Khalid Hadi is the Acting Secretary General of the Gulf Downstream Association (GDA), Kingdom of Bahrain and also holds the position of Deputy General Manager Engineering Division of Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).

Having worked with Bapco for 40 years in various positions such as Senior Manager Engineering Services Unit he has many years of experience in the Oil & Gas Industry.

He holds BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic, UK with First Class Honors. Diploma ILM Level 3 Certificate in Management.

Khalid has vast experience in Engineering and Project Management of capital and EPC projects in Refinery and Petrochemical Plants. Experienced in design and detail engineering of static, rotating equipment and skid mounted package systems.

Managed Engineering Division comprising of Plant Engineering Department, Reliability Engineering department and Process Control Engineering Department as Senior Manager Engineering Service Unit.

Enjoys Sport and Social gatherings.

Raj Jhajharia is the Technical Manager of the Gulf Downstream Association (GDA), Kingdom of Bahrain. In this role, he oversees the functioning of 10 Technical Committees formed by the Subject Matter Experts from founding and member companies of GDA. He is steering several initiatives under the umbrella of GDA to create different platforms to share knowledge, experience and best practices among GDA members.

Raj has more than 40 years of experience – 35 of which he spent with ADNOC in various capacities covering the entire spectrum of Oil & Gas operations (from Upstream to Downstream). His last role in ADNOC was Chief Risk Management Analyst, which enabled him for 10 years to oversee the risk assessment of all the industrial and non-industrial facilities of ADNOC Group of Companies, including Refineries & Petrochemical plants. During this period, he organized many technical conferences and seminars for ADNOC Group in the field of Risk management in collaboration with international risk consultants.

He holds a B. Tech. (Gold Medalist) in Petroleum Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (ISM). He also holds Project Management Professional (PMP), NEBOSH – IGC and ITIL Foundation certificates.

Raj is a PMI certified trainer for PMP Exam Preparation courses and has trained more than 100 aspiring Project Managers. He has also been a contributor to the PMBOK, Earned Value Analysis Standard, and Project Manager Competency Development Framework by PMI. He successfully established the first PMO in ADNOC and managed many projects creating significant values for the corporates while mentoring many young professionals. He also led the project of establishing Competency Assurance Management Systems (CAMS) under selected disciplines in ADNOC. He is currently leading the Knowledge Management initiative of the UAE chapter of PMI in a volunteering capacity. He periodically writes in the media on contemporary topics and gives motivational talks.

Mr Ahmed Al Awadhi is, currently, heading the HR, Finance, Admin and IT Departments at Gulf Downstream Association (GDA) and a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for GDA Leadership and People Development Technical Committee.

He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Human Resources Management from Abu Dhabi University, UAE and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from Ajman University of Science and Technology, UAE.

He is, also, a Certified Professional in Human Resources and Compensation (CPHRC) and a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualified.

Mr Al Awadhi has a considerable experience and knowledge in various HR and Operational areas, including employee relations, recruitment, payroll, performance management, training and development, HRIS, internal governance, and legal compliance.

He was, previously, a Regional Manager at Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group, one of the largest, independent family-owned multinational businesses in the Middle East, where he was responsible for supporting and implementing the Group’s vision and transformation programme.