Three Bahrain-based chief executives have made it to Forbes Middle East's list of the top 100 executive management heading global corporate powerhouses in the Mena region.

The highest ranked of them is BNP Paribas' Middle East and Africa chief executive Jean Christophe Durand, in 15th place, followed by DHL Express' Mena chief executive Nour Suliman, placed 24, and American Express' Mena chief executive Mazin Khoury in 34th place, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Under the theme "Global Meets Local," at an event held in Dubai, Forbes Middle East's editor-in-chief Khuloud Al Omian along with executive editor Hannah Stewart presented awards to a stellar line-up of leading executives ranked amongst the top 100.

Along with Suliman, some of the other winners were Intel Corporation Mena regional general manager Taha Khalifa, Daimler ME and Levant president and chief executive Mike Belk, Volkswagen ME managing director Thomas Milz, Novartis Pharma Services head of ME cluster Walid Kattouha, McDonald's ME development MD Yousif Abdulghani and Total ME managing director Philippe Cabus.

"Global companies are increasingly looking eastward in pursuit of corporate success," Stewart said.

"Economic growth for the GCC is expected to rise to 4.1 per cent next year compared with an anticipated global growth of 3.6 per cent," she stated.

"This is not just a percentage - behind this growth are a host of business leaders who are driving not only their organisations but economies at the national, regional and global levels towards prosperity," remarked Stewart.

"Family businesses, government and entrepreneurial enterprises stand as three main pillars of the region's economic success, but so too do global corporations, led here on Middle Eastern soil by a pool of international talent," she added.-TradeArabia News Service