03/10/2009
Saga of a Successful
Young Businessman
By
Shamsul Huda
SAUDI Arabia is preparing a pool of young professional businessmen to lead the country toward prosperity. This young generation of business people is well-groomed to face challenges posed by the globalization of economy.
This is the firm belief expressed by Mr. Khalid Mohammed Al Ammar, President of the Khyrat Al Sharq Holding Company (KASCO) in an exclusive interview with the Saudi Commerce and Economic Review. He is a successful businessman of young generation, who founded his own company, KASCO, in 1994. KASCO has now emerged as a growing company with diversified interests in education, training, information technology, real estates, pharmaceuticals, food,Medical projects, construction, contracting, energy and gas.
Mr. Al Ammar is an example as a brilliant businessman, who started his own company at the age of 20. Within 12 years, he has made KASCO grab a distinguished place in the business arena of the Eastern Province. He has already earned a reputation as a young man of innovative ideas and initiatives, which won him many awards and honors for his outstanding performance in the development of new trade and businesses.
Support from Asharqia Chamber
He underlined all out support for his achievements from the government as well as from the Asharqia Chamber, which has launched various programs to generate a new breed of young businessmen. He pointed to numerous activities undertaken by Asharqia Chamber including entrepreneurship development program and the establishment of the Asharqia Young Businessmen Council, of which, he is a Vice-President of the Council.
"Education and training are the key factors to success for the young generation of businessmen", he said adding that realizing the importance of these factors, KASCO has long been engaged in various educational and training programs in collaboration with a number of renowned foreign partners.
KASCO's major overseas partners include "Future Kids", an American educational company, Canadian Languages Center and Canadian Education Academy. In cooperation with the Future Kids, KASCO has established a strategic training partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Education to operate a project of computer training for the students in government schools. In all, over 2,500 computers have already been installed in various schools for training purposes.
KASCO has set up at least eight training centers for the high school graduates in order to offer a diploma in computer systems and business administration. This training program has been launched in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Education and in collaboration with the Canadian Education Academy.
Investment Opportunities
In the education field, KASCO has also significant contribution to the development of private schools and colleges. The company has set up a subsidiary, the Khairat Educational Company (KEC), with the objective of developing the educational projects for the private companies. "There are bright prospects for investments in private educational and training projects in the Kingdom," observed Mr. Al Ammar.
KEC's main activities include preparing feasibility studies about investment opportunities in the field of education, identifying educational projects for universities and colleges and developing and managing these projects towards their success. The company also evaluate performance of these educational projects in cooperation with local and international educational institutions.
Mr. Al Ammar pointed out that KEC was established in the wake of growing demand for consultancy services from educational and training companies looking for building various schools, colleges, universities and training centers throughout the Kingdom. "Private educational and training projects have very good potential to succeed with the support from the government," he said adding that there is growing demand for education and training programs from a burgeoning young population in country.
Chambers for Young Businessmen
To develop a skilled work force and a new generation of young entrepreneurs, Mr. Al Ammar suggested the establishment of separate chambers of commerce for youngbusinessmen. "It is a dream of many young businessmen that they will have their own chambers of commerce," he said. He noted that these chambers of commerce will mainly concentrate on implementation of new ideas and initiatives conceived by the young people. Mr. Al Ammar expressed his interest in working with the idea of establishing the chambers of commerce for young people in the Kingdom.
While talking about the way the trade and industries are being managed and regulated in the country, Mr. Al Ammar said that Saudi Arabia has made significant strides in the growth of its industries due to realistic and timely initiatives by the government. In line with Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization, local industries are now exposed to global competition. He stressed the need for more government support and constant revision of trade laws, mechanisms and methods in order to make Saudi companies more competitive in the international markets.
Tough Challenges
Saudi companies are now facing tough challenges from their foreign counterparts in both local and international markets. To overcome these challenges, government mechanism to provide support to local firms should be more effective and efficient, said Mr. Al Ammar.
There are slackness and red tape in the government agencies and departments related to trade and businesses not only in the Kingdom, but also in other countries, he said adding that the Kingdom's government agencies have now started dispelling their past impression of 'slowness' and have become more active in providing services. For instance, Mr. Al Ammar noted the activities of SAGIA (Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority), which has been playing a vital role in attracting foreign investors by providing them with required services promptly and efficiently.
He believes that Saudi government departments' services will be more professional and world-class in years to come since all these departments are now put under the leadership of qualified people. There are also joint committees set up with public and private representation to recommend and suggest better working atmosphere for the government departments and agencies related to trade and businesses.
Family-Owned Firms
Mr. Al Ammar advocated transformation of family-owned businesses into joint stock companies saying that these firms are nowadays have become large entities creating problems in managing them. Another major problem arises when founders of family-owned businesses die in the absence of professional and qualified successors. Although family-owned businesses have their own drawbacks and shortcomings, they are the largest contributor to the development of trade and industries in the country. He urged country's chambers of commerce to set up 'specialized centers' to provide advice and services for the family-owned companies in order to help them keep up their growth and development.
Mr. Al Ammar is very much in favor of working women. "We can't ignore the fact that women constitute half of our population and we can't afford to keep them idle in the society," he opined. He urged women's participation in economic activities. "But we have to create friendly work environment for women upholding their traditional prestige and values," he observed. Women can play a bigger role in nation-building activities provided they are given proper support, he said highlighting the great contribution of Muslim women in the history of Islam.
Timely Initiative
He complimented Asharqia Chamber for the establishment of
Young Businessmen's Club with a clear mission of supporting young entrepreneurs in developing their careers and their own business projects. "It is a timely initiative undertaken by Asharqia Chamber to encourage the creativity of young people," he added. Major activities of AYBC include guiding young people to manage their business through scientific and modern management methods, motivating them to create jobs for themselves by initiating new business projects instead of looking for jobs in other organizations, promoting a culture of professionalism, exchanging views and experience with Arab and international entities to achieve a common objective, highlighting the successful experience of entrepreneurs. AYBC will also focus on investment opportunities in various economic sectors and liaise with relevant government and private agencies to develop a healthy environment for successful implementation of these investment projects.
