TAGorg Announces New Global Advisory Board

AMMAN - The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg) announced on October 12, 2005, the formation of a new high-level board of advisors – The TAGorg International Board of Advisors (TIBA). The members are: José Maria Figueres Olsen, Sergio Marchi, Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, John Small, Edward Gress, and Heinz Goddar.

TAGorg, which has been breaking new grounds in the Arab world since it was founded as a public accounting firm in 1972, has positioned itself as the leading Arab professional services group worldwide. The services of this pan-Arab firm now include accounting, auditing, financial and management consulting, intellectual property and legal services, international trade facilitation, formal and on-line training, information technology, translation, and others.

The increasing scope and sophistication of the projects, challenges, and relationships that TAGorg has undertaken, led the group management to conclude that it is now appropriate to form an external advisory board. While such boards may become mandatory for public companies as a vehicle to preserve the rights of shareholders and other stakeholders, they are not required for private companies in general and particularly in the Arab region.

Nevertheless, TIBA members will provide strategic advice to TAGorg Chairman Talal Abu-Ghazaleh on matters that will assist in business development and promotion. They will be responsible for policy level guidance in the areas of governance, business development, investment and project championship.

TIBA reflects the international scope and sophistication of TAGorg’s business and civic interests and its commitment to the developing world as a member of the global community.

TAGorg has led efforts in the Arab region to promote the United Nations Global Compact, aiming to deploy the influence of private sector leadership in curing social ills. The group has long made social commitment a central core of its corporate mission in particular contributing to the social and economic development of the Arab world. TAGorg is continuously involved in development issues through its sponsorship and mentoring of Arab NGOs.

Over the years, such activities have created an ever broadening network of relationships and commitments. In this regard, TIBA members will be able to draw from their respective experiences and provide TAGorg with invaluable advice on these broader matters.


The TIBA board includes:

H.E. José Maria Figueres Olsen - Director of, and advisor to a number of international boards. He has a unique and distinguished background combining a highly successful career in business public service and international organizations. A graduate in engineering from the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, and later in his career, in public administration at Harvard University. He initially held various appointments in the private sector, lately at the senior executive/president level. This was followed by his service in the government as the Minister of Foreign Trade and then Minister of Agriculture for Costa Rica culminating in his election as President of Costa Rica from 1994 - 1998. His international work has included, amongst others, Chairperson of the UN ICT Task Force (2000-2003) and more recently CEO of the World Economic Forum (2000-2004).

H.E. Sergio Marchi - President of Legacy House Investments in Geneva and a board member of several private companies and non-profit advisory boards. Previously he enjoyed a distinguished political and diplomatic career in Canada where his twenty-five year record of public service included responsibilities as a Toronto City Councilor, member of the Canadian Parliament, Federal Cabinet Minister for three portfolios including International Trade, and Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organization and UN Agencies in Geneva.

H.E. Abdel Hamid Mamdouh - Director of the Trade in Services Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO). A lawyer by training, he was responsible for legal affairs relating to trade in services in the WTO. He also served as assistant to the Deputy Director General of the GATT. As a member of Egypt’s Foreign Service, he was a lead trade negotiator. In addition, he served as advisor to the Trade Minister on international trade and legal matters.

Professor Edward Gress - Professor of Accounting at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. He has also served as Chairman of the Department of Accounting and the Director of Graduate Accounting Programs. His business experience includes active participation in real estate development and funding. He also serves as a consultant to manufacturing, environmental, and service companies, and to large real estate and oil and gas syndicates. In addition to formal teaching and business consulting, Dr. Gress is active in the presentation of seminars in accounting and financial subjects to financial institutions, government agencies, and industry in the United States and in the Arab world.

Professor John Small C.B.E., D.Litt - Emeritus Professor of Accountancy and Finance at Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh. He is a Chartered Certified Accountant, a Chartered Management Accountant, a director of a number of private sector companies, and a past President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK.

Dr. Heinz Goddar - German Patent Attorney and European Patent and Trademark Attorney working at Munich. Before becoming a patent attorney Goddar started his career as an Assistant Professor at the Polymer Department of the University of Mainz, Germany. He is particularly involved in international patent and licensing matters, including litigation and arbitration. He is an Associate Judge at the Senate for Patent Attorneys Matters at the German Federal Court of Justice and a Senior Advisor to the German Industrial Investment Council (IIC), Berlin, with a specific responsibility for IIC Life Sciences and Chemicals.

In addition to this, he teaches Patent and Licensing Law as a Lecturer at the University of Bremen, Germany, and the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), Munich, Germany. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Santa Clara, CA, U.S.A., the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, U.S.A., the National Chengchi University, Taipei, and the Tokai University, Tokyo. He is a past President of LES International and of LES Germany.