Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Although the year 2013 was not as good as he wanted, Saleh bin Nasser Abdul Aziz Al Sorayai, the Chairman of Al Sorayai Group, hopes that 2014 will bring more success to the group. In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, he elaborated on various issues concerning the establishment of Al Sorayai Group by his father and uncle, the carpet industry outlook in Saudi Arabia, and their social activities. Excerpts of the interview follow: The Alsorayai Group is considered to be one of the leading groups in KSA, would you recount the stages the group went through to reach its current position. Alsorayai has had a progressive run. The company is a family business established in the 1940s by my father and my uncle. The company originally dealt with hand-made Persian carpets with its base in Riyadh. Later the business moved to Makkah. In the holy city, it continued importing hand-made carpets across the Middle East and the Near East. Then, the group diversified to the textile industry with a variety of carpets, rugs, tiles and vinyl, furniture, blankets and fabrics. In 1992, we established our first factory to produce high quality carpet with different unique colors and designs. As a family company, what did you learn from your father? Off course, my father and my uncle didn't make it easy for us. Yet though we had to work harder than everyone to lead the company and working in such environment, they taught us how to be patient which I think is important to success. With the help of your brothers, how did you keep the dream of your father alive? First of all, we had to follow his dream which became true, and right now our goal is to keep it and expand it. What challenges do you face now as a family company? I agree that any family-owned firm will face various challenges. But to keep the company, there is a need for continuity of family businesses and this continuation means better organization and splitting the ownership from the administration. According to a study, 33 percent of these companies are run by the second generation of the family and 5 percent are managed by the third generation. Starting your business from the carpet and rug industry and then diversifying into other industries, what is your opinion about the carpet and flooring industry in Saudi Arabia? The carpets and rugs industry is very important in the Kingdom and Saudi Arabia remains the largest consumer market in the Middle East. Despite the development of the modern buildings, still there is a big demand for carpet and rugs. Market value of carpet and rugs has reached SR3 billion and our market share is around 34 percent. How many factories do you have so far and what is your market share? So far, we have 6 factories in Jeddah. Sorayai is always keen on keeping updated with the advancing standards and technologies. How do you describe your production factories at this current stage? We use the latest technology in the textile business…and we are trying to follow the market now. We have very qualified personnel to run the business and to position ourselves as an international brand as well The group also is expanding its homestyle business. What are your plans for this segment? It is a new concept we introduced in order to provide families with everything they need for furniture under one roof and we have around 3 branches. We are planning to launch a number of branches in next few years to reach Saudi consumers everywhere in the Kingdom. With such a huge group, are the young Saudis getting the attention within your companies? Off course, and they proved themselves to be capable in the middle positions. But we still hope the young Saudis would work in the factories' heavy-work department. What is the percentage of Saudization in your group? We have reached about 25 percent and it seems that many young Saudis are not interested in working in our industry because it is known that Saudis prefer working behind office desks and in leading positions. An effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) program can add value to anyone's business in a number of ways, how important is the corporate social responsibility (CSR) for you? We've always been concerned about our impact locally. Our corporate social responsibility is ingrained in our corporate values and integrated into the very heart of our operations. We focus our social investments on education, healthcare, economic empowerment, and critical human needs. We have launched various programs such as awareness campaigns related to the Islamic behavior and morals, Arab calligraphy contest for females, vocational training programs with various local institutes, helping young Saudis to get married, and others. Does Al Sorayai Group plan any further expansion? We are in the process to evaluate the group and definitely we are looking ahead. How do you see the Saudi economy? Saudi Arabia's economic performance has been strong and its outlook remains positive. It just needs to re-examine some existing systems. Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) has been playing a major role in the growth of the national industry and offering career opportunities for the citizens, can you give your opinion of what MODON is doing lately? Well, MODON has been playing a magnificent role to encourage the private sector to become involved in the development, operation and maintenance of industrial estates. It is really striving hard to nationalize industry, attract technology and achieve the national strategy of industry to make the industry the strategic choice to diversify sources of income as directed by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What are your expectations for the New Year? We expect to make further progress in 2014, and have a number of work streams designed to improve our productivity and lower our financial risk. 2013 was really bad for the group because it was also a difficult for the market in general due to the political situation in the Middle East. On the other hand, as a Saudi company, we suffered because of the implementation of the new rules issued by the Ministry of Labor which paralyzed the stream of work of many local companies. The Saudization program is meant to reduce unemployment – especially among young people – by compelling businesses to employ more Saudi citizens, but the nationwide campaign has hit businesses and it could hold back the development of Saudi economy. In my opinion, 6 months to implement such long term rules were not enough, but they needed years to enforce this policy because Saudis – even if they are unemployed – are unlikely to take up the menial kind of jobs being vacated by many of the expelled foreigners.
