New York, 24 October 2019 — ABANA, the preeminent US organization for finance professionals and institutions with an interest in the Middle East and North Africa, honored one of the most admired members of the global financial community, Farouk A. Bastaki, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).
In presenting the prestigious ABANA Achievement Award to Mr. Bastaki, ABANA Chairman Mahmoud Mamdani praised him for his inspiring leadership of the KIA and his dedication to “ensuring that the KIA, the world’s first sovereign wealth fund, remains one of its most successful.” Mamdani commended Bastaki’s commitment to future generations, both within Kuwait and globally, highlighting his role as a founding member of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund Framework.
Bastaki’s acceptance speech was a rallying call to his colleagues to commit themselves to collectively addressing climate change — a “reality that we can no longer ignore. Our actions have a profound impact. I urge each of you to take this issue seriously and… help in our efforts to address climate change. Just imagine the capabilities in this room if we used our skills and resources together.”
Bastaki was introduced by his friend and colleague David Rubenstein, Co-Founder & Co-Executive Chairman of The Carlyle Group, who reflected on the humility and integrity with which Bastaki approaches his work and professional relationships.
In addition to David Rubenstein, previous recipients of the ABANA Achievement Award who were present at the event include Laurence Fink, Hutham S. Olayan, Bader Al Sa’ad and Richard Debs.
The celebration brought together 500 international dignitaries, business leaders and professionals from the financial services industry. A host of corporate sponsors, as well as Partners The Blackstone Group, Cornell Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Global Infrastructure Partners participated in the event.
In the picture: (left to right)
- David M. Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of The Carlyle Group
- Farouk A. Bastaki, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)
- Mahmoud Mamdani, Chairman of ABANA
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For more information on ABANA or the 2019 ABANA Achievement Award Dinner, contact: Nada Ezzat – nezzat@abana.co or +1 212 599 3030 ext. 3