Modernisation drive

In his first-ever interview after becoming the chief executive of Bapco, Mr Abdulkarim Jaffer Al Sayed talks to Asma Salman about his early days at the petroleum company, his steady rise up the ranks and his vision for the petrochemicals giant With the dawn of 2008 came a shift in the upper echelons of Bapco's powerhouse as 61-year-old mechanical engineer, Abdulkarim Jaffer Al Sayed became the new chief executive of the Bahrain Petroleum Company.

Having over four decades of invaluable experience with the company and a wealth of knowledge of the petrochemical industry, Mr Al Sayed brings with him vital expertise and a profound insight to his latest appointment.

Mr Al Sayed is no stranger to the responsibilities and challenges that come with being in the top rank at Bapco. He has held the post of senior deputy chief executive since September 2006 and has in effect sat in the chief executive's chair in the former CE's absence in addition to working alongside him in all aspects of Bapco.

As general manager of major engineering projects Mr Al Sayed was also at the helm of affairs of key modernisation projects. "

In 1997, the Government of Bahrain took full control of the refinery and instructed the company to modernise. Bapco hadn't undertaken any new projects since 1972. Hence it embarked on a number of strategic investment projects which include the $725 million (BD271 million)_Low Sulphur Diesel Project (LSDP).

"I have personally led such projects which have pushed Bapco forward," he said.

The only son of a retail shop owner, Mr Al Sayed had aspirations of becoming a doctor. Later when he joined Bapco by a twist of fate he set his mind to excel and outperform his peers. "It was always my ambition to become the chief executive even when I was a junior officer at Bapco, although in my opinion fulfilling my ambition came late to me."

Mr Al Sayed joined Bapco in 1961 after finishing his primary school in Manama but dropped out from the four year apprenticeship programme only after three months as it was not in line with his ambition of studying medicine.

Abdulkarim, then aged 13, joined the only secondary school in Bahrain but was at a loss on completion of his secondary education certificate as his parents could not send him abroad to study medicine and the only option left for the young Bahraini was to earn his way to college.

So with a basic salary of BD100 and an overtime payment of BD50, the industrious 19-year-old started work as a tally clerk at a shipping company in the Saudi port city of Dammam. Through sheer hard work and single-mindedness Mr Al Sayed soon became the youngest supervisor with an aim to amass his medical school fees with his day job.

But fate had a totally different path planned for him.

On one of his brief sojourn's from work he met a relative who was visiting his family in Bahrain.

"He had just returned from a Bapco-sponsored educational trip in London and was employed by the company. He questioned my future plans and told me that Bapco sends its employees abroad regularly and that I was wasting my time collecting money to go to a cheap medical college in India," he laughed.

The young Abdulkarim, although still determined to pursue medicine, was coaxed by his relative into taking a test at Bapco and working there for an interim period to 'test the waters'.

In October 1965, Mr Al Sayed joined Bapco's School in Awali for Bahrainis and according to him stayed because of peer pressure from his fellow Bahraini counterparts.

Once at the school Mr Al Sayed proved to be an A-grade student and went through various stages of the training and education programme.

Bapco officials at that time kept a vigilant eye on the young Bahrainis and had stringent measures in place every step of the way.

"There was immense pressure from the government to train and develop the local workforce so that they would be able to move into the senior positions that were held by expatriate workers who were costing the company a great deal," he stressed. So when the enthusiastic Abdulkarim took his O'levels exams after the first year at the British Council and took his favourable results to Bapco he was rapped for stepping out of line and was made to sit for the examinations again at the end of the programme.

Education and technical training went hand in hand in Bapco. While studying, Mr Al Sayed was assigned to technical services and quality control and developed immense interest in chemical engineering. But Bapco assigned him to study the Ordinary Technical Diploma (OTD) in electrical and mechanical engineering. Later while training in the power and utilities department Mr Al Sayed wanted to specialise in electrical engineering but could not pursue that either because another Bahraini was already training in that specific field.

"This came to me as a third disappointment," he explained. "I thought to myself that whatever interests me becomes unobtainable by some twist of fate. But I did not lose heart and took up mechanical engineering instead."

Mr Al Sayed proceeded to Hendon College of Technology in the UK to study mechanical engineering. Being the A-grade student, he was transferred to the honours degree programme and returned to Bapco in 1974 armed with BSC honours in a field that was not of his first choice. Mr Al Sayed has immense faith in fate and believes that hard work and the determination to do well can take anyone to levels of excellence.

Mr Al Sayed worked for a year as an associate engineer but was sent back to the UK, this time to do a Master's Degree in power engineering at the Imperial College, University of London. During his year-long stint at the college he managed to conduct a study on the 'Economies of Scale in Power Generation' which went down so well with the faculty that they invited him to stay on for a PhD.

Once again Bapco stepped in and asked him to return as they thought that a doctorate was not required for the kind of job that was set out for him back home.

"Bapco had plans for each individual which were not open ended," he explained. "Although at that time I was frustrated and disappointed in hindsight I feel that if I'm in the position to plan and develop a certain employee for a specific role then I have to make sure that my plan reaches its targeted goal. When I look back I think that it was a good career decision for me to return to Bahrain at the time," he states emphatically.

Mr Al Sayed returned to Bapco in 1976 and rose rapidly to the position of manager of power and utilities in 1981. A year later a challenging position of general manager of engineering was offered for Bahrainisation and Mr Al Sayed was nominated to take over it. After four rigorous years of running the different engineering departments Mr Al Sayed finally took over the coveted position in 1986.

Mr Al Sayed did the general manager rotation programme for a number of years and in effect was given the opportunity to understood the operations and the nitty gritty of the company. His new appointment brings with it many challenges that he appears ready, willing and able to take head on.