Team size: Eight to ten

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

There are so many projects we are taking part in, most which are related to the business strategy of expanding our business within different continents; establishing new companies; and entering partnerships, especially in the AI field.

My legal team has also been recently involved in a transaction related to an international defence and security program. It was a homeland security contract for the Ministry of Defence of a central Asian country. The challenge was constructing a straightforward and secure contractual structure among all stakeholders.

There was a multi-national stakeholder structure in this transaction where the end-user was a military organisation, the acquisition body was a state department of that central Asian country, and the contractor responsibility was shared between a European company and my company. The most challenging part of that transaction was the huge business culture difference and language barrier between the parties.

What strategic priorities are guiding you and your team in 2024?

One of the priorities guiding my team and I in 2024 is the strategic objective of my company to expand its defence business in the international defence market. 2024 is a year where most of the developed and developing countries have increased their defence budgets due to sensitive international conflicts such as the Russia – Ukraine war, Gaza situation and the long-lasting Syria internal conflict. Due to that, there are lots of defence related business opportunities arising especially in Middle East, Central Asia and East Europe regions. Therefore, we have prioritised supporting our international business effort of our Defence division as much as possible.

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

It is not business related, and I am happy that it is not! I have accepted the idea that we need to spare time for different things that make us happy other than success and satisfaction at work.

I am – and always have been – passionate about animals, domestic or wild. In the process of expanding our living areas, we human beings destroyed their habitat and left them without a proper environment. People complain about the large number of displaced suffering animals and call on the government to rid the streets of them, which I find incredibly disturbing; we destroyed their habitat, invaded their homes and are now complaining about their existence.

I am passionate about creating a place where those animals can be taken care of and do not have to suffer to find food or a safe space.