Amr Hassan Enany is vice chairman of the Enany group — one of the Kingdom’s major construction and multisector conglomerates. Over the years, it has developed extensive operations and ties in more than 20 countries worldwide. Partly as a result of the group’s activities with the Czech Republic, he was appointed Honorary Czech Consul in Jeddah in Spring 2002. In 2005 and 2006, he chaired the Jeddah Economic Forum and was responsible for bringing heads of state including Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Irish President Mary MacAleese, Czech President Vaclav Klaus and many other international political figures to the Kingdom. Last May, he took over the presidency of the fast-growing Saudi-Indian Business Network (SIBN) from founding president Abdul-Khaliq Saeed. Ties with India have become a passion and he is determined to see them grow even more.
He talked to Michel Cousins about the work of SIBN and its plans for the future.
Saudi Arabia's growing focus on the East has been replicated in the birth and blossoming of the Saudi-Indian Business Network, Enany said. SIBN was created to promote and encourage relationships following in the footsteps of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s visit to India in 2005. The visit was a major factor in reviving interest in the East, he says. Since then, much has flowed from it in terms of trade. But there have been other factors.
A shift in Saudi business focus was already underway. Enany sees the change in part because of 9/11 and the change in attitudes that resulted from it. “Saudi Arabia traditionally looked West but over the past few years, the government and the private sector have recognized the growth taking place in the East, particularly India and China. The business community generally has seen this, but the shift in focus was spurred by 9/11.” But that is not the only reason. “There are newcomers to the global market: in East Europe, and in the East — India, China and Malaysia.” These were not to be ignored.”
India is a special case, he said, although that was not always so.
“Although Saudi Arabia and India have always enjoyed good relations, these were traditionally confined to an exchange of labor” — Indians being the largest foreign community working in the Kingdom. But, while acknowledging the “major economic role” Indians have played in the Kingdom, India has “so much more to offer than labor,” he said. Taking the relationship beyond labor is where SIBN comes in. “We need to develop a network between Saudis and Indians.”
“Looking East, no one can ignore India,” he added. “It can compete in every single sector with the West, particularly the US — in IT, in industry, in medicine, even in entertainment.” The creation of Bollywood is fascinating, he believes. “It is making an impact on the global entertainment business where before, Hollywood had the monopoly. Looking at traditional sectors, like the steel business. You find that India excels in that too.”
In large part, it is because of the quality of the Indian educational system. “It has improved dramatically. It has produced remarkable skills that now allow it to compete. Go to Silicon Valley in the US. Who are the majority talents there? Indians.”
SIBN was set up immediately after the king’s visit to India, Enany explained — to promote and encourage the relationship with what will be “a very important partner and ally in the future.” Saudi Arabia and India have much that they can contribute to each other and he firmly believes that SIBN will play a role in that.
“We want to build the network to become a true platform for Indians and Saudis to create businesses in the two countries, to enrich the commercial ties between the two,” he said. The creation of joint ventures will be one particular activity for SIBN. But it will do much more.
“I want to go beyond business. Creating homogeneity between the two nations does not come only from business ties. It also comes from cultural activities. It comes from sports. It comes from many fields.”
His experience with the Jeddah Economic Forum, in which he was keen to involve Indian speakers, could serve as a model for a particular project. There are plans for a Saudi-Indian Business Forum, possibly next year, of the same caliber as the JEF, with keynote speakers and workshops involving leading Indian business, political and cultural figures, all focusing on India as the new economic giant. “We want to expose India to the Kingdom and the wider region,” he said. “I don’t think India has been given its full potential here,” he added.
A major hope is greater Indian investment in the Kingdom. “We need to attract investors and explain that the Kingdom is an extremely promising country for investment and doing business.” It is moving in the right direction thanks to the great support and encouragement of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, as well as the efforts of SAGIA, he said. Companies are coming to invest.
What the SIBN president wants, however, is for major Indian companies to be prominent among them. Mega-projects in the Kingdom, he said, are largely in the hands of companies who have been doing business in the Kingdom for decades — because they are known and trusted. Indian companies are involved in small- and medium-sized projects but not the mega ones. That is a challenge for SIBN — to bring in the big Indian players. To that end, the Enany group is looking to working with Indian companies for four-mega projects it has in the pipeline.
The rising rupee and the riyal’s link to the sliding dollar will not be a problem for doing business with India, Enany believed. “It is not at a critical stage” — unlike imports from Europe and the UK which he thinks will be affected by the declining dollar/riyal rate
Back on the subject of Indian manpower in the Kingdom, Enany does not think that the new exchange rate will of itself deter Indians from working in the Kingdom in future despite the decline in the value of earnings remitted back to India. Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia is going to have to pay Indian professionals a lot more in future because of rising salaries back home. It will not affect unskilled labor. But “you are now going to have to pay skilled Indians the same as Europeans and Americans,” he said. “You are paying for brains.”