Nima Abu Wardeh, the presenter of BBC’s Middle East Business Report (MEBR), will be anchoring the upcoming 'OER Debate and Top 20 Awards' to be held in Muscat.

More than 200 business leaders will be at the Capital Market Authority on October 25 to debate on 'The Way Ahead – Road to Vision 2020' for Oman's economy.

The debate will consist of four questions: 'Are we out of the woods?' 'Is this the new normal?' 'Are the government and the private sector working at cross purposes?' and 'Is enough being done to achieve Vision 2020?'

Wardeh, a bilingual English Arabic broadcast journalist specialising in Arab issues, will be the moderator for the 2010 OER Debate and Top 20 Awards.

She presents BBC World’s weekly business and finance programme, MEBR and was part of the team that set up the programme. She has reported, produced and presented programmes for Al Jazeera and Dubai’s Business Channel as well as BBC World.

Before joining MEBR, Nima was a regular guest on BBC Radio 4’s Four Corners addressing Arab issues, and a guest on BBC World’s Dateline London as a regional expert.

Wardeh is regarded as an opinion leader and in this capacity is approached by think-tanks, the corporate world and government organisations for her insight. She is also invited to give talks as well as to participate in off-the-record discussions about the region.

Wardeh provides consultancy and media training to government institutions and the private sector. She has written opinion pieces for Forbes Arabia and has taught media courses at Zayed University in the UAE as a visiting lecturer.

Wardeh regularly chairs, and is a speaker at, regional and global gatherings, notably the World Economic Forum and the Arab Business Council meetings, as well as other events and awards evenings.

She is keen to encourage talent and the region’s youth and has helped create competitions that serve this purpose, such as the Scintilla Monaco poetry competition. She has also judged numerous awards, competitions including Dubai’s mini film festival, and been an on-screen judge for Discovery’s Reel Race.

As a Young Arab Leader, she has received awards for excellence from regional businesses and communities. Wardeh won the first Oxford Alumni debate held in this region in June 2009.-TradeArabia News Service