AUB Trustee Ibrahim Dabdoub Advises on Preparing for a New Era

Trustee Ibrahim Dabdoub

The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB) held its Salim Kheireddine/Al Mawarid Bank Lecture Series on March 7 in West Hall. The lecture was entitled "Preparing for a New Era" and the guest speaker was AUB Trustee Ibrahim Dabdoub, the chief executive officer of the National Bank of Kuwait.

Dabdoub began his talk by observing that the ailments of Arab management and strategic development were due to the clash with Arab culture and that there was a need to separate the two, especially in the business of banking and finance. Surveying the causes why the Arab world is lagging behind in its thought and development, Dabdoub said:

"I was reflecting on why we were missing the opportunity to benefit from the prevailing global trends… While we were out breeding dictatorships in the Arab world and wasting our resources on war machines on order to fight each other, the developed world was fostering democracy and respect for human rights. While we were out teaching our children archaic slogans promoting violence, other countries were teaching their children science and technology. While we were out inflating our public sectors, the world was encouraging entrepreneurships and private initiative."

Nevertheless, he noted a "glimmer of hope" in the transformation of the Arab world that is marking the coming oil windfall in the Gulf countries and throughout the region. According to Dabdoub, the Arab oil-producing countries, identified as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), are going through a major boom, which may last for more than a decade. And the ensuing profits are now being held in the "sovereign wealth funds of the new power brokers in the world." As a result, there is now a shift of wealth, from the United States and Europe to the East.

While the Gulf countries have recognized the opportunity and diversified their investments, Lebanon and the other Levant and North African countries still have a long way to go to make their markets attractive to investors, said Dabdoub. It is only when government and governance are fostered that they may have a chance.

Dabdoub recommended making use of the coming oil windfall, which he described as a once in a lifetime opportunity. Lebanon also should make an effort to stop its "brain drain" by securing the rights of private property and personal liberty, as well as the rights of minorities and the losers in democratic elections.