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Biography |
Dr. Al Barrak is a distinguished
engineer and businessman of international repute. Since his appointment in 2002,
under his tutelage Zain’s (formerly MTC) customer base has increased from
600,000 to a conglomerate of 24 operations with over 69.5 million active
customers across the Middle East and Africa. In this period, Zain's market
capitalization on the Kuwait Stock Exchange has increased from less than US$2.5
billion to now exceed $20 billion (September 30, 2009). Dr. Al Barrak holds a
BSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Systems Engineering from Ohio
University, and a PhD in Information Systems & Technology Management from the
University of London. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University. Prior to his
appointment with MTC, Dr. Al Barrak was Managing Director of International
Turnkey Systems (ITS), one of the leading IT companies in the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) region. Under Dr. Al Barrak, ITS’s revenues grew from $5
million in 1985 to exceed $100 million in 2000. Dr. Al Barrak was Vice-Chairman
of the Social Development Office (SDO) of the Amiri Diwan in Kuwait; Chairman of
Egyptian software developer IT Soft; Chairman of Arab Telecom; and a
non-executive Director of Arab Management Association in Cairo. In 2005 he
received the Middle East’s ‘CEO of the Year’ award in the Information
Communication Technology sector, and in 2003 he received the ‘E-businessman of
the Year’ award in the region. Recently in September 2007, Dr Al-Barrak received
the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from leading industry magazine COMMSMEA. Dr
Al-Barrak is also an Executive Board Member of Celtel International and a Member
of the Board of the GSM Association |
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