JEDDAH, 27 November 2004 — Abdulla Al-Zamil, chief operating officer of Zamil Industrial Investment Company (ZIIC) and a corporate ambassador for the upcoming “Leaders in Dubai” conference, has stressed the need for Arab family-owned businesses to adopt more transparency and accountability in order to operate successfully in the global economy.
“A large proportion of Arab businesses are family-owned and many have become formidable forces over the years. In today’s global economy it is essential for them to conform to the new ways in which businesses across the world are now expected to operate. This means providing effective leadership to implement the measures necessary to adopt a level of corporate governance that is on a par with international counterparts and in particular, competitors,” said Al-Zamil.
Successful companies attribute their strength and the added value they provide to the economic cycle to effective leadership. The challenge for family owned businesses is to create a fusion between the modern and the traditional to produce family owned, professionally managed enterprises.
Arab businesses are in fact keen to adopt new 21st century leadership strategies and tactics. This claim is supported by more than 2,500 international and Middle East-based business leaders who are expected to attend the Leaders in Dubai event, which aims to help define leadership best practices in the Middle East. The event will also help to ensure that those who aspire to positions of great responsibility will have a platform from which to operate.
The main benefit of Leaders in Dubai — which takes place on Nov. 29 and 30 at the Dubai International Convention Center — is having seven world-renowned business leaders in one place at the same time who will share their expertise and knowledge with thousands of event attendees.
The seven are former mayor of New York, Rudolph W. Giuliani; Harvard Business School professor, Michael E. Porter; management guru, Tom Peters; best-selling author and co-writer of “In Search of Excellence”, Frank Maguire; MIT professor of management and economics, Lester C. Thurow; influential futurist, Alvin Toffler and former GE chairman and CEO, Jack Welch, who will address the audience via live satellite link.
The topics being discussed include addressing ungovernable situations and leading people through crises; trimming corporate bureaucracy; creating and maintaining unassailable competitive market position; predictions on how the Middle East and other knowledge economies will fare in the 21st century; retooling your business model and taking financial risks that exploit the global order; and how to groom human capital treasures and grow employee loyalty.
“By learning about proven successes from the rest of the world we can adapt them to fit local and regional specifics and the audience profile — which ranges from chairpersons to managerial level executives — ensures a powerful demographic segment which can help to effect positive change throughout the region’s businesses,” added Al-Zamil, who became a member of the board of directors of ZIIC in May 2004. He was appointed chief operating officer, in January 2004 responsible for Zamil Air Conditioners, Zamil Glass Industries and Corporate Shared Services. He was senior vice president of Zamil Air Conditioners and ZIIC’s Shared Services prior to his current appointment.
Abdulla Al-Zamil was selected as a corporate ambassador based on his pioneering role in the area of industrial investment. He will also be part of a panel discussion on Peters’ presentation segment titled “Reinventing leadership for the 21st Century”, which will take place on Nov. 30.
ZIIC is also an “official supporter” of the event.
ZIIC was founded in 1998. It is headquartered in Dammam and employs about 5,000 people in 50 countries. ZIIC exports to more than 75 international markets and derives 35 percent of its revenues from outside Saudi Arabia. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, ZIIC posted turnover of SR1.56 billion, a growth of 11 percent over 2002.
The company’s performance in the first nine months of 2004 showed sustained growth. ZIIC recorded sales of SR1.5 billion, an increase of SR250.3 million, representing a 20.7 percent increase over the same period last year.