Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, President of DP World, in discussion with LBM editor Peter Bishop
DP World is a hugely successful global logistics company. Dubai-based, it specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones (FTZ) – Jebel Ali, the company’s flagship site, is one of the world’s busiest ports and a potential model for London Gateway, the UK capital’s expanding logistics facility, also operated by DP World.
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I met the company’s president, HE Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, at the Global Freight Summit in Dubai last November, the day after the two lead stories in Multi Modal news, one of the industry’s top commentators, were: Gemini picks London Gateway for UK port calls and London Gateway launches new £350m fourth berth with arrival of first ships.
The first headline related to the Maersk & Hapag-Lloyd partnership’s decision to use London Gateway as the ‘optimal port’ in the UK to serve their customers’ import and exporter cargo. The second referred to the operational launch of the world’s first all-electric berth “marking a significant milestone at one of the UK’s most sustainable and advanced logistics hubs.”
Confidence
Both are good news for London and the UK and I asked the DP World President what gave him the confidence to make the investment. “We looked at London Gateway and made a decision based on fundamentals. The UK has the best company law in the world, the best stock market, a good financial system and a strong economy.
“I heard with pleasure Prime Minister Starmer’s words at the London investment summit in October where he stated his desire for more growth and less regulation. And I was reminded of Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for Dubai. ‘Build it and the people will come.’”
I asked about parallels between Jebel Ali, which he has steered from an early stage, and Thames Gateway, often described as ‘Jebel Ali’s little brother’. Both, for example, were formerly sites of oil refineries. “The Jebel Ali project has been an amazing learning experience. It was built as an industrial park and a port and only really took off when it became a free port. London Gateway reminded me of it. In fact there is a photo of me on reclaimed land at the London site and it looks like I was in Dubai in the early days!
“We made Jebel Ali, a difficult place, work. It now provides 500,000 jobs and makes up 30 per cent of Dubai’s GDP. With port-centric activities, London’s numbers can be even bigger.”
Globalisation
Moving on to global trade issues, I asked how worried he was about the threat of tariffs and a curtailment of globalisation under President-elect Trump “I don’t think globalisation is under threat. Many people believe in free trade. President Trump believes in fair trade and he is saying ‘how come we have difficulties selling into China’? My view is that people will manufacture and people will buy. Trade will find a way. “
Supply chain
The Global Freight Summit, being held on Dubai’s impressive exhibition site where Expo 2020 so memorably took place, recognised the massive importance of the supply chain. Covid, I suggested, had much to do with this. What lessons had DP World learned from the experience? “Not just us but the whole world realised that the chain was fragile. Near-shoring become the order of the day and it has a part to play. It was perhaps ironic that the Belt and Road initiative was based on China’s lack of confidence in the ability of global ports to receive their goods. All of a sudden the source of those goods was seen as the problem.”
DP World’s boss is also chair of Dubai International Chamber (on whose board LCCI chair Julia Onslow-Cole sits) and was acutely aware of the role of Dubai Chambers in the emirate’s development. “Trading is the bread and butter of Dubai – we have no agriculture or mining. It is a city of merchants who, since the Chamber’s establishment in the 1960s, have been able to tap into its services and facilities.”
Leadership
The interview was coming to an end and the chairman was shortly due to meet Ryan Reynolds, Hollywood star, Welsh football club owner, and one of an eclectic range of fascinating speakers at the summit so I just had time for a couple of more personal questions. Why, I asked, had he chosen a career in the freight industry? I learned that, appropriately, it had all started at Jebel Ali – whose success has been so linked to Ahmed Bin Sulayem’s leadership. As a trainee Customs officer, he got what many colleagues considered to be the short straw when posted to the port’s site, 45 kilometres from the centre of Dubai. “There wasn’t much happening so I was pleading for things to do, like showing potential customers around. I got some training in sales and marketing from an American company and soon realised that cargo owners were the most important people. The freight business is not something you can learn effectively at college. You learn from the experience of being in it, by meeting everyone involved in the industry – the forwarders and shipowners as well as the cargo owners. Knowing them as I do gives us the ability to invest only in what will be of benefit to the customer.”
Finally, I was keen to know what one of the Middle East’s most influential businessmen did in his spare time. “I enjoy working so that is a pleasure for me. Putting my brain to work makes me excited and happy. But so does spending time with my family and travelling with them. I also love fishing, including spear fishing, and scuba diving, though not for a while now.” I surmised that mastering the challenges of world trade, as bin Sulayem was clearly doing, was pretty much a full-time job.
www.dpworld.com
