Quo Vadis? Global Trade, Shipping, Geopolitics

• Distinguished Fellow, Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, Washington DC
• Member of the Board, The Greek Competitiveness Council, Compete.GR
• Member of the Board, ΚΕΦΙΜ, Center of Liberal Studies
• Life-Member, The Jockey Club, The Greek Horse-Racing Authority
• fm. Member of Parliament - Attica Region
• fm. Deputy Minister of Finance
• fm. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
• fm. Chairman of the Board: PEPSICO Greece, ERICSSON Greece, AGET-HERACLES CEMENT, NOVA PAY-TV GROUP
• fm. Country Head & Treasurer, CITIBANK Greece
• fm. Vice-President, CITIBANK New York, Treasury Division
• President, The Hellenic Golf Federation
• Ph.D Econ. New York University, MBA Fin. Columbia U., MA Econ. NYU, BA Intl.' Affairs, The George Washington University (GW)

Mr. George D. Gourdomichalis was born in 1967 in London.
He attended Athens College and went on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BA in International Economics and a BA in Political Science.
He further earned an MSc in Ocean Marine Transportation Management from the Maritime Academy of the State of New York.
In 1989 he joined Republic National Bank of New York as a management trainee and worked on their trading floor. In 1992 he joined S.S. Maritime Inc. of New York, where he worked as a chartering and S&P broker and was responsible for commercial management of Baltmed Shipping Co.
In 1996 he returned to Greece and co-founded Gourdomichalis Naftiki Eteria S.A. In 2000 he co-founded Free Ships S.A. and in 2003 he co-founded Free Bulkers S.A. These activities were consolidated and in 2005 were successfully merged resulting in the public listing of FreeSeas Inc. on the NASDAQ Exchange. This shareholding was sold in January 2007 where upon he co-founded G. Bros Maritime S.A., he is currently CEO of Blue Wall Shipping and Phoenix Shipping & Trading S.A. George serves on the RINA Hellenic Committee, the Board of Directors of the American P&I Club and the Industry Advisory Board of the North American Merchant Ministries Association, he is President of the Board of Directors of the Piraeus Marine Club, member of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce responsible for the shipping industry, member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and member of the Baltic Exchange.

Arbitrator and Mediator. LMAA Full Member, President and Full Member Hong Kong Maritime Arbitration Group. Technical consultant. Former Managing Director, Hong Kong Shipowners Association.

Harris is the founder and managing partner of Neptune International AG, a private investment and advisory firm focusing on high impact technologies & real assets

He is currently Partner and Member of the Board of Advent Technologies Inc., a leading producer of fuel cells and core materials, components and processes that will revolutionize the energy sector.

He has held various executive and management positions in leading institutions in the financial sector over the last 25 years. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board of Amsterdam Trade Bank from March 2016 to February 2020.

Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of AMCI - a private group that focusses in mining
projects and operations, trading, transportation, and private equity investments.
Between 2009 and 2013 he was the Managing Director of Energy, Commodities and Transportation, and a member of the Management Group of ABN AMRO, where he led the international expansion of the business.

Harris started his career with Bank Mees & Hope in 1993 and held a range of senior management positions within MeesPierson and Fortis in The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and Greece, always focusing on debt and equity investments in real assets, as well as in investment banking.

He is passionate about technology, education and digital transformation. He was one of the first signatories of the Poseidon Principles, a supporter of United World Colleges in the Netherlands, and member of Abundance 360.

Harris holds an MSc in Business Administration and Management from the University of Piraeus, Greece, and an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University), the Netherlands.
He also successfully completed the General Management Program of Harvard Business School.

More than 25 years of experience in financial markets analysis as a markets economist/strategist on both the buy side (fixed income portfolio manager/macro strategist) and sell side (core client groups have been institutional investors, and corporate clients - mainly from the shipping industry). As a financial markets economist, I have always worked in a commercial (i.e. Markets) environment, focussing on topical research that gives answers to today's questions.

Mr. Buamim is a board member of Gulf Craft Inc and was the former Board Member and MD and Group CEO of Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC and the Board Member of Drake and Scull International PJSC. Mr. Buamim is the Chairman of the Dubai Council for Marine and Maritime Industries, the specialized industry council formed to promote the interests of the offshore and maritime industry in Dubai and the UAE. He is also Chairman of Arab Association for Petroleum Professionals (AAPP), for the professionals in the oil and gas industry in the Middle East and the world to connect, network and collaborate to tackle major challenges facing the industry. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Federal Committee for the Revision and Update of the UAE Maritime Law, the committee was created to review and update the UAE Commercial Maritime Law and formulate a new & futuristic law that will propel and govern the ongoing potential growth of business and the maritime industry in the UAE and the region.

Mr. Buamim is the former Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Drydocks world and Maritime world and Chairman of the Board of DDW-PaxOcean Asia PTE Singapore and has successfully led the organization through its restructuring during the global financial crisis. His leadership and direction have been instrumental in the company being able to acquire several pioneering projects on a global scale. This leadership has seen the company move from close to financial failure, create major synergies, recognize potential and place the organization firmly on a path driven to sustainable profitability and growth.

Mr. Buamim is a Leading veteran in the oil and gas industry worked with Conoco and ConocoPhillips for 26 years and held various corporate and management positions, including vice president of Dubai oil company, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips in the United Arab Emirates. He was also the President and CEO of Regional Clean Sea Organization (RECSO) the oil industry environmental arm in the Gulf region.

Mr. Buamim is involved in a number of leading private & public organization, he is member of the Dubai Government Crises and Disasters Management Team, member of the Advisory board of Emirates Classification Society (Tasneef), Vice Chairman of the Federal Transportation Authority Technical Committee, Advisor to the Career Gulf Development and Senior Advisor in the Middle East and North Africa- Business strategies & International Energy.

Mr. Buamim has won many Awards and life time achievements, including being recognized as the most influential maritime top 50 personalities in the world by Tanker Shipping & Trade magazine of London 2015, The Maritime Standard Hall of Fame 2016, H.H sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Business Award 2014, The Tatweej Personality Award for leadership, management and business 2014, The "Outstanding Lifetime Achievement" award from Lloyd's List London for Business 2014, The year personality award in the field of marine and maritime industry by International Ships Techniques 2013, Sword of Honors from the British Safety Council “ London 2014, The International Prize in Human Resource Management, The Archimedes Achievement Award "for excellence and exchange of knowledge" - United States of America and many others.

Holds Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics - United Kingdom and the National Administration degree in Crises Management and incident Command - United States of America and the High-accreditation on international human resources management (IPM) & a Credited executive in Mergers, acquisitions and transformation including corporate restructuring, finance and growth.