Quotes from the MidEast Investment Summit

DUBAI (Reuters) - Following are selected quotes from speakers at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit, being held in Dubai, Riyadh, Manama, Doha and Cairo through October 28.

SURESH KUMAR, CEO, EMIRATES NBD CAPITAL

"The worst is still happening in some sectors and certain things are still not fully worked out. The financial crisis was in some aspects a signal of a chronic malady and you can't just pop a few pills to resolve it, some of it needs surgery."

"The surgery can be relatively painless which is where, when we speak about restructuring, if business owners are sensible they will be able to ride out of that issue, relatively unscathed."

DIRK BUCHTA, PARTNER AND MD MIDDLE EAST, AT KEARNEY

On M&A activity: "Marriage should not be entered into light heartedly but you should make sure it's the right partner you want to spend your life with."

MARKUS GIEBEL, CEO, DEYAAR

"If we look back at history, in Singapore it took two to two-and-a-half years to find a bottom, but then the recovery was V shaped ... Hong Kong was different ... Dubai is more similar to Singapore."

STUART PEARCE, CEO, QATAR FINANCIAL Center AUTHORITY

"We've learnt that financial institutions will always do something silly and that the herd effect is still there. One of the biggest lessons is don't assume that someone is looking after you. That's not always the case."

MICHAEL HUEBENER, CFO, EMIRATES CAPITAL

"I would love a world without rules, so I can define my own."

KHURAM MAQSOOD, MANAGING DIRECTOR, EMIRATES CAPITAL

On lending based on reputation or prestige: "It is not enough anymore to just be Dubai."

MUSTAFA ABDEL-WADOOD, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ABRAAJ CAPITAL

"This has been an extraordinary year. Things fell off a cliff overnight."

"I don't think we are, still, in a very pretty place regionally or globally, but there is better visibility."

"This region has a growth profile second only to China"

Corporate governance "is nowhere near where it needs to be, but it's moving in the right direction."

"If I'm a large company listed in Dubai and my stock is going to go up regardless, so I'm not going to meet with analysts. I actually find it shameful that such a company would not meet with analysts -- then don't be a public company. You don't have a choice if you choose to open up your investor base to shareholders."

SHAFQAT MALIK, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, ALDAR PROPERTIES

"I think we are over the worst"

"You have to plan, plan, plan for every eventuality."

"It's not all doom and gloom. There is business, there is a market."

"Eighteen months ago our biggest challenge was execution and getting the right people. Now both things are in abundance."

HOWARD HANDY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, SAMBA

On Saudi groups Saad/AlGosaibi: "This is the wake-up call."

SIMON COOPER, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND CEO, HSBC BANK MIDDLE EAST LTD

On Saad/AlGosaibi: "This is a bump in the road"

On the biggest danger as the economy recovers: "Over-enthusiasm ... I wouldn't like to see floods of speculative investment"

On corporate transparency: "We are moving in the right direction at a very healthy speed"

JEAN-PAUL MOLLIE, MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH ASIA & AFRICA REGIONAL

PRESIDENT, DOW CORNING

"For the longest time the Middle East has been only focused on the oil and gas sectors and we find this is an opportunity for us to open a plant in this region."

(Compiled by Middle East bureaux; Editing by Greg Mahlich)