Saudi Oger - Six key people

06 June 2008

The top six executives running Saudi Oger under general manager Saad Rafic Hariri: Ayman Rafic Hariri, Mohammed Hariri, Farid Chaker, Ali Kolaghassi and Jamal el-Zein.

Ayman Rafic Hariri

Position: Deputy general manager

Biography: Ayman Rafic Hariri is the brother of Saad and one of five children of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Rafiq Hariri established Saudi Oger in 1978 after taking over the French firm Oger. His son Ayman began his career at international satellite consortium Intelsat before moving to the Hariri-controlled South African mobile telecom operator Cell C. He then launched the US-based firm Epok, which specialises in technological development in global commun-ications, where he is now chief executive officer (CEO). As deputy general manager, Hariri oversees the operations of one of the kingdom’s largest contractors alongside Saudi Binladin Group, and sits on the company board. MEED’s Gulf Contractor Survey (MEED 1.02.08), revealed that new orders won for 2007 were $5.3bn. Hariri has a degree from Georgetown University in the US.

Contact Tel: (9661) 477 3115

Mohammed Hariri

Position: Secretary general, board of directors

Biography: Mohammed Hariri is a board member of Saudi Oger and is also secretary general of the board of directors. He also holds the position of senior vice-president for finance and administration. Hariri handles the investments and transactions on behalf of the corporation and its associates, which includes raising finance for the activities and investments of the corporation in telecoms and other sectors such as construction and aerospace. He is on the executive committee and chairman of Oger Telecom, and serves on the boards of various holdings of the Saudi Oger Group including Otas, Turk Telecom, Avea, 3C Communication, the Mediterranean & Gulf Insurance & Reinsurance Company and Enterprise de Travaux Internationaux (ETI). He is also chairman of GroupMed Sal and BankMed Sal. He has a degree in business administration from the University of Ottawa.

Contact:ccd@saudioger.com

Farid Chaker

Position: Assistant general manager for operations

Biography: As assistant general manager for operations, Farid Chaker is responsible for all the construction activities of Saudi Oger. He is also involved in establishing new business lines for Oger Dubai. Having graduated from L’Ecole Superieure d’Ingenieurs De Marseille (L’Esil) in France with a civil engineering degree, Chaker joined Oger International in Paris in 1981 as a structural engineer at the design office, before moving to the Beirut office as a structural engineering section head at Oger Liban. In 1991, he moved to the Riyadh office to work in the procurement division and was promoted to the position of procurement division manager in 1995, where he was involved in several turnkey projects in the kingdom including the National Museum. The firm is currently involved in several high-profile construction projects such as King Abdullah University of Science & Technology and the Jabal Omar development in Mecca.

Contact Tel: (9661) 477 3115

Ali Kolaghassi

Position: Vice-president

Biography: In addition to being vice-president of Saudi Oger, Ali Kolaghassi is a senior adviser to Saad Rafic Hariri, vice-chairman and CEO of developer Saraya Holdings, vice-chairman of Saraya Aqaba, a board member of Saraya Islands and chairman of Saraya Aviation. With a background in business and law, Kolaghassi identifies future business opportunities and is responsible for pushing them through to implementation. He also manages the financing and structuring of such ventures. He assisted in the expansion of the company’s core operations of contracting, property management, maintenance and banking, as well as breaking into non-traditional sectors such as telecoms and real estate. He is also a board member of Oger Telecom. Kolaghassi is chairman of the Saraya Real Estate MENA Fund and spearheaded the Abdali project, the first public-private partnership in Jordan, for the development of a central district in Amman.

Contact Tel: (9661) 479 4010

Jamal el-Zein

Position: Assistant general manager, maintenance

Biography: Jamal el-Zein is responsible for the maintenance divisions of Saudi Oger, which covers government complexes as well as public facilities. His role also covers business development for transport infrastructure projects such as airports and railways, and establishing new business lines in facilities management. Before joining Oger in 1991, he was at Riyadh’s Saudi Medical Services Company, starting out in the early 1980s as a company representative and gaining promotion in 1988 to director of hospital operations. Once at Oger, he became operations manager in the maintenance division, with responsibility for projects such as domestic and regional airports, water and industrial utility systems. El-Zein graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1979. He currently serves on the board of directors for Oger Dubai, Saudi Oger Technical Institute and Saudi Oger Jordan.

Contact Tel: (9661) 477 3115

Mazen Hariri

Position: Chief financial officer

Biography: Mazen Hariri is chief financial officer (CFO) of Saudi Oger and overseas all the financial, administrative and information technology functions of the company and its subsidiaries. He is therefore responsible for the accurate and cost-effective funding for Saudi Oger and its projects. Hariri has a masters degree in business administration from the University of Portland, Oregan, in the US. His previous experience includes financial controller at Lebanese-based BankMed, financial manager of Oger Tekfen - a joint venture of Saudi Oger and Turkish-based Tekfen - and manager at Saudi Medical Services. He is also a board member of several Saudi Oger affiliate groups including Oger Dubai, Saudi Oger Jordan and the Saudi Oger Training Institute, which is located in Riyadh and provides vocational technical studies in the fields of construction, maintenance and hospitality.

Contact Tel: (9661) 477 3115

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