Sitting at the helm of the diversified Al Shafi Group Investments based in Abu Dhabi is a keen heritage sportsman, Sheikh Khalid, managing over USD 250 million of assets and private investments, including a substantial land, bank and property portfolio. As an astute businessman who is passionate about falconry and equestrian sports, we meet Khalid to find out how he invests his time and resources to keep his business and cultural traditions alive.

The Al Shafi Group Investments is comprised of businesses in Real Estate Development and Property Management companies, General Contracting, Restaurants, Financial Brokerage, Transportation, Tourism, Emerging markets Telecom and Healthcare in different parts of the world.

On the lifestyle front, the Al Shafi Group offers uniquely thought out F&B and leisure concepts based around popular themes reflected in their outlets that include the Rotana Café, Fashion TV Café, Ornina Restaurant, Shay Haleeb, Grand Café and Leila Zaman.

As a young and dynamic business leader, Sheikh Khalid finds a perfect balance spending time with his family, his business interests and his passion for heritage sports in his daily life and particularly enjoys socializing and interacting with his network of friends and partners who share similar interests in the relaxed majlis setup.

He has a degree in Public Relations and using his marketing and PR skills; he is able to structure his businesses according to market conditions and new opportunities using his vast family and business network. His family has deep-rooted links within the GCC.

The Al Shafi family members are leaders of the Al Hajeri’s tribe in the GCC, which was represented in the United Arab Emirates by Sheikh Nasser Bin Muthker Al Shafi (May Allah be merciful to him).

Sheikh Khalid’s ancestral tribe maintained their important links across the GCC through his family’s friendship with His Highness Zayed bin Khalifa the 1st, King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the builder of the State of Qatar and Al Khalifa family, rulers of Bahrain, where strong relations tie them together, since ancient times with the rulers of the GCC.

In terms of his business focus, Khalid believes in bricks and mortar and is moving forward by investing in hard assets and real estate, which he finds is more safe and secure than stocks and other intangible investments.

Sheikh Khalid’s business investments are driven by his passions and sporting hobbies for the heritage sports and keeping it alive, which led him to have his own TV channel (Al Waha T.V.), which is considered to be the first Arabian heritage channel in the GCC and the world.

It covers news and features on the culture and traditions of the region, activities of the desert, equestrian sports, camel racing and Camel beauty pageants, hunting by falcons and beauty pageants for falcons, which Khalid is most passionate about.

As the owner of the most beautiful falcon in the Gulf and the winner of the 1st rank in Qatar international festival 2015, Khalid was awarded the golden feather for the most beautiful falcon. Falconry is a captivating hobby for Sheikh Khalid and he gets involved personally in Falcon hunting and training. He works relentlessly in developing and enhancing his falconry skills, as he is the owner of the most beautiful falcons in the Gulf.

Khalid’s love for equestrian related activities is evident with having his own stable and studs (Al Shafi Stable for Arabian Horses) with a group of purebred Arabian Horses taking part in beauty events.

He inherited this passion and love for traditional hobbies from his father, who spent all his life with His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (May Allah be merciful to them). Sheikh Khalid often travelled with them and developed similar interests and skills in traditional sports. These sports are considered a legacy in the Al Shafi family.

While talking on personality types, Khalid tells us there are two kinds of hobbies – hobbies of the desert or of the sea. While he is more rooted towards the desert and is more a lover of the desert activities and events, he also enjoys the sea hobbies and merges them together.

Khalid also gets involved in community related programmes. During Ramadan there was an initiative by the government where the Majlis of Al Shafi played a key role in raising awareness about youth and cultural issues. The majlis was awarded by His Highness Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, U.A.E. deputy prime minister and Minister of Interior, for their efforts for helping to make the programme a success.

Following the footsteps of his father who had a great impact in promoting the UAE Red Crescent targets to achieve its goals, he helped more than 2000 orphans besides being part of a lot of other charity related activities.

Sheikh Khalid personally supports humanitarian and charitable events and organizations in particular the Red Crescent Society. He has the greatest respect for his country, which he believes is one of the most active countries in the world in alleviating human suffering and preservation of human dignity everywhere the U.A.E. Red Crescent reached.

Reflecting on the lifestyle of the UAE, Sheikh Khalid feels great gratitude for the leadership of the country, for what it has done and achieved in a short span of time. He strives to do as much as he can to contribute to its success and hopes U.A.E. continues to grow as a premium destination for cultural tourism. He is investing in a new sector with international partners to develop a premium healthcare facility and hospital in Abu Dhabi.

In the near future, Sheikh Khalid hopes to be a person who contributes to the country in a positive and productive way and contribute to supporting the wise leadership of the United Arab Emirates.

The Millennium Millionaire team wish Khalid more sporting success in the future.

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