Namir Hourani is the Managing Director of the organizing committee for the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS - www.gmisummit.com). A joint initiative between the UAE Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), GMIS is the world’s first cross-industry forum dedicated to shaping the future of manufacturing. 

Namir is also a passionate entrepreneur and owner of Marj Group (www.marj.com), a private holding and investment company he established in Dubai in 2008 with investments that span across multiple sectors such as Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical Distribution, Child Education, Pet Care, and Facilities Maintenance. With an avid interest in technology and the way it has been evolving over the past decade, Namir invested, through Marj Group, in a technology fund which holds a portfolio of renowned Middle Eastern tech companies such as Property Finder, Careem, fetchr, shedul, and bayzat. 

Prior to the role of Managing Director, Namir volunteered to establish the inaugural GMIS in 2017 at the Paris Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi by leading all marketing and operational logistics on behalf of the organising committee. During his tenure as a volunteer, Namir was instrumental in transforming GMIS into a platform for global good. This transformation has transpired in the launch of GMIS' first endeavor - the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity (www.makingprosperity.com), a global impact initiative which aims to unite the world’s leading manufacturers, start-ups and entrepreneurs, governments, UN agencies and philanthropists, academia and researchers, to form a community dedicated to spreading global prosperity through the art of ‘making’. 

Namir started his career in marketing and held various roles at Procter & Gamble, Universal McCann, 3M and Impact BBDO, and credits his accomplishments to the experience he gained from working with these global organizations. 

Namir is of Lebanese descent, born and raised in Dubai. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from the American University in Dubai (2003) and attended Georgetown University (2001) in Washington DC.