Istithmar World, a premier investment company with a broad international portfolio across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, on Thursday announced its new board of directors.

The new board has four new members who bring extensive expertise in managing global financial investments and assets.

With Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as Chairman, the seven-member Board comprises: Jamal Majid bin Thaniah, group CEO, Ports and Freezone World and vice-chairman, DP World; Eisa Kazim, chairman of Borse Dubai, managing director and CEO of the Dubai Financial Market and director of Nasdaq Dubai; Talha Sayed Abdulkader Al Hashimi, chief executive officer of Bright Start LLC; Yuvraj Narayan, chief financial officer, DP World; Madhav Dhar, founder and managing partner of GTI Capital Group; and Sekhar Bahadur, former managing director and vice-chairman, Financial Sponsors Group of Deutsche Bank AG, London.

“The composition and combined international and regional experience of the new board will further strengthen the operations of Istithmar World and its subsidiaries, providing strategic guidance and counsel to achieve our growth goals in today’s challenging economic environment. With our diverse and growing portfolio of investments across global markets, the new board will focus on creating long-term value and drive the expansion of our portfolio across key verticals,” said Bin Sulayem.

He added: “We are thankful to the guidance of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, whose visionary outlook has catalysed the growth of Dubai, despite the challenging global economic environment. Under the new board, we will continue to emphasise on value-added investments that maximise asset appreciation. I thank the members of the earlier board for their invaluable advice and efforts in steering the organisation through challenging market conditions.”

Bin Thaniah and Narayan were members of the earlier board, with Thaniah managing a diversified portfolio of businesses in a variety of sectors including transport, urban development, and financial services; and Narayan having close to 15 years of experience in international corporate and project finance.

Leading Borse Dubai, Kazim has strong industry insights on financial markets, while Al Hashimi’s Bright Star LLC has strong interests in real estate and investments, having recently announced the launch of a new Sunilresort on Jumeirah beach.

Having earlier worked with Morgan Stanley and leading the company’s Emerging Markets Group in Investment Management, Dhar’s GTI Capital Group is an India-focused investment company.

He is also a member of the Prime Minister of India’s High Level Committee for Infrastructure Finance. Bahadur has manager several important private equity and corporate client relationships during his long-career with Deutsche Bank.