Awards Committee
The following 16-member AWJ Awards Committee of renowned and distinguished, independent & veteran industry officials, observers, designers, aficionados and connoisseurs of watches, jewellery and pens, has been constituted by MPP-ME, Middle East representatives of Arabian Watches & Jewellery (AWJ) & PenME magazines. As is evident, the Committee is diverse in nature and has been composed of a broad spectrum of experienced and well-known professionals from the Middle East region.
The make-up of the body is designed and mandated to lead, oversee and eventually decide the nominations for the Final Awards in the pre-determined categories for Watches, Jewellery and Pens. In doing so, the Committee is expected to fulfill its role as the final authority of the awards to be presented to the industry, ensure its independence and supervise both adherence and enforcement of rigorous criteria related to the pre and post-selection process.
The following is the composition of the members of the Committee by MPP-ME sponsored First Middle East Watches, Jewellery & Pens Awards:
HE Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa: Chairman, Arabian Exhibition Management (AEM), Kingdom of Bahrain HE Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahrain Royalty is the Chairman of Arabian Exhibition Management, the organizers of the Jewellery Arabia Exhibition Series, the most prestigious, long-running, largest industry exhibition of its kind in the Middle East. As the long-serving head of AEM, Sheikh Mohamed has tremendous insights into the watches & jewellery trade and is well acquainted with the industry in the region. He is also a keen collector of elite watches and artifact portraying Middle East and Islamic Art.
Sheikh (Eng.) Mishaal Al Sudairy: President Mishaal Al Sudairy Office for Commercial Supplies, Saudi Arabia and President of Saudi Motor Sports Committee Eng. Mishal Al Sudairy, is a successful entrepreneur with businesses in IT-related companies in the Kingdom. He is a keen watch collector.
Abbas Behbehani: Director, Behbehani Group, Kuwait, is a scion of the powerful business family and in possession of the largest watch collections in the Middle East.
Akram Miknas: President & CEO, Fortune Promoseven Network, Bahrain & Middle East, and a passionate collector of watches, jewellery and vintage cars.
Keith Strandberg: International Watch Editor
IRoberta Naas: USA-based Roberta Naas brings her rich journalistic experience to AWJ Magazine. A 25-year veteran observer who has written extensively about jewellery & watches for a wide variety of consumer & luxury lifestyle publications, Naas will write and report on industry & consumer-related issues, fashions and trends.
Carol Yaghi: News Editor & Reporter for Arabian Watches & Jewellery Magazine (AWJ), graduated from the Lebanese University Faculty of Information & Documentation. Has 15-year of extensive and practical experience in daily and monthly periodicals as well as radio production. Currently, located in the UAE.
Nader Freiha: Publisher of Media Concessionaires & providers of multi-media solutions for the Watches, Jewellery & Pens industries in the Middle East.
Abbas Behbehani: Chairman, Arabian Exhibition Management (AEM), Kingdom of Bahrain HE Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahrain Royalty is the Chairman of Arabian Exhibition Management, the organizers of the Jewellery Arabia Exhibition Series, the most prestigious, long-running, largest industry exhibition of its kind in the Middle East. As the long-serving head of AEM, Sheikh Mohamed has tremendous insights into the watches & jewellery trade and is well acquainted with the industry in the region. He is also a keen collector of elite watches and artifact portraying Middle East and Islamic Art.
Azza Fahmy: Eminent Egyptian jewellery designer and owner of Azza Fahmy Traditional Jewellery and Art Boutique who manufactures and markets her own brand of jewellery internationally. She graduated in interior design from the faculty of Fine Arts and studied jewellery craft at the City of London Polytechnic.
Carol Yaghi: News Editor & Reporter for Arabian Watches & Jewellery Magazine (AWJ), graduated from the Lebanese University Faculty of Information & Documentation. Has 15-year of extensive and practical experience in daily and monthly periodicals as well as radio production. Currently, located in the UAE.
Jehane Ragheb Alami: A Lebanese Jewellery Designer.
Pooja Agarwal: A graduate gemmologist from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, Singapore-based Pooja Agarwal is a specialist writer and columnist for global fashion, watch and jewellery magazines. Her passion for jewels was greatly ignited after her stay in the Italian fashion city of Milan. She has travelled extensively.
Roberta Naas: USA-based Roberta Naas brings her rich journalistic experience to AWJ Magazine. A 25-year veteran observer who has written extensively about jewellery & watches for a wide variety of consumer & luxury lifestyle publications, Naas will write and report on industry & consumer-related issues, fashions and trends.
Moaz Barakat:Ex-Managing Director, World Gold Council (WGC) for Middle East, Turkey & Pakistan. Mr. Barakat is also part of the regulatory and enforcement policy and decision-making processes of various institutional bodies.
Nader Freiha: Publisher of Media Concessionaires & providers of multi-media solutions for the Watches, Jewellery & Pens industries in the Middle East.
Abbas Behbehani: Director, Behbehani Group, Kuwait, is a scion of the powerful business family and in possession of the largest watch collections in the Middle East.
Dr. Fahad Al Nouri: Cardiologist, Prince Sultan Cardiac Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & professional pen connoisseur and fervent watch collector.
Dikran Tchablakian: CEO, CompuMe, Saudi Arabia / UAE & a dedicated pen aficionado and avid watch collector.
Keith Strandberg: International Watch Editor.
Nader Freiha: Publisher of Media Concessionaires & providers of multi-media solutions for the Watches, Jewellery & Pens industries in the Middle East.
Contact Info
MPP-ME LLC
P.O. Box 118370
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Phone: +971-4-445 6700
Fax: +971-4-445 6707
E mail: info@mpp-me.com



