External Auditors

Overview of the External Auditor

Grant Thornton was appointed by the shareholders through the General Assembly Meeting held on 30 April 2023, as the external auditor for the Company. And Dr. Osama El‑Bakry, the Grant Thornton partner, was appointed as their representative and responsible for the Company’s accounts.

Grant Thornton has been operating in the UAE for more than 55 years, and has 3 offices in the country, with 450 employees, in addition to its wide‑spread around the world. The number of its offices is 750 and it has approximately 62,000 employees, and it provides its services to many economic sectors.

Appointment, fees and services

The shareholders resolved on 30 April 2023 to appoint Grant Thornton as the external auditors for GULFNAV, with a total remuneration amounting to AED 250,000.

On an annual basis, the Company requests quotation/proposal from different audit firms and formal evaluation (technical/financial) is conducted before nominating the external auditors for the next year, including review and recommendation from the Audit Committee and Board of Directors. The appointment of the external auditors (firms/fees) are eventually approved by the shareholders through the General Assembly Meeting.

Details about the external audit firms, fees and scope of services are briefly explained in the table below:

Audit Firms/Consultants	Grant Thornton
Associated since (year)	2023
Total audit fees for the financial statement	250,000
Fees and costs of the special services, other than audit of financial statements	n/a
The details/nature of other services	n/a
Statement of other services obtained from another external auditors/ consultants	MMJS Consulting were appointed as VAT Consultant for KSA branch VAT submission

Qualified opinions were not issued/given by the auditors for the financial period 2023.