History showed that Yemenis and Lebanese expatriates have a common trait: both always positively contributed to the economies of countries to which they had emigrated.
Salah Al Attar is an experienced Executive Chairman with a combined demonstrated history of working in public policy and in the private sector. He enjoys strong strategic and people leadership skills particularly in Public Policy, International Affairs, Strategy, Investment, Marketing, Management, Negotiation, Budgeting, Planning and Analysis. Al Attar is a Sharp international business development professional who graduated from New York State University. He is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
Coming from multicultural family backgrounds- a Yemeni father and a Lebanese mother- while having lived in several countries across the globe, Salah Al Attar is characterized by a wide array of traits and values such as an open minded, enterprising and positive spirit coupled with tolerance, adaptability, resilience as well as humanism.
Experience:
* Managing Partner
BIOPELLE s.a.r.l. (Business to Business international trading between North Africa and Europe, particularly in treated leather and associated leather transformation chemical products)
January 2016 – present, Morocco
* Executive Chairman
YEMA Holdings Ltd. (A holding company investing in local companies and industries across sectors with a consulting arm providing advisory services in corporate finance to private investors and public institutions particularly with respect to mergers & acquisitions, business development, green or brown fields market entry, stake holders engagement and CSR across a variety of sectors such as energy – oil, gas, power generation and renewable energy-, EPC construction, FMCG’s distribution, real estate, etc…)
September 2012 – present, UAE
* Minister / President of GIA
The General Investment Authority (GIA) - Government of the Republic of Yemen
March 2007 - September 2012, Yemen
Appointed by Presidential Decree
Board Member of the Supreme Economic Council for Petroleum and Investment
Board Member of the General Investment Authority
Board Member of the Yemen Free Zones Public Authority
Member of several inter-ministerial committees including the Legislative Economic Reforms Committee, the Top 10 Government Priorities Plan, the Investment Advisory Committee, the Energy Committee and bilateral committees
- British American Tobacco, PLC (BAT)
* Group Brand Manager, BAT Switzerland
September 2005 - February 2007, Switzerland
* Country Manager Yemen & Executive Committee Member for Levant and Yemen, BAT MENA
August 2001 - August 2005, Yemen and Lebanon
Board member in the United Industries Corporation and in the National Tobacco and Matches Co.- Yemen
* Deputy Minister - Head of Investment Promotion
The General Investment Authority - Government of the Republic of Yemen
May 1999 - July 2001, Yemen
Education:
* Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) in International Affairs from the USA
Salah Al Attar contributed to the development and implementation of various investment opportunities across sectors that were available in Yemen at the time in his capacity as the President of The General Investment Authority (GIA). At that time, he spearheaded the required reforms achieved in the country in accordance with the international standards to attract foreign investors.
In the past, Al Attar contributed to the plan of the government which aimed to expand job opportunities through private sector investment encouragement, poverty alleviation and enhancing the good governance in addition to consolidating means to join in the Gulf Cooperation Council's economies and the World Trade Organization.
.
Salah Al Attar believes that the current Yemeni deep seated disastrous crisis with its devastating political, economic, social and humanitarian outlook poses long term risks on the stability of YEMEN and the region as well as on the integrity, unity and sovereignty of the country.
Salah Al Attar is an experienced professional with international experience who spent most of his life abroad in Lebanon, France, Morocco, the United States of America, Switzerland and the UK.
The tough war in his country Yemen made him move to Morocco with his Moroccan lawyer wife and his three sons. His remarkable charisma and intelligence made him succeed in having a fresh business start in this newly adopted country.
However, Salah Al Attar always yearns to come back one day to Yemen and fulfill his dream by contributing furthermore to the growth and prosperity of his country; will his dream come true anytime soon?
Salah Mohammed Said Al Attar spoke with BUSINESS LIFE magazine for a cover story about what he is doing today in Morocco and elsewhere.
BL: What is your preference, is it the Public or the Private sector? Why?
Salah Al Attar: Although both sectors have respective merits, yet, I definitely prefer the more challenging public sector work because I am a big fan of the public policy. Indeed, I believe that those who were lucky enough to have a diversified international exposure must eventually voluntarily contribute to the much needed development of their countries by serving a term in public office. It is a noble patriotic act through which one can freely give back to the society without any underlying lucrative objective especially in countries like ours, which are eager for sustained development to improve the current systemic tough conditions. Being at the top public policy level, means that one can modestly contribute to improving the lives of his fellow citizens by helping put in place the right political, legal and regulatory environment coupled with the right socio-economic policies aimed at fostering fair social welfare, equal distribution of wealth and private sector development. In this respect, the implementation of a successful private public partnership is indispensable!
However, the public sector is very challenging because you cannot induce reforms unless you are able to create a consensus around them through a process of inclusiveness. People have to be with you on the bus in order to progress step by step; otherwise, you risk generating a lot of resistance which will then jeopardize your intended changes. But, it is very difficult to obtain such wide buy in due to the divergent political motivations involved in such process and the distinct interests of different pressure groups.
On the other hand, depending on the type of institutions, the private sector is driven by different dynamics, one of which is specific shareholders returns, the growth of the company’s business, a strict hierarchical organization and personal financial gains. More so, leaders in such entities are more in control of the internal environment; once they take a change management decision, the whole organization is expected to follow even if the process was not that comprehensive. Thus, all actors are supposed to be aligned behind agreed objectives and those not adhering are taken off the bus. Having said that, the private sector, if well regulated, is the driving force for economic prosperity as it generates added value, jobs, innovation and many other things necessary to the betterment of the society.
From my part, I have an experience in both sectors: I started off my career in the private sector as a small entrepreneur in addition to being a consultant in the oil and gas business based in the UK. Then, I moved to British American Tobacco, a leading multinational tobacco group, to assume several senior BAT positions including in the Levant, UAE, Yemen, ending up in Switzerland. In fact, I very much value this experience as I learned a lot about strategic leadership skills, technical competencies, competitiveness, hard work, driving for results, creating the right culture for people to excel. Learning from the private sector could be applied in the public sector to bring a fresh view: at policy level for instance, you will be able to properly cater to the private sector as you would then have better understood their legitimate needs.
Then, I moved to the public sector. While in Switzerland, I was contacted by the late President of Yemen who offered me the Job as a Minister/President of the General Investment Authority based in Sana’a. Without hesitation, I said ”YES” and assumed my new function within a week which was my second public sector experience.
In sum, I am not the kind of person that favors easiness. It is not what makes me tick. I like the challenge and to take calculated risks which stimulates me. It is true that I financially benefited from being in the private sector, yet this kind of reward is not my top priority; rather, other elements are such as contributing to the society at large and being part of a larger national success story in the public sector. I prefer to contribute to my country from a public sector office even if it encapsulated serious challenges and frustrations leading sometimes to risking your own life in troubled moments.
BL: What were your achievements and what were your challenges, frustrations and deceptions in public office?
Salah Al Attar: As you may already know, the situation in Yemen back then was challenging on many fronts. This also applies today to most Africa and Middle East countries. Actually, these countries are badly in need of the long awaited structural reforms at all levels to catch the lost moments. In some countries, these reforms have started but not fully implemented while in others they not did not even commence! In recent history, we mostly moved from colonization to independence in the fifties and sixties but after that, successive governments failed to properly address the political, economic and social challenges including in matters such as nation building, political participation, freedoms, education, justice, public health, infrastructure, growth, business climate and other development factors. Hence, it was normal for the region to undergo the instability one day or another, which then started in 2011.
I can moderately say that I was satisfied with what has been achieved back then in Yemen although my dream was not fully fulfilled. But there is a positive spin to it as I always look at the glass half full. So, we did a lot in terms of improving the investment climate which improved our ability to better attract national and foreign direct investments into the country as recognized by our steady improvement in the overall rating in the IFC Doing Business Report over that period. These reforms included review of the investment related legislative framework, financial disclosure for all civil servants, the establishment of a one stop shop for investments, the creation of industrial zones, the launch of the 10 points government Priority Plan and the elaboration of the National Investment Promotion Strategy. I can also give you two specific success stories namely both the steal and cement industries. When I assumed office, we were almost relying on 100% imports of these 2 materials; six years later, we almost reached 85% and 75% respectively import substitution through local production!
However, there is another side to the coin made of frustrations and deceptions. One of these frustrations was our inability to fully implement the 10 points Reform Plan while the biggest deception is to realize that all what we had achieved is almost lost now due the ongoing spiral of violence and deprivation since 2012. Unfortunately, we will need to start all over again but not from where we ended but rather from scratch!
BL: Do you have dreams to continue your obligations towards your country, especially when there are not many Yemenis who have qualifications like yours?
Salah Al Attar: Honestly, I believe that there are many Yemenis, especially within the young generation who are capable of doing wonderful jobs.
In fact, throughout the crisis, we heard many qualified smart Yemenis voices on traditional/social media and in various academic, think tank, civil society meetings. Those could well contribute to the stability and growth of Yemen.
Today, I guess that we are many contributing to the country in one way or another as it has always been the case for the Yemeni diaspora throughout history. Yemen is the cradle of ancient civilizations culminating in the rule of Queen Sheba where successive waves of emigration took place. Each time, Yemenis played a key role in the development of those countries where they had resided while sending remittances to their families and funding local community projects at home. For instance, citizens from Hadramaout eastern region played a major role in spreading Islam in South East Asia and the Horn of Africa while controlling the trade. In recent history, they had contributed a lot to the development of the private sector in the GCC countries particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. So, history showed that Yemenis and Lebanese expatriates have a common trait: both always positively contributed to the economies of countries to which they had emigrated!
BL: Will you contribute to pushing your country forward at the right time?
Salah Al Attar: One of the many things that I will always be thankful to my late father is that he embedded the love of our country in us as well as an acute sense of duty towards the nation. He was a great leader who served well his country since the 1962 revolution till he passed away in 2005. Having lived so many years abroad, when I was offered the opportunity to serve my country, I dropped everything and came back home. I did it once, so I will not hesitate doing it again when and if the right opportunity arises! For now, I am often commuting between Italy, Lebanon and Morocco.
BL: What were the reasons that made you go to Morocco? What are the advantages in doing business in Morocco?
Salah Al Attar: The choice was first driven by personal considerations. However, as I was discovering the country, I found many cultural similarities between Morocco and Yemen. This is not very strange considering that many Moroccans are of Yemeni descent especially due to the Islamic Conquests of North Africa and Andalusia, then settling in Fes. There is even a historical theory that brings the southern Berber origin to Yemen. Also, there is a geographic resemblance as both countries have a varied topography consisting at the same time of mountains, long coastal shores, dessert and greenery. Moreover, Moroccans are very nice and hospitable people by nature who hate the most to be treated with condescension, just like Yemenis. For all these reasons, I soon felt at home!
Furthermore, Morocco offers several key advantages as an attractive investment destination:
It has a stable political and security environment due to the constitutional reforms undertaken by King Mohammed VI back in 2011. It also enjoys a strategic geographic location close to the EU and African markets with which the connectivity was further fostered by the implementation of large infrastructural projects. The country also signed bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the USA, EU, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE, the Arab Mediterranean Agreement with Lebanon and the Facilitation and Inter Arab Trade Development Convention. The Government is currently under negotiations with the African UEMOA, CEMAC, ECOWAS and ECOCAS.
In fact, Morocco, which is the rising star in Africa, is also a hub and the door for this promising continent. Private Moroccan businesses are successful in West Africa especially in the fields of banking, insurance, mining, energy, telecommunication, construction, cement and others. In this respect, I hope that we can build on that success and help Moroccan clients extend to East African countries like Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and Kenya.
It also has a good business climate with a stable regulatory framework which is very important for investors. There are surely some challenges like in all developing countries but the government is serious in tackling these issues.
This year, Morocco is celebrating the 20th anniversary of King Mohammed VI reign, during which tremendous achievements were made. I will enumerate few projects that were constantly monitored by the leadership: 20 years ago, only 20 % of the country was connected to the power grid but today almost 98 % is and the grid is connected to Europe via Spain. 20 years ago, the country did not have any highways whereas today all major cities are connected by toll operated highways. The Tangiers Med Port is one of the leading ports in Africa and in the Mediterranean. The construction of the high speed coastal train and large regional airports add to the country’s attractiveness. Also, Morocco has the largest Concentrated Solar Power complex in the world called NOOR which is already generating 160 MW while some other 400 will be on-stream in 2020. Moreover, the country was able to create internationally reputable free and industrial zones and ecosystems for the automotive and aeronautic industries with major multinational companies producing locally such as Renault Nissan, Peugeot, Lear, Bombardier, etc. Last but not least, OCP is the world largest phosphate producers with fertilizers plants all over Africa.
Hence, my triangle is Yemen in the Southern Arabian Peninsula, Lebanon on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean and Morocco on the shores of the Atlantic with Italy as the star over it!
BL: Let us talk about your business ventures in Morocco, can you tell us about YEMA Holdings Ltd., its current and future business projects?
Salah Al Attar: When I first considered Morocco as a business destination towards the beginning of 2013, the aim was also to bridge between the East, the West of the Arab world and Africa by particularly encouraging business ventures between the GCC and African countries. This idea derives from my intimate conviction of encouraging South/South cooperation and integration mainly through private sector initiatives.
I first partnered with a local independent investment bank boutique called Red Med Finance which has two main activities: corporate finance strategic services with a focus on M&A and asset management mainly for the largest institutions in Morocco with a current portfolio of roughly $650 Million.
The vision on the investment banking side is to be the partner of choice for leading Multinational Corporation for generating value in AME.
Then, I created a local company called Biopelle s.a.r.l. specialized in Business to Business international trading between North Africa and Europe, particularly in treated leather and the associated leather transformation chemical products. On top, we are currently evaluating options for using this platform for regional trade of some other products such as agricultural and manufactured goods.
In the leather business, we would like to become the number one exporter of semi-finished leather skins from North Africa to Europe.
BL: Would you like to tell me more about “Biopelle”, its current market share in the leather trade?
Salah Al Attar: Morocco is traditionally known for leather. Unfortunately, this industry is losing its competitive edge. However, I thought that if put the proper business model in place, we could capitalize on the local abundance of raw materials, the local historical know-how and the geographic proximity to Europe in order to capture sizable market share. Hence, we developed an integrated supply chain three years ago consisting of supplying semi-finished leather to those Spanish, French and Italian producers of shoes and garments international trademarks. We buy the raw skin, transform it into the required colored crust in a local tannery and then ship it to the selected manufacturer in Europe for finishing. We ship the goods by trucks which are delivered to the client’s warehouse in Spain within 48 hrs.
Today, I can safely assume that we are within the top three today in terms of quality and among the top six in terms of volume but I am confident that we will soon become top one in both aspects "volume and value"!
BL: Do you supervise the leather factory from A to Z?
Salah Al Attar: We do not operate a factory but rather outsource the transformation of leather. We have a contract manufacturing agreement with existing tanneries. Hence, we provide the specific raw skins, the needed chemical products and the related formula to the tannery for transformation. It is not an easy industry as it is capital intensive; therefore, the transformation phase should be closely monitored through a strict quality control process in the outsourced tannery.
BL: How does your international experience contribute to your success and the success of the companies you lead?
Salah Al Attar: By learning a lot from different cultures and settings; I had the opportunity to travel around and live in several places at an early stage which for me was an eye opener. I was lucky enough to be exposed to different cultures, experiences, thinking paradigms and methods of doing business. That allowed me to be more flexible, tolerant, open, innovative, assertive, which are required values for any business to succeed!
BL: Being a father of three boys, how do you compromise between your business and your family life?
Salah Al Attar: A major learning from my last public office job is that I had failed to have a balanced work life equation at the time; indeed, I was absent for long hours during the day even on weekends which was on the detriment of my family. So I said to myself that I should not repeat the same mistake and aim for a better time management split as one cannot go back in time yet to make up for the lost moments with the family.
In fact, we absolutely need to properly invest in our children as they are the generation of the future. The common challenging trait between most Arab countries is that they have a relatively young population with a prominent 15 and to 25 age bracket who are the driving force for change. This is why, it is very important to focus on education today as it is a lengthy process that shall yield benefits on the long run. We need to seed in them the love of the nation, the right values and attitudes for them to be happy and succeed in life. That way, they shall contribute in shaping a better future. Of course, the school is important but follow up at home is equally necessary. In today’s modern times where both parents might be working at the same time, it is mandatory for both to coordinate with each other in the education of their children as partners. If the mother is not available, then the father should pitch in and vice versa as we cannot fully assign the kids’ education to someone else. Easier said than done but with self-discipline, proper delegation at work and a focus on quality time spent around the family, one could better enjoy these primordial moments!
BL: In your view, do countries in the Arab world have plans to tackle the issue of education, economic prosperity and job opportunities?
Salah Al Attar: From independence onward, I believe that most Arab countries have consistently failed to properly address these issues which largely contributed to the current turmoil that started in 2011. Relative deprivation, overall frustration, unemployment and lack of education lead to political and social unrest. These deteriorating socio-economic conditions constitute a fertile ground for terrorism, extremisms and populism to flourish. The whole world is talking today about the need to jointly combat terrorism. In doing so, we have to tackle the issue from several aspects. The first immediate way is through the appropriate security, intelligence, financing and moderate religious mechanisms but in parallel, we also need to cut the fertile ground where recruitment of feeble spirits takes place for long term results. Thus, sustained economic growth with more and less equal distribution of wealth and job creation are key success indicators. Concerning education, output should match market labor needs both in terms of quality and quantity. There is a bad habit in the Arab world where everybody wants to become an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer irrespective of related job opportunities but only some people value vocational education. As a result, thousands of graduates end up unemployed and the labor market cannot provide for qualified technicians such as plumbers, electricians or other industrial qualifications.
Another element that could help address the issue of economic growth and unemployment is inter-Arab economic integration based on needed complementarity as opposed to political poetic integration. To that end, free movements of people, goods and services across the Arab world are essential for the regions’ growth.
Unfortunately, our respective governments are currently busy in political disputes and in firefighting policies rather than long term sound ones!
BL: What do you think of the current situation in Lebanon? Do you have any plan to get involved in Lebanon's oil and gas sector?
Salah Al Attar: Before answering your question, allow me to say few words about Lebanon that I love. It is true that I do not have the Lebanese citizenship but my mother is Lebanese; I was born and lived in Beirut for almost 15 years.
I believe that Lebanon is a unique example where 18 religious communities co-exist together in a tiny beautiful geographic location. A place charged with history and superb nature. Unfortunately, living in harmony is not always easy for these religious concubines. This sadly culminated in the 1975-90 civil war during which some 250,000 people died. However, I don’t think that we fully learned the lessons of the past as we still can hear the same old divide, sectarian and religious rhetoric as well as deeply contrasting political orientations. On top, the economic situation over the last few years is drastically deteriorating with serious repercussions on the population at large. Lebanon must always be a message of tolerance, co-existence, peace, prosperity, creativity and innovation. Lebanese are successful almost everywhere in the world so I full heartedly hope that they will soon get their acts together, stand by each other and move the land of the Cedars to greater heights and let us all have pride again in the Lebanon that we love.
Regarding the energy sector, I believe that Lebanon can be part of a wider Eastern Mediterranean oil and gas success story. However some challenges need to be dealt with first in order to capitalize on this potential including sorting out of the maritime boundaries and good governance. Without proper solutions to these issues, the benefits from this promise will be hardly fulfilled. If and when times come, we hope to modestly contribute to the development of this sector as many players have their eyes on it. Having said that, I believe that the country can also offer some other interesting opportunities!
BL: How long will it take Yemen to achieve its desired peace?
Salah Al Attar: The situation in my beloved Yemen is utterly regretful and source of my melancholy. The outcome is very gloomy and unpredictable due to the deep internal cleavages and the regional political ramifications in a troubled area. Unfortunately, the current indicators are not very encouraging and the destruction caused at all levels-physical and human- would take decades to fix, provided that we start today. There is definitely a dim light at the end of the tunnel if we first realize that all local parties are responsible of this mess and blaming one another is not the right attitude. It is absolutely necessary for all recognized groups to engage in a thorough, well designed, inclusive political process in order to agree on the future business model of the nation. None should be excluded and no external party can do that in our stead!
