Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Sultan, Chairman of Mohammed Al-Sultan Contracting Co. Ltd. and General Manager of Al-Sultan Trading and Contracting, is a self-made businessman from Al-Safrat, north of Riyadh. He graduated from King Saud University, Faculty of Arts. He specialized in real estate investments and then expanded by working in the trade of sanitary ware and building materials, as he was one of the first to enter the general contracting sector and electrical, mechanical, air conditioning and refrigeration works, then he settled in the fields of real estate, general contracting, electrical, mechanical, air conditioning and refrigeration works and general trade, where he achieved great success in them. He learned from his father, God rest his soul, sincerity in work and self-reliance, which helped him achieve great successes in his field of work.
\nBusinessman Mohammed Al-Sultan took us on an interesting talk, where he sailed us in his world that he made ... He reviewed his pioneering investment experience in the field of real estate and the contracting and air conditioning industry, where he is considered one of the first who were and still have a clear footprint in these two fields ... He did not deny his small city ... Where childhood and youth, he still communicates with its people and they communicate with him. He participates in their social, cultural and charitable activities. With great comfort and humility. His love for his city and its people made him write a book about it. which further strengthened his ties with its people. They appreciated this loyalty and reciprocated it with loyalty. Continue with us, dear reader, in an interesting dialog about this self-made man to sail together in the sea of his childhood, youth, life and work... Here is the text of the dialog.<\/p>\n
[Beginning Abu Abdulaziz, tell us about your upbringing and childhood?]
\nI was born in the town of Al-Safrat in Thadiq Governorate, 100 kilometers from Riyadh, in 1377 AH, and I lived in Al-Safrat until I was four years old, then I moved to Riyadh. Although we moved to Riyadh, Al-Safrat was like Paris for us in our childhood, my brothers and I. We did not cut off from it and communicated with its people, as it was our haven and our resort where we spent our vacations, and I have many beautiful childhood memories, and I still communicate with the good, generous, and loyal people of this city, and I still communicate with the good, generous, and loyal people. <\/p>\n
[Did your love for your village of Safarat influence you in writing your book \u201cSafarat\u201d?]
\nOf course, I wanted to document the history and geography of my beloved village of Safrat in a book that preserves this information, because Safrat and its loyal people deserve a lot.
\n Back in the day, how and why did you move to Riyadh?
\nAt that time, my brother Ali, may God have mercy on him, had joined a job in the then Ministry of Education, and my brother Abdullah had started studying at the Teachers' Institute in Riyadh, so my father preferred that we move and live in the city of Riyadh, and I remember our first house was rented in the Al-Shamisi neighborhood, and my father used to move between Riyadh and Safrat until he bought us the first house in the Hala Al-Amaj neighborhood on Asir Street and finally settled in Riyadh in 1383 AH. <\/p>\n
[What about your schooling and education when you were younger?]
\nOf course. I studied elementary school at Qutaiba bin Muslim School, where my principal at the time was Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Wahaibi. The middle school was Al-Shafi'i Middle School, which was run by Mr. Saleh Al-Najrani, and finally I preferred to study high school at the Teachers' Institute, and the director of the institute at that time was
\nMr. Abdulaziz Al-Shuwaier.<\/p>\n
[What major did you choose in college?]
\nI am a graduate of the Faculty of Arts and majored in Geography from Riyadh University (now King Saud University).<\/p>\n
[But how do geography and commerce come together?]
\nMy social science teacher at school, Mr. Nasouh Abu Saada, had a great impact on my love for geography and my choice of this major at university. Due to his beautiful and interesting style, he made social sciences one of the most beloved subjects by me. In addition, Mr. Taha al-Farra at the university and his beautiful style in the university lectures. <\/p>\n
[After university, did you go straight into commerce or did you work in the government sector?]
\nI was offered a job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately after graduation, but I did not accept it and preferred to continue working in commerce because I traded my commercial status for government salaries, and I won. I even returned all my university bonuses to the government, as it was a condition at the time for those who did not want to work in the government sector to return all university bonuses. <\/p>\n
[Does that mean you were in business during college?]
\n- Yes, and even years before that. I opened a real estate office on Al-Khazzan Street - the real estate stronghold at the time - during my high school years in 1394 AH.<\/p>\n
[This means you worked in business from an early age?]
\nYes, it was, and the exit of the Real Estate Development Fund had an impact on the rise in real estate prices in Riyadh, and there was an active buying and selling movement on real estate and buildings, which attracted me to enter the real estate field. <\/p>\n
[What is your first destination of choice when traveling abroad?]
\n- Yes, I remember it well, it was for tourism in the sisterly state of Kuwait and then for Iraq in 1393 AH.
\nWhich trips were the most memorable for you?
\nI traveled to many Arab countries after that, and most European countries, but I remember my first trip to the West was to Britain and the United States of America in 1398 AH while I was at the height of my youth, where I went first to London, then to Nevada, then visited my brother, cousin and friend Engineer Abdulaziz Al-Sind in Sacramento, then headed to San Francisco and Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
[Of all the countries you've visited outside of Saudi Arabia, which is your favorite for tourism?]
\nI prefer tourism in Lebanon because of its proximity, its beautiful atmosphere, its picturesque nature, and the diversity of its atmosphere from mountains and sea. I also have many good friends there.
\nAfter the real estate office, what was the next step in your business?
\nAfter studying the market and its needs, I started my activity in general contracting in 1395 AH, due to the presence of great government support for state projects and various development funds, and I opened the air conditioning and refrigeration department in 1396 AH and was one of the first to practice this field, then I saw to open a branch for trading sanitary ware and building materials in 1399 AH, after that I expanded the air conditioning and refrigeration department to include electrical and mechanical works. Since the establishment of the contracting, electrical, mechanical, air-conditioning and refrigeration departments, it has taken upon itself excellence in work, speed in completion, punctuality, and customer satisfaction, and works hard through its diverse staff consisting of engineers, technicians and administrators to achieve its goals, who work as one team under my direct supervision, and after my sons graduated from engineering colleges, they supervised the management of various sections of my activities. .
\nPlease tell us about the number of years you have been in business and investment, the activities you have been involved in, and your favorite?
\nI started my activity in business and investment since 1394 AH, which means almost 40 years. My business varies between real estate, contracting, sanitary ware and general trade. My most beloved businesses are real estate and sanitary ware. <\/p>\n
[How have you been able to expand your business and what is your investment strategy and vision?]
\n- Of course, I have a clearly defined strategy, which is credibility in dealing first and foremost, concern for the trader's brand name, and building the relationship with customers satisfactorily, and my trading style is based on working hard and persevering while trying as much as possible to make my decisions after I take deliberate steps that keep me away from risk, and accepting different opinions and choosing the most suitable ones. I also follow the method of diversifying the activity in my investments, and expanding these activities to similar fields may be more efficient and easier than moving to a new field suddenly. . <\/p>\n
[How do you treat your employees to ensure your success?]
\nSome of them have been with me since the beginning of my career, and after I got married, my children worked with me, and they also got married while working with me, and then their children worked with me as well. I remember my brother and my secretary Reda Al-Din, my brother Mamoun Khader, engineer Khaled Khader, engineer Mohammed Al-Halwani, financial manager Magdy Al-Sherbini, and supervisor Sharma. <\/p>\n
[Which nationality do you work with the most?]
\nMost of them are from India, Pakistan and the sister republic of Sudan. <\/p>\n
[How do you manage the business and what is your management strategy?]
\nI believe that every work, activity, and project has its own strategy, and I cannot define a specific management style because it is determined by time, place, and circumstances. But we can make sure to control the work through close supervision by engineers and specialists. <\/p>\n
[Which labor do you prefer? And what do you think about unemployment?]
\nAs for unemployment, we can see that the issue is not the availability of education, but the issue with the specializations that are produced, so I find that one of the appropriate solutions is to study the market situation and its need and open specializations in universities to match the need. Rehabilitation and training institutes are also necessary to qualify young people for work. <\/p>\n
[What are some of the most difficult and frequently recurring issues you face that affect the labor market in Saudi Arabia?]
\nOne of the things that hinders the work is the lack of commitment of some clients with whom we agree on postpayment to pay at the agreed time. Also in the field of contracting, the market has unfortunately become a price war at the expense of quality.<\/p>\n
[What do you think are the issues affecting the Kingdom's construction market?]
\nAs I mentioned earlier, the field of contracting has unfortunately become a price war at the expense of quality, lack of specialization and ignorance in implementation, and resorting to loose and unqualified labor from some contractors and individuals, which constitutes a dilemma that occurred in the presence of many stalled projects with insufficient quality, also many foreign companies have been licensed, most of which are not as hoped for and have limited capabilities that caused an imbalance in the market without any benefit from this foreign investment, which many economic experts believed as a cancer on the Saudi economy. <\/p>\n
[Does your company Sultan Electrical and Mechanical Works give guarantees for projects?]
\nYes, we give a warranty for air conditioners according to the manufacturer and a warranty on our work in plumbing, electricity and connections for two years, and we have a special quality control department managed by one of my sons to ensure that the work is delivered in an honorable manner. We also have an after-sales service to serve our customers and develop dealing with them. <\/p>\n
[How do you see your rent now and why didn't you move your offices to other locations instead of Specialized?]
\nWe have more than 32 years in the same location and we have built strong relationships between friends and other parties and companies that knew us in this location as well. We do not want to disturb our customers who are used to the place and the rent has decreased twice and returned and increased three times. The office is part of public relations and acquaintance with many businessmen and it is difficult for us to change.<\/p>\n
[Does loose labor have an impact on your business? What do you think about the corrective step (campaigns on loose labor) carried out by the competent authorities in the country?]
\nYes, it has a great impact on the business field as a whole and on the security, demographic and economic situation of the Kingdom. As for the corrective passport step (campaigns on loose labor), it is a big and necessary step to reduce the number of unqualified workers and will have a great impact on the quality of the work carried out. It will also open the way for nationals and open doors for them to invest in many sectors and employment, which will increase employment opportunities and reduce unemployment rates. We have already noticed that they have reduced traffic congestion in the streets of Riyadh, which indicates that the campaigns on loose labor contribute to the employment of Saudi cadres, eliminate the issue of concealment and maintain the country's economic outputs and security stability. <\/p>\n
[What do you think were the best years for the business sector in Saudi Arabia?]
\nThere have been many periods of stagnation and others of recovery and boom, the most important of which is what we are currently experiencing during the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, may God protect him, as he opened universities and paid attention to education and its outputs and increased interest in business owners, especially in researching the issues they face and developing appropriate and quick solutions to them, which helps in our participation in the development of our beloved kingdom.
\nThanks to the recovery and the current boom, especially in real estate and construction, we have achieved good outputs in our fields.<\/p>\n
[Let's talk about your children's work with you. How did you direct them and why?]
\nWhen my children were young, they used to go with me to work in the evenings and on their vacations, and I would assign them tasks and responsibilities appropriate to their age. I was, and still am, keen on this so that they are close to me and the work, so that they learn responsibility and good behavior to help them develop their personalities.
\nI know that your sons Abdulaziz and Sultan have chosen engineering as their major. Did working with you have an impact on that?
\nMy children work with me willingly, I didn't force any of them to do so, and their choice of engineering was a personal choice according to their inclinations and desires. <\/p>\n
[Are you in favor of your children separating from you in business?]
\nEach of my children is free to choose what they want for their future and I support and encourage them, but I prefer that they work with me at first to learn from my 40 years of experience and also to learn the secrets and secrets of the business and the market so that this will help them later, whatever their choice. In fact, each of my sons oversees a part of my business in addition to owning their own investments.<\/p>\n
[Abu Abdulaziz, based on your experience, what is your perception of real estate prices in the Kingdom?]
\nReal estate has periods of decline and periods of rise. For example, in 1985, I bought the land of my house in the Nozha neighborhood for 240 riyals per meter, then a few years later the value of the land fell to 140 riyals per meter, and then the periods of rise and fall continued until the price reached 3000 riyals per meter. We are now at the top of the price range.<\/p>\n
[Where do you think the future of real estate is headed?]
\nIn the medium term, I expect the prices of unserviced lands to fall, and the serviced ones to stabilize at their current price, due to the solutions and decisions taken by the state recently, in addition to the near entry of lands with issues after solving them and creating an abundance of supply, for example the Qiran lands north of Riyadh with an area of more than 100 million meters, in addition to the near completion of some of the Ministry of Housing's residential projects. I also expect office rents to drop when the King Abdullah Financial Center project is completed and many tenant companies move to it. There are many properties that have witnessed a noticeable decline in the past months with the increase in supply and lack of demand at the offered price.<\/p>\n
[What advice would you give to traders and young people?]
\nI tell them that the Kingdom is going through a tremendous boom in all fields during the reign of my lord and father, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, his Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness the Second Deputy, His Royal Highness Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, may God protect them. Therefore, I call on young people to participate in all public and private sectors to serve their religion, their homeland and their king, and I call on them to engage in the commercial field. I also call on merchants to help the state solve the issue of unemployment and favor Saudi youth over foreigners. I also call on government sectors to support Saudi youth to invest in various fields of the economy and favor them over foreign investment, especially in the privileges granted. I pray to God Almighty to preserve our security, prosperity and health.<\/p>\n
[A final word to Amlak Real Estate Newspaper?]
\nI would like to thank Amlak newspaper for this interview, and I am happy to be the first Saudi real estate newspaper and proud of the young Saudis who work for it. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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