Ramy Jallad

Ramy Jallad is the Group CEO of the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) and has more than 30 years of proven expertise in building economic zones from scratch, transforming business environments, augmenting organizations into multi-million-dollar behemoths, and being a key contributor to driving the UAE’s economic development across the energy, real estate, airports, construction, industrial, startup, SME, and business sectors.

Ramy is currently on the Board of the Ras Al Khaimah Government Economic Committee and Council, which drives key decisions on the GDP growth of the emirate. He is also on the Board of the RAK International Corporate Centre (RAKICC), which oversees the largest offshore jurisdiction of the UAE. As the Board Member of the RAK Academic Zone, the CEO of RAK FDI, and the CEO of OneRAK, he drives policies to attract investments, businesses, and educational institutions into the emirate of RAK.
He is also a well-respected industry expert, a customer-centric leader, and a globally acknowledged keynote speaker experienced in boosting foreign direct investment (FDI), simplifying the ease of doing business, driving digital integration, enhancing customer experience, improving liveability and service delivery, and creating SME- and industrial-friendly ecosystems.

At RAKEZ, Ramy has played a key role in doubling its growth from 7,500 companies to 15,000+ companies through a hands-on approach to collaboration, the customer journey, cost-effective management, as well as cutting the fat from operations to enhance efficiencies. He also led the successful merger of the RAK Free Trade Zone (RAK FTZ) and the RAK Investment Authority (RAKIA) into the combined RAKEZ entity.

Previously, he was the Vice President of Property and Freezones at Abu Dhabi Airports, where he set up the Abu Dhabi Airport Freezone, and managed all real estate assets for the airports. He was also the Executive Vice President of the business development division for the $4.3bn Dubai Pearl project, prior to which he held senior positions at Dubai Holding and TECOM. His illustrious career has also seen him work at Shell Oil Company, Caltex Oil Co., and Consolidated Contractors Company.

An engineer with a background in business, Ramy has always built high-performing teams, including selecting and leading executive management staff, with a specific focus on fair, balanced, empathetic, and visionary leadership.