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02/01/2009 - Issue 24
The education path of Wafic Said
by Sami Moubayed
Wafic Said, or better known to Syrians as Wafic Rida Said, is one of the most prominent expatriate Syrians residing in Great Britain. An older generation knows him as the son of Rida Said, the founder and first president of the Syrian University (later Damascus University). Another generation knows him as a rich, powerful, and benevolent Syrian businessman in Europe. A younger generation knows him as founder of the famous Karim Rida Said Scholarship, which facilitates the education of young Syrians at schools in the UK. Wafic Said spoke to Forward Magazine about his long and prolific career, and the vision he has for his native Syria.
Above all, Syrians know you as the son of Rida Said, a highly respected academic and “founding father” of the Republic, whose name has forever been associated with Damascus University. What does it feel like to be the son of such a pioneer?
I was quite young when my father passed away. My mother always spoke to us about him and all his achievements and she taught us to live by his example. He was one of those nationalists who, having completed their education abroad, were keen to return to their country with the ambition of building a modern Syria. It was after the First World War that my father, as a very young eye surgeon, was assigned the task of opening the Faculty of Medicine in Syria and named its dean. In 1925 he became minister of education and succeeded in establishing the Syrian baccalaureate and having it recognized by top universities throughout the world – despite the strong opposition of the then French High Commissioner Comte Henri de Jouvenel. Not surprisingly, the French wanted their baccalaureate to be the only means of entry to university!
Throughout his life my father believed that education was vital for the development of Syria’s potential, to prepare the country for independence and to create wealth and prosperity. That is why his long-term aim was to establish a Syrian university so that quality higher education could be widely available. Therefore, from the Faculty of Medicine in Damascus, and with the help of a selected elite of medical doctors and academics, like his friends and fellow professors Munif al-Aadi, Nazmi Qabbani, and Shawkat Chatti, as well as future Prime Minister Faris al-Khury, to name but a few, he founded the Syrian University in 1926 and created new faculties. Damascus University was born, and continues today as a center of learning and excellence in the region.
Do you still feel strongly affiliated to Damascus University, which granted you an honorary PhD recently?
Yes, of course I feel a strong affiliation with Damascus University. My father’s whole career, indeed his life, was closely linked to the University. My brother, my two sisters and my two nephews studied there so there is a strong family tradition connecting us to the University. I feel I belong there and so I wanted to make my own small contribution. With the support of Hani Mourtada, PhD and the previous president of the university, and with Wael Mualla, PhD and the current president, I am trying to help this great institution in a number of ways, including the renovation of its beautiful old buildings which date back to the start of the twentieth century. We were able to convert the old hospital building (al-Moustashfa al-Watani) into a modern conference center so that the university now has good conference facilities and we are currently working on the renovation of the main University buildings. I am also working on a project to bring top class business education to Syria by linking Damascus University with Oxford University’s Said Business School. This project is very dear to my heart because we need to train future entrepreneurs, managers and captains of industry so that they can compete with the best in the world.
The Said Foundation aims at bringing "positive and lasting change" to the lives of young people in the Middle East. Nearly 30-years later, are you satisfied with its "success story" and where do you see its future? Can you tell us about its activities and vision for Syria?
The Karim Rida Said Foundation, founded in 1982, has now become the Said Foundation. As you rightly say, the foundation’s existing mission is “to bring positive and lasting change to the lives of children and young people in the Middle East,” which we do through a number of programs, including education and support for the development of disadvantaged children. The foundation’s education program is our priority because I believe that encouraging excellence through education is vital for the development of a nation. The foundation grants scholarships to young people for whom such opportunities would not otherwise be available. The scholarships are awarded purely on merit for postgraduate study in the top universities in Britain, and I am enormously proud of the achievements of our scholars and alumni.
As you may know, the foundation is non-sectarian and non-political and our operations in the Middle East do not favor particular sects or regions of countries. This comes from my upbringing in a secular state – it is natural for Syrians to be respectful of all religions, cultures and creeds. If I may quote the First Lady in an interview for the Sunday Times: “For me, being Syrian, Straight Street is part of who I am; St Paul is part of who I am, the Umayyad mosque is part of who I am, Aramaic is a part of who I am. When the president prays in the Umayyad mosque, he sits right beside the tomb of St John the Baptist. That unity and harmony doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.”
I think that the foundation has been a great success. We have funded scholarships for many hundreds of students whose wide-ranging skills and knowledge are really making a difference in the region, and we have funded several hundred projects benefiting thousands of disadvantaged children. The Syria Disability Program, in particular, has helped many disabled children and their parents in our country. We are fortunate because we have had every encouragement from the authorities.
What is my vision for the future of the Said Foundation? I hope that all these successful programs will continue, and that the foundation will also be able to expand its activities over the coming years, while retaining its focus on the Middle East and on Syria in particular. As I have already mentioned, it is the Said Foundation’s ambition to be involved in bringing world-class business education to Damascus University, and we are in the initial stages of planning a state-of-the-art hospital in Damascus.
How do you see the reform process, in business and finance, that has been underway in Syria for the past 9 years? You were involved in investment banking at one point; are you interested in investing in the private banking sector in Syria?
I am a great believer in free enterprise – although it is not very fashionable at the moment, given that western countries are busy nationalizing their banks! The program of liberalization that was introduced by President Bashar al-Assad is very impressive. Let me remind those who are impatient for rapid change that not long ago the Syrian pound had three exchange rates; there were exchange controls, no foreign banks, and imports were very heavily levied. Some would say that we still have a long way to go, but tremendous progress has been made. What is important is that the government is fully committed to liberalizing the economy. I am a great admirer of Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Dardari, whose reform measures are working so well. A good example is private banking, now a reality in Syria. I am a major shareholder in the Bank al-Sharq, which has recently been granted a license in Syria, cementing my commitment to investing in Syria.
One sector I believe deserves special attention and has enormous potential is tourism. Whenever I travel to Syria with guests from the UK, for example, they are stunned by the beauty of the scenery, the wealth of the ancient and historic sites, and the hospitality and friendliness of the people. I am sure that our tourism industry will be promoted and expanded so that it becomes one of our top dynamic industries, bringing wealth to our country.
You are still heavily involved in academia, through the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. Private education and private universities have now started mushrooming in Syria. Are legendary institutions like Damascus University threatened by these private universities?
What is important for Syria, and indeed all countries, is quality education; we must strive for excellence and must not compromise. I am not opposed to private universities so long as they have the highest standards of education, giving our students more choice. I am very concerned about the effect on public universities and in particular Damascus University, however. The private universities, and indeed universities from the Gulf, are cash-rich and free to pay high salaries to attract the best faculty, meaning that the best of our faculty are leaving public universities where salaries are still low and regulated in line with civil servants’ pay. This is a serious problem that has to be addressed urgently. In my view, one solution would be to give our public universities the autonomy to raise funds and receive endowments from sponsors and their alumni so that they can have the freedom and capacity to retain good faculty by supplementing their salaries and attracting new faculty with competitive salaries. After all, public universities must be able to compete with private institutions – there must be a level playing field.
For years, controversy surrounded your name in the Western media related to the multi-billion dollar al-Yamamah deal, and this has been taken up by the Arab media. What is your response to this issue?
There was nothing controversial about my role in the al-Yamamah project. It is the media that likes to refer to it as a controversy! It is no secret, I have great affection for Britain and I am a great admirer of Margaret Thatcher. I was asked by her government to advise and help them secure the al-Yamamah contract, one of the biggest procurement contracts ever, because of my wide knowledge of Saudi Arabia and my contacts there. I was convinced that this was a strategically important contract for both Britain and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia needed the technology and Britain’s support for their air force, and Britain needed to save its struggling aeronautical industry and to create thousands of jobs. I am very proud of the small part I played in helping Prime Minister Thatcher secure “the contract of the century” for Britain, but sadly some of the press chooses not see it that way.
You were named as number 65 on the Sunday Times Rich List for 2007, at an estimated fortune of 1 billion GBP. Ambassador Sami Khiyami describes you as one of the few rich people in the world who still has a heart of gold, and who never hesitates to help those in need. Has wealth changed Wafic Said from within?
I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers and that includes the Times Rich List! I don’t think wealth has changed me. Money has never been my aim or my priority; it is the means to an end. It comes with responsibility, also – if it is well used it can enhance your life and bring benefits to those around you and to many others, but if it is misused it can corrupt and harm you.
Looking back on your prolific career, what do you wish you had done differently? Are there any regrets, and if so, what are they?
My only regret is that, unlike my father, I had to build my life and my career abroad. Sadly my generation emigrated and yet, as young men and women, we had so much to offer Syria. During my business career in the 1970s, we built schools, hospitals, roads, offices, and houses. I only wish this could have been in Syria.
