founded by the Prince of Wales — has elected Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, president of Saudi-based Abdul Latif Jameel Company as honorary deputy chairman of IBLF’s board of trustees and chairman for IBLF Middle East.
The first Arab company to be represented on the IBLF board as an IBLF principal supporter, Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel was first invited to become a trustee of the London-based IBLF in 2004 by The Prince of Wales, IBLF founder and president. The honorary post of chairman, IBLF Middle East, is a new position reflecting the increased engagement of IBLF and its international corporate supporters and partners in education, youth employment and enterprise development initiatives in the region.
Commenting on the election of Jameel, IBLF’s Chief Executive Robert Davies said, “IBLF is delighted and honored that Jameel, a valued member of our board of trustees, has agreed to be a deputy chairman, due to ALJ’s regional leadership in good corporate citizenship and employment development.”
“Abdul Latif Jameel Group’s contribution to Saudization and the innovative development of employment opportunities promoted through the Abdul Latif Jameel Community Services Programs are a first class example of what responsible companies can do in the region to serve their countries and the community,” Davies added. Jameel has also been supporting business and youth in the Arab world, a new IBLF initiative to profile and spread good practice in business partnerships for Arab youth employment development.
Jameel joins other senior business leaders on IBLF’s board of trustees, including Travis Engen (chief executive of Alcan), Sir Julian Horn-Smith (deputy chief executive of Vodafone Group), Neville Isdell, (chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company) and Paul Walsh (chief executive of Diageo). Other companies represented on IBLF’s board of trustees include BP, Shell, Cisco Systems, Nestle, Perot Systems, Volkswagen, KPMG and Accenture. The Prince of Wales plays an active part in the activities and events of IBLF, meeting with board members, personally leading meetings and initiatives in over 33 countries and establishing the values of IBLF.
The Prince of Wales puts a strong emphasis on practical projects, partnerships, raising business standards and engaging business as an active partner in development. In the Middle East The Prince of Wales supports training and enterprise development activity — and in the past two years he has visited employment and training programs for young Jordanian Palestinians with business leaders in Amman.