Gulf Air senior executive receives global honour

National carrier Gulf Air's Chief People Officer Mr. Ahmed Al Banna was honoured in an international forum for his outstanding contributions in the field of Human Resources in Bahrain and globally during his 25 year-long career.

Mr. Al Banna received the award at the at the Asia HRD Congress 2009 held last week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia under the theme Changing Human Capital Landscapes: Technology, Strategy and Culture.

"Ahmed is passionate about people and the development of Human Resources and has contributed significantly to this discipline for over two decades," says Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Björn Näf.

"This is a well deserved award for Ahmed, and it is a great honour for Bahrain and Gulf Air to see a Bahraini being recognized at an international gathering for his achievements."

The Asia HRD Congress is a global forum for professionals around the world to share human resources development (HRD) practices. It recognises and promotes best practices in the area of development of human resources and training. The forum identifies and honours people, who have made outstanding contributions in these areas at its annual Congress.

Accepting the honour Mr. Al Banna said, "I have been fortunate enough to able to share my knowledge and lessons that I learnt over the years with my colleagues and my employers - present and the past - and it has been a rewarding experience. This award ceremony was a great opportunity for me to raise the profile of the Kingdom and Gulf Air in an international gathering."

Mr. Al Banna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Riyadh University and a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of Hull, UK. He joined Gulf Air from the Ministry of Labour, where he was Assistant Undersecretary for Training. He has also served BAPCO as Senior Supervisor Training and Administration, Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) as acting HR manager, Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mills Company as Strategy Planning Manager for Human Resources and, Arab Insurance Group (ARIG), where he was the Head of HR and Training.