2015 Business Conference Speaker Line-Up

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Doing Business in the Middle East & North Africa and Health-Tech Forum
Omni William Penn Hotel in the historic Urban Room
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

8:00 am to 9:00 am – Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am to 2:30 pm – Business Conference

8:00 AM – BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION

Mrs. Simin Yazdgerdi Curtis, AMEI President and CEO
His Excellency Dr. Ismail Sallam, Chair, AMEI Advisory Council, Former Health Minister of Egypt

9:20 AM – MORNING FEATURED SPEAKER & HONORED GUEST:

His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Obaid Al-Saidi, Minister of Health, Sultanate of Oman

With special introduction by Her Excellency Ambassador Hunaina Al-Mughairy, Ambassador to U.S. from the Sultanate of Oman

9:35 AM – ONE ON ONE

His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Obaid Al-Saidi, Minister of Health, Sultanate of Oman Christopher Martin, Professor of Medicine and Occupational Medicine, Director of the Division of Occupational Medicine, and Director of the Global Engagement Office for the Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University (WVU).

9:50 AM – Presentation by Dr. Christopher Martin

10:00 AM – Panel: Best Practices in Hospital Management and Insurance

Moderator: Mr. Maxwell King, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Pittsburgh Foundation
Panelist: Dr. Don Fischer, Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Highmark Inc.
Panelist: Mr. Brian Mulligan, President & CEO, Assist America
Panelist: Mr. Harun Rashid, Vice President, UPMC

10:40 AM – A Special Health-Technology Presentation

11:10 PANEL: The Big Questions Every Business Leader Needs to Ask About Doing Business in the Middle East 

Moderator: Mr. Bill Flanagan, Chief Corporate Relations Officer, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Panelist: Mr. Michael Lordi, Esq., Vice President, Global Service, Elliott Group
Panelist: Mr. Devesh Sharma, Managing Director, Aquatech International
Panelist: Mr. Steve Lutes, Senior Director, Middle East Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

11: 50 AM – NETWORKING

12:00 PM –LUNCH

12:25 PM – PRESENTATION: SAUDI ARABIA

Mr. Faisal Bafarat, Executive Director Of Investment Development, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA)

12:40 PM – Panel: Pharmaceuticals & Bio-Innovation

Moderator: Mr. Samir Khalil, Executive Director, Middle East & Africa, PhRMA
Panelist: Mr. Faisal Bafarat, Executive Director Of Investment Development, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA)
Panelist: Dr. Juan Carlos Gomes, MD, MBA, Vice President for Medical Affairs and Product Development in the Emerging Markets Business, Eli Lilly
Panelist: Allie Karshenas, Ph.D, CLDir (ASCP), SS/BB, Director of Clinical Operations for Clinical & Pharmacologic Research Center (CPRC), West Virginia University

1:20 PM – Presentation: Doing Business with Algeria

His Excellency Ambassador Madjid Bouguerra, People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in conversation with Dr. Ismael Chikhoune, President & CEO, US-Algeria Business Council.

1:45 PM – CLOSING REMARKS

2:00 PM – NETWORKING