Kareem Shamma

Qiddiya Investment Company - Chief Development Officer

Kareem Shamma is a real estate and construction expert with over 35 years of experience in the industry, primarily in the GCC. He possesses a special flair for managing and driving challenging and iconic projects, all the way from drawing board to reality. Shamma has been at the helm of key projects in hospitality, leisure and mixed-use real estate development. With a Masters degree in Structural Engineering from Imperial College, London, his technical experience began with projects covering bridges & highways, dredging & reclamation and geotechnical engineering, working for many years with global consultants Dar Al Handasah. He moved on to Project Management, honing his commercial and development skills on such iconic projects as Amwaj Islands in Bahrain, and has in recent years held top posts with key real estate developers including the Al Futtaim Group in the UAE.

His skill set is as impressive and extensive as his career trajectory. Fluent in Arabic and English, he is a problem solver with a deep understanding of cultural norms and values, having started his career in Saudi Arabia over 30 years ago, working on Riyadh's ring road network. Now he is back in the Kingdom as the CDO of Qiddiya, mandated to deliver, along with the rest of the development team, this capital of entertainment, sports and the arts.

www.qiddiya.com