Malini N. Menon

The agenda of this year’s Asian Business Leaders Forum leads me to believe that it too may be the best ever. Quite clearly it benefits from the vision and organizing skills of Malini Menon. We all owe Ms. Menon our most sincere thanks. She has created a challenging agenda and brought together the very best people to advance it. I am particularly pleased to note the attention that you will pay tomorrow to the importance of education in Asia’s future.

In 2018, Menon was appointed as Chief Advisor for Outreach and Funding Initiatives along with her firm as the Strategic Partner to Dubai Cares, and is currently working with them to create the first-ever benefit event series in the UAE during the Expo 2020 Dubai. In 2019, in partnership with CNBC Arabiya, Menon launched the ABLF Talks TV series featuring Asian government and business leaders in 3-minute episodes across six leadership themes.

Since 2015, Menon has served as Advisor and Partner to several initiatives of the UAE government, most notably the UAE Prime Minister's Office and the World Government Summit, a global knowledge exchange platform at the intersection between government, futurism, technology and innovation that brings together more than 150 governments and international organisations to share knowledge and experiences, in the efforts to improve government work and offer better services to humanity. She also contributes to the initiatives of the Dubai Women Establishment and serves as Advisor across multiple editions of the Global Women's Forum Dubai. Menon serves in her capacity as Advisor along with her firm, IEDEA, as an Outreach Partner to global initiatives and events organised in Dubai such as the Arab Media Forum organised by the Dubai Press Club, The Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award organised by The Cultural Office of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing (NPHW), and the Dubai Investment Forum organised by the Department of Economic Development, Dubai.

The ABLF Awards 2014 felicitated: H.E. Reem Ebrahim Al Hashmi, Minister of State in the Cabinet, UAE; H.E. Shaukat Aziz, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan; H.E. Mohamed Thani Murshed Ghannam Al Rumaithi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Chamber, UAE; H.E. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO and Director of Mashreq Bank, UAE; Dr R. Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, Qatar; Dr Rana Kapoor, Founder, Chairman and CEO of YES BANK, India; and, Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO and Managing Director of Emaar Economic City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, among others.

Some of the recipients of the ABLF Awards 2013 include: H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman of Emirates Airline and Chief Executive of the Emirates Group, UAE; H.R.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain; Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO, Singtel, Singapore; Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Group of Hospitals, India; and William E. Heinecke, CEO and Chairman of Minor International, Thailand, among others.

On December 20, 2013, H.E. Thaksin Shinawatra, Former Prime Minister of Thailand formed the OneAsia2020 initiative, in partnership with Menon's ABLF Series. The OneAsia2020 initiative is a call to the Asian region for proactive intent, peace and partnership in a pro-Asia movement towards peace, diplomacy and better economic relations.

India and the UAE: In Celebration of a Legendary Friendship is a coffee-table book published in May 2011 by Menon and authored by Venu Rajamony, former Indian Consul-General in Dubai. The book traces historical between the India and the UAE, detailing political ties, business relations and social sector engagements. The book received royal patronage from H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, and a foreword by H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan, the then-Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research UAE.

In May 2010, The India-UAE Knowledge Forum, a joint venture by Menon's company IEDEA and the Rajen Kilachand Knowledge Foundation, was established, through which the potential areas of cooperation between India and UAE are discussed.

Since 2007, Menon has conceptualised and delivered Asia-centric leadership and business events and award ceremonies. Prime among them are 'Asian Business Leadership Forum Series (ABLF)™’, 'Asian Business Awards Middle East™', and the ‘ICLF Series’, among others.

In 2007, she founded Indian Expressions, now called IEDEA.