EGA MD & CEO Abdulla Kalban addressed international business leaders in USA

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium (“EGA”) Managing Director and CEO Abdulla Kalban outlined the UAE-based aluminium giant’s strong foundations during a keynote address to a gathering of business leaders at the 2014 Palladium Global Summit held in Boston, Massachusetts on 29 and 30 October. His address, entitled “Building a global producer on a legacy of excellence”, was extremely well received as attested by excellent feedback from the organisers and delegates.

Reflecting the theme of the event – Leadership, Talent & Winning the Customer – Kalban’s address focused on the importance of these factors in establishing EGA, particularly the integration of EGA’s core primary smelter assets – Dubai Aluminium (“DUBAL”) and Emirates Aluminium (“EMAL”). He outlined how the management developed and successfully implemented a strategy designed to harness the strength and expertise within both entities; leveraged the existing and potential synergies; harmonised disparate systems, structures and processes and policies; and ultimately forged one company with one management team, one board of directors and one vision.

In his address, Kalban attributed EGA’s rapid emergence into a leading player in the global aluminium industry to four cornerstones: (i) visionary leadership and wealth of talent; (ii) commitment to strategy execution and processes; (iii) focus on customers; and (iv) strong corporate culture. “Establishing EGA was the first mega project to bring together the two most powerful emirates in the UAE – Abu Dhabi and Dubai – in a single business,” he stated. “This could not have been achieved without the commitment to developing and executing strategy that is fundamental to EGA’s corporate philosophy; or our on-going quest for excellence in all that we do.”

The annual two-day Palladium Global Summit is a well-known, high-professional and well-organised forum that regularly attracts more than 200 senior executives from public, private and non-profit organisations across the world, who are responsible for leading strategy execution in their organisations. As in prior years, the delegate base for the 2014 event largely comprised chief executive officers, managing directors and business development leaders.

The event is organized by the Palladium Group, a global leader in helping organisations with value and sustainable performance challenges by bringing strategies to life. As well as providing expertise in strategy execution combined with integrated change management and leadership development programmes, Palladium also recognises organisations that improve performance through the outstanding execution of strategy – DUBAL was inducted into the “Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy”in 2011.