Ramez Al-Khayyat is a Qatari businessman and the Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Power International Holding, one of the largest groups in Qatar which operates in the Holding Companies sector. The company comprises a portfolio of businesses in five key sectors in Qatar including retail and hospitality, design and construction, real estate, with companies such as UrbaCon Trading & Contracting, ASSETS, Baladna and Aura Entertainment. In 2016, Al-Khayyat received the Retail Leadership Award for the success of the Mall of Qatar Project at the Asia Retail Congress Awards 2016. Ramez Al-Khayyat first started his career as a Board Member of Al-Khayyat Contracting and Trading, a family business established by his father Mohamad Raglan Al-Khayyat in 1983. In 2011 Al-Khayyat and his brother Moutaz Al-Khayyat founded UrbaCon Trading & Contracting. The privately held company is run by Ramez Al-Khayyat who is a Managing Director. UCC is a major construction company in Qatar and has undertaken several large and complex projects such as the Souq Waqif Carpark, the Banana Island resort, Mall of Qatar and Lekhwiya Sports Complex. Lekhwiya will serve as a benchmark for future 2022 World Cup facilities. In July 2019 United Development Company awarded marine works at Gewan Island to UrbaCon Trading & Contracting Company and Promar Marine Contracting Company. The Gewan Island project extends the Pearl Qatar, spanning across 400,000 sq m and will include a golf course and an air-conditioned outdoor Crystal Walkway. Al-Khayyat is also a Board Member of Baladna Food Industries, Qatar’s largest dairy and beverage producer providing 95% of the country's dairy consumption. Baladna rose to its prominence during the Qatar Diplomatic Crisis when the company airlifted cows from different parts of the world into the country to bypass the Saudi blockade. In 2019, Al-Khayyat and his brother Moutaz were sued in British court for allegedly providing funds to the Al-Nusra Front in Syria in violation of anti-terrorism laws.
