In days 15–16 November 2018 The Russell Bedford International regional meeting was held in Dubai. The delegates were greeted with dinner at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, which gave everyone the opportunity to meet their friends and get acquainted with new members Russell Bedford.
The meeting was opened by Naresh Shah, director of Russell Bedford (Dubai) Limited and partner of London's member Russell Bedford – Lubbock Fine. A presentation on the development of the global network followed. Stephen Hamlet, CEO of RBI presented four new members in the region; namely companies from Bahrain, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Stephen also confirmed the recent increase in network efficiency by 38% in Africa and 24% In the Middle East.
The morning session included presentations of all present, information about changes in their practices and national novelties, including economic situation, financial results and challenges affecting companies.
After dinner, we had the pleasure of welcoming a guest, Sunita Singh-Dalal, a legal advisor at Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP, who discussed the evolution of the family office and planning successions in the United Arab Emirates. An extremely interesting speech was especially about how to manage wealth/inheritance in the context of Sharia law.
The last session of that day was led by Stephen Hamlet, starting a round table discussion on cooperation, network expansion and the acquisition of further members of Russell Bedford in the Middle East and Africa. This session generated fantastic interactions and ideas among participating delegates.
The meeting ended with an informal dinner, which allowed delegates to continue talking to friends and colleagues in a more casual environment, building and strengthening relations.