Murtaza is Regional Managing Partner at Fragomen for the Middle East and Africa region. Murtaza has been with Fragomen for over 16 years and is responsible for Fragomen’s practices and network partners spanning across the Middle East and Africa region. He has extensive experience of working with large companies alongside representing the SME sector. He has deep knowledge of regional business immigration and related people mobility and deployment topics. Murtaza is a Fellow at the ICAEW having worked in the Audit and Corporate Finance Advisory divisions at a Big Four Accounting firm.

Murtaza is considered an expert in migration as it relates to business. He has spoken at numerous global and regional events, published several articles and, as a business representative, he has advised and provided input at the intergovernmental process of the United Nations in adopting and subsequently implementing the Global Compact on Migration.

Iftekharul is the Practice Leader of Fragomen’s Abu Dhabi office. He has been with the firm since 2008 and is responsible for managing the UAE inbound immigration team. He has extensive experience in UAE immigration policies and procedures, and leverages this knowledge to provide trusted immigration support to a diverse range of clients across numerous industries, from engineering to manufacturing. Iftekharul also maintains strong relationships with government authorities in the UAE and is relied upon to resolve particularly complex cases or roadblocks in immigration processes.

Hana Al Khatib is a Senior Associate in the Abu Dhabi office. Admitted to the Jordanian Bar in 2012, Hana is currently preparing to become a dual-qualified lawyer by sitting for the QLTS to qualify as a solicitor in England & Wales.

Hana works on different type of commercial, employment and civil litigation cases, and has accordingly developed practical experience in many cases including construction, contracting, commercial agencies related disputes, disputes related to employment, commercial transactions, and other cases related to the business of local and international clients. Hana advises local, regional and international corporate clients on a wide of range of matters related to business set-up, setting up branches, company restructuring, drafting and providing legal advices in this regard

Hana is also the National Representative of the UAE at the Young Lawyers Association (AIJA).

John McGowan has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi for over 25 years. During this time, John has represented major construction project stakeholders (employers, engineers, architects, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers), multi-national corporations, local U.A.E. holding companies, energy companies, real estate developers and a U.A.E. free zone. His principal focus is dispute resolution in the construction and energy sectors. He serves as both an arbitrator and advocate in arbitrations, and is well versed in the rules, procedures and applicable laws in U.A.E. arbitrations including post-arbitral award enforcement proceedings. John served as U.A.E. counsel on behalf of the Dubai government (Dubai Civil Aviation Authority) in defense against a major international contractor’s post-award enforcement actions in the USA and France. More recently, John has been listed on the inaugural roster of arbitrators at the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC) in Uzbekistan. John’s work includes overseeing/managing complex U.A.E. litigation. He also served on GALC’s team tasked by the Ministry of Finance to draft the English translation of the U.A.E. bankruptcy law [original Arabic]. John is a founding member of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Abu Dhabi, and formerly served as both a member-at-large of the Board of Directors and an officer (Secretary). He is a member of the Pennsylvania bar in the United States.