Markus Giebel International Businessman Made an Outstanding Contribution to Dubai

​There are many business personalities who have rendered yeoman service to the corporate sector of Dubai. Foremost among them are Markus Giebel, the top international businessman born in Germany and now domiciled in the United Arab Emirates.

Giebel is responsible for companies based in Dubai such as Eternity Medicine Institute where he is CEO, Co-owner and Board Member, Soliton Holding of which he is Managing Partner and Board Member and Aesthetics where he is Chairman. It’s his exceptional leadership skills and business acumen that have made him what he is today, helping him reach the zenith of the corporate sector. His achievements are still more remarkable considering that he’s only 49 years old.  

Eternity Medicine Institute owns and franchises clinics practising preventive and predictive healthcare and age management, which has as its goal saving lives and enhancing the quality of life through a proactive model of treatment encompassing conventional as well as unique methods of treatment. Eternity is one of the top health screening and plastic surgery centres in the world, and has programmes designed to safeguard life and increase vitality, thus leading to the optimisation of life.

Meanwhile, Soliton Holding operates in the areas of energy efficiency, real estate, healthcare, distribution and private equity. It has offices in Hong Kong and Germany too.

​Giebel’s rise to the top commenced with his career at Connectivity Solutions, USA as Product Manager in 1993. In 1999, he became Vice President of the US-based Fortune 500 company, Corning after its acquisition of Siemens NK with full P&L responsibility for the Original Equipment Manufacturer and Private Network Groups in Europe and the Middle East.

In 2008, he was appointed CEO of Deyaar Development PJSC (a leading, publicly traded, local and regional real estate developer and real estate services company based in Dubai and listed on the Dubai Financial Market), where he developed and implemented strategies to safeguard the company during the financial crisis.

Giebel holds the patent rights for over 20 innovations. He has two Master's degrees under his belt, in Business from Switzerland Business School and in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Munich.

Some of the top honours he had been bestowed with, in recognition of his contributions, are the Middle East Emerging CEO Award and Middle East Leadership Award from Deyaar Development in 2010, Business Award 2003 from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Corning Inventor of the Year awards in 2002 and 2001 and Corning Marketing Excellence Award in 2000.

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Deyaar Faces Testing Times Ahead as CEO Giebel

Deyaar Development is in turnaround mode, again, and for shareholders, it is like deja vu. In October 2008, just as the global financial crisis spread to Dubai, the property group hired a new management team. The move came seven months after the company had become embroiled in a fraud investigation that saw Zack Shahin, the then-chief executive, being detained on allegations of corruption. He is still in prison while the case continues.

With Markus Giebel installed as the new chief executive, the "turnaround" team quickly embarked on a bold strategy to reduce the default rate of homebuyers, create a distressed assets fund to buy properties from struggling buyers and consolidate projects. The plan started well, with Deyaar minimising the default rate to only about 5 per cent of its 5,000 customers. Mr Giebel and his team also had plans to take the developer into new markets such as Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, as well as build retirement homes and affordable housing.

The fresh, transparent approach inspired confidence, leading some major international investors to commit Dh200 million (US$54.4m) towards Deyaar's Dh500m distressed property fund. But the fund was put on hold at the end of last year when the investors lost confidence after the Dubai World conglomerate asked its creditors for a six-month standstill on its debts. And yesterday, less than two years since his appointment, Mr Giebel left the company. The move was part of a management shake-up that is expected to see the departure of other senior executives.

Saeed al Qatami has replaced Mr Giebel in an acting capacity - and he has his work cut out for him. "Coming up with a strategy is one thing but executing it is another," said Saud Masud, a property analyst with UBS. Nomura Securities downgraded Deyaar yesterday from "neutral" to "reduce" with a price target of Dh50, down from Dh92, citing a host of negatives including its small market capitalisation status, foreign ownership restrictions and lack of clarity on strategy.

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Dubai Entrepreneur Wins 2017 Asia-Pacific Healthcare

Dubai – MENA Herald: The CEO and co-owner of Dubai-based Eternity Clinics, has won the prestigious Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry Award in the 2017 Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards. The glittering awards ceremony was held at the JW Marriot Marquis Hotel, Dubai. Entrepreneurs from across the Middle East and Asia received awards for their outstanding performance and tenacity in developing successful businesses in the region. The jury based their selection on evidence of sustained business growth, investment in people, as well as the individual’s ‘belief and action’ as a responsible entrepreneur.

After the ceremony, Markus Giebel said: “My vision was always that with the correct screening and intervention, people needn’t wait to get sick before serious late-stage diseases are treated and cured. In the next ten years, regular health screening will be as commonplace as regular inspections are for your car today.” Markus Giebel said he was deeply honoured that the jury had selected him from among the many nominations in the category. The Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards are now in their third year.

In 2012, Markus Giebel opened the Middle East’s first health-screening centre in Dubai Marina and attracted world-leading physicians. Equipped with the most advanced diagnostic technology, at its core is award-winning Eternity developed software called SAM, or Software for Age Management. The software allows Eternity to screen, monitor and advise hundreds of thousands of patients, consistently and reliably, by utilising over 250,000 complete sets of health data for benchmarking, forecasting, disease modelling and other statistical evaluations.

Earlier this year, Eternity teamed up with Al Zahra Hospital and has just opened a brand-new wellness centre in their main facility on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Al Zahra Wellness Centre has access to the hospital’s world-class physicians and state-of-the-art screening facilities. Eternity aims to become the largest health screening and age management organisation in the Middle East.

Eternity is also developing the corporate health market. Eternity has developed a corporate health report that allows human resource managers to view the health of a company in the same way that the CFO would view their annual financial report. Eternity and its partners already work with some of the largest regional corporations. The software also features a smartphone app, where each client’s health data is stored, health trends are displayed and personalised nutritional and fitness advice is provided within three minutes of a screening. 

Eternity recently signed an agreement with a Chinese health tour operator to provide medical screening and age management services to their clients. The first trial group of health tourists were already screened in Dubai.

Speaking at the Awards ceremony, entrepreneur Markus Giebel summed up his vision: “We see a future where the current sick-care system evolves into a genuine healthcare system. 

At every regular car inspection nowadays, your car is plugged into an analytical computer system that provides vital data. Predictive and preventive healthcare works on the same principle and, in future, sophisticated computer systems will support your physician in his diagnosis and decision-making processes.”



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