McLoughlin named MEDFA president

Print Article E-Mail Article

The Dubai Duty Free managing director succeeds Mohamed Mounib as head of the regional association

Dubai Duty Free managing director Colm McLoughlin has been elected president of the Middle East Duty Free Association (MEDFA) for the next two years. He succeeds Mohamed Mounib in the role. The election was held in Dubai during the MEDFA Conference on November 27.

McLoughlin said: "It's a great honour for myself and for Dubai Duty Free and is the final accolade in what has been a tremendous year. Mohamed has done a terrific job and I will do my utmost to continue developing MEDFA's goal, to represent the interests of our members and raise awareness of duty-free in this region."

Anthony Chalhoub, managing director of Habchi & Chalhoub, was elected vice-president while Micheline Enkiri was named secretary-general.

The conference was attended by over 300 delegates and was hailed as a great success by outgoing president Mounib. He said MEDFA would continue to improve the event in future, and would develop other activites, including a new MEDFA certificate for training, involving the region's top operators.

Incoming MEDFA president Colm McLoughlin said he wanted MEDFA to be seen as the premier association in the world, much as the region had ambitions to showcase the best retail facilities. He said the association wanted to encourage information-sharing between partners and lead transparency between players in the trade. Mcloughlin added that MEDFA has a duty to support the Middle East industry, including the Middle East Exclusive exhibition, held after the conference this week. He criticised in particular the fragrance industry for failing to support the exhibition.

Next year's conference will be held on December 4-5. It will be preceded by the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup and followed on December 6-8 by the Middle East Exclusive exhibition.