OICC has set up a high-level committee chaired by Pappatta Kunhi Muhammad, a member of its national committee, to organize the ceremony, where Ahmad will be presented with the Valapra Muhammad Kunhi Memorial Award.

Ahmed, who recently received a honorary doctorate in philosophy from a Christian university in Tamil Nadu, is a dynamic entrepreneur. He manages various businesses in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UK, Italy and Turkey.

“More than 10,000 Indians are working in Ahmed's businesses in India and abroad,” Kunhi Muhammad told a press conference, adding that he set a good example by employing relatives of Indians who died in a Riyadh fire. He donated SR100,000 to help an Indian expatriate worker pay blood money and win release from a Bisha jail following a road accident, said Sharief Kunhu, OICC president in Jeddah. His travel agency has given free air tickets to hundreds of poor Indians to travel back home.

“When the first conference for non-resident Keralites was held in Trivandrum (capital of the Indian state of Kerala), Ahmed offered to give free air tickets to all Indians who had been released from Saudi jails. Later the Kerala government adopted this initiative and gave tickets to all released Keralite prisoners in the Gulf states,” explained K.T.A. Muneer, another OICC leader.

Ahmed is the chairman and managing director of Eram Group, which has 30 firms spread across 10 countries, specializing in activities such as oil & gas, petrochemicals, power, water, IT, healthcare, travel, automotive and industrial services.

Ahmed is director of Infrastructure Kerala Ltd. (INKEL), INKEL-KINFRA Infrastructure Projects Limited, Al-Barakah Financial Services Ltd, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and a member of the Kerala State Council for Vocational Training.

He initiated the establishment of AH Foundation, a charitable trust in the Keralite city of Mankara, to empower those who are socially and financially backward.

He is the chief patron of We Care Association, a charity that was formed to help the needy.

The group supports the Regional Cancer Center in Trivandrum for its various charity initiatives and Daya Rehabilitation Trust in Vadakara for Cancer Patients.