Hello, I'm Simon Galpin
I am an economic development expert with a successful track record of cultivating and leading world-class, award winning investment promotion agencies in multiple geographies. Competent and effective at motivating and inspiring multi-cultural teams, I am passionate about promoting start-ups and entrepreneurship. I have extensive experience in strategy advisory positions, non-executive directorship and public speaking.
Simon Galpin
Venture Partner, Economic Development Advisor, Startup Mentor, Public Speaker
Bahrain phone: +973 38488880
Saudi phone: +966 530874880
Email:
UK Address:
Gantway House, 77-79 High Street, Braintree, CM7 1JS
Bahrain Address:
House 1551, Road 3733, Block 537,
Bani Jamra
Current role
NEOM - Director of Economic Development,
February 2022- Present
NEOM is a catalyst for human development that will introduce a new model for urban sustainability, powered 100% by renewable energy.
Former Roles
PlusVC
Venture Partner
Plus.vc is a venture capital firm focused on Seed to Series A stage investments in the MENA region and diaspora.
Bambucorn
Advisor
Tokenised equity crowdfunding platform. Simplified.
OCO
Senior Advisor
Specialist advisers in Economic Development, Foreign Direct Investment, Business Attraction & Retention and Trade.
INVESTMENT PROMOTION EXPERIENCE
2016-2021
Bahrain Economic Development Board
Managing Director/Senior Advisor
Chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, the EDB develops and delivers the economic development strategy for Bahrain. I was engaged to drive organisational change, to develop the EDB into a full-service investment promotion agency and a catalyst for economic diversification and regulatory reform.
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Led the promotion and strategic development of sectors including Tourism, Manufacturing (Industry 4.0), Logistics, Financial Services (FinTech), Real Estate, Education, and Cloud Computing.
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Redefined KPIs and led the change management process and transformation of the EDB into an award winning, client-oriented investment promotion agency.
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Delivered a four-fold increase in the number of investors supported per year, resulting in record FDI flows and quality jobs created – for five consecutive years.
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Initiated and delivered the Start Up Bahrain initiative, kick-starting Bahrain’s dynamic start-up ecosystem.
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Significantly expanded overseas representation and business development to cover Mainland China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Germany, UAE, France, Korea, Turkey, UK, India and USA.
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Promoted a series of regulatory reforms, including on-shore regulatory sandbox, successfully positioning Bahrain as a global Fintech Hub in partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain
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EDB awards 2018/19 include: Global Top IPA Award (Conway); Top IPA for promoting investments in sustainable development (UNCTAD); and Best Place to Invest MENA (Conway).
2001-2016
Director-General Investment Promotion
Invest Hong Kong
Headed the strategic development of Hong Kong’s investment promotion efforts including defining strategy and goals, effectively managing allocated resources - with an annual budget of HK$115 million - and a team of 150 highly skilled professionals located in 29 cities across the globe to meet yearly targets and objectives.
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Secured a record US$103 billion in FDI inflows, Hong Kong was ranked 2nd in the world, for the first time. Numbers of regional headquarters also hit record levels.
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Attracted and assisted over 3,500 foreign and Mainland companies, creating over 33,000 jobs.
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Led delegations to over 80 countries, meeting decision-makers from over 6,000 companies. Spoke at high profile global business events and conducted over a hundred media interviews.
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Received numerous awards including: Investment Promotion Award (UNCTAD); Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future (fDi Magazine); IPA Innovation Awards - Start Up Support (fDi Magazine); Overall Digital Marketing Strategy (fDi Magazine).
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Introduced Quality Improvement Teams to drive continuous and innovative improvements in service delivery.
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Led the tendering process for Asia World Expo, a flagship Public-Private-Partnership development project with HK$2 billion government investment. Served as a Non-Executive Director for over 12 years.
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Created the StartmeupHK initiative, kick-starting the start-up movement in Hong Kong.
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Restructured the department to capture opportunities in emerging sectors including FinTech, Creative Industries and Green Technology.
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Initiated a campaign to promote Hong Kong as ‘China’s Global Financial Centre’, partnering with stakeholders including the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, Securities and Futures Commission, and Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
1992-2001
Head, Asia Pacific
Scottish Enterprise
One of the largest economic development agencies in Europe at the time. The internationalisation arm, Scottish Development International, specialises in both trade and investment promotion.
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Established offices across Asia in Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and New Delhi; and managed the team in Glasgow, with a project budget of £970,000.
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Assisted over 1,600 Scottish SMEs to secure over £120 million of international business in priority markets around the world.
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Delivered a change management programme to fully integrate the investment promotion and trade development teams across Asia.
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Successfully negotiated collaborative R&D projects in Japan and Korea in optoelectronics and biotechnology.
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Assembled a consortium of Scottish consultants/ suppliers to bid for major international development projects in Asia.
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Promoted four times in 10 years with consistently outstanding performance.
2008-2015
CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
JSD (Doctor of Juridical Science)
2006-2007
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
LLM International Economic Law
1998-2001
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
MSc Local Economic Development
2008-2015
SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
PHOTO GALLERY
EDUCATION
SKILLS
Advanced Mentoring and Coaching
Thought Leadership, Policy Advocacy and Change Management
University Lecturer and Public Speaker
Experienced Non Executive Director
Languages: Intermediate Level - French, Chinese & Arabic
Advanced Media and Presentation Skills
EXPERTISE
Support for Startups
With a passion for supporting founders and developing startup ecosystems. I initiated StartMeUpHK and StartupBahrain. Serve as a mentor for the PingAn Accelerator, and on the advisory board of NEST.
NON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Extensive range of experience as a non-executive director and trustee and have served on the Boards of the British University of Bahrain, AmCham and AIESEC in Bahrain, Asia World Expo and Chinese University of HK Business School in HK
Support for education
Trustee of the BUB Salford University campus in Bahrain. I have helped attract and support SCAD, Nord Anglia, Harrow, to set up in HK. Served as a guest lecturer at Kellogg Business School, University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, CUBS etc.
Public Speaking
Served as a speaker and panelist at numerous international conferences and events including WEF Davos, Rise, Step APEC and global media organizations such as Bloomberg CNBC and CNN
TESTIMONIALS
Dear Simon, I take this opportunity to express my admiration to the professionalism that you have shown and the dedication to your team and to making every project
Mirna El Achkar – Group Head Legal Services, Ahli United Bank
“I remember fondly the fine work you did at IHK, so I am sure that the Kingdom will feel the void of your departure, as well. "
Andrew Wylegala - Life Sciences and Healthcare Lead for North East Asia DIT
You’ve put a lot of runs on the board in HK and Bahrain over the years.
Kerry McGlynn
Simon, we loved having you around at our Forum and lectures, you have been such as amazing speaker and passionate about education!!!! Thank you for everything
Noora H. Alghatam – University of Bahrain
Good job, Simon! You did an amazing job for us in Hong Kong and you continued your magic in Bahrain.
Greg So – former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development HKSAR Government
Thank you so much Simon, it was real pleasure to work with you and learn from you. You are an amazing person and professional inspiring leader.
Hamad Al Ammari – Executive Director EDB
I’ve had the privilege & opportunity to work with some wonderful bosses in my career.. and honestly Simon, you have been one of the best.. although I am sad to see you leave the EDB so soon even after some fantastic results.. Bahrain has ultimately gained a brother, father and friend..
Hana Al Tareif, Senior Executive – EDB
Simon, you were the best and would miss your speeches and mentoring, still echos !
Sonu Ibrahim, Payment Gateway
Simon, you've always been a true inspiration to many in the startup ecosystem.
Rami Deeb – Talkwaker
It was a real pleasure to work with you Simon. A big loss to Bahrain
Cameron Mirza COP USAID
You and the EDB team have given the game development community amazing support over the past years. I won't forget the first time we met and how welcoming you were in supporting us in our early stages.
Yousef Bu Hazza – Founder Unreal Bahrain
Simon - you and the EDB team did an amazing job, positioning Bahrain as a GCC business hub and building an attractive startup ecosystem. I really enjoyed working with you
Ricardo Langwieder-Gorner – CEO Majorel Egypt
Congratulations Simon on all your achievements. I greatly enjoyed working with you on projects
Don Porter CBE Managing Director at MSB
Thank you for all that you and your team have done to position Bahrain as the jewel of the region!
Reem Tannir – Mastercard
It was certainly a pleasure working with you as part of #TeamBahrain.
Osama Al Alawi, Assistant Undersecretary for Competitiveness
We at the Australia Bahrain Business Council can’t thank you enough for your commitment, professionalism and suppport in advancing the bilateral relationship and we wish you all successes.
Simon Harrison Chairman – Australia Bahrain Business Council