With wiry determination

A Syrian businessman and civil engineer who worked in Kuwait for more 20 years, Walid Malas returned to Syria to become the owner of a successful wire and metal fabric manufacturing company, and an influential figure in the Chamber of Industry.
FW: spoke to Malas about the state of the Syrian market, some of his more controversial decisions, and the importance of quality as a measure ensuring the viability of Syrian products.
Walid Malas, an industrialist with vision who wants to see Syria move forward.

With all your experience in manufacturing wire and metal fabric in Syria, what are the requirements for successful industry in the Syrian market? Needless to say that both the government and the private sector in Syria concur that industry is the main engine for driving the national economy forward, in addition to providing a great number of opportunities to the people and a chance for the new generation to have good jobs and income.
Syrian industry at present requires the following main elements: social care, quality, mass production capacity, and exporting.
In order to produce good quality products, it is essential that the inlets of imported raw materials should match international and/or European standards.
When they don’t, the after products will not be of good quality.
All imported material, both raw and finished products, should stand up to international standards without any exceptions, and in turn this will result in products with high added value.
You are among more than 200 Syrian industrialists who protested against the government ban on importing second-hand machinery that is older than five years.
What is the rationale behind this ban, and why do you insist on the necessity of importing second hand machinery? We did not protest against the ban itself but against the concept of “guardianship.
” I personally believe with deep conviction that Syrian industrialists are very aware of when, how, and where to invest their capital, which they have not collected under easy conditions.
Given that they have the required industrial licenses, our objection was only against giving trade companies a chance to import scrap machines, resulting in declining quality of production.
Great hopes were pinned on the role played by the new board of directors in the Damascus Chamber of Industry (DCI).
Where is the chamber now in drawing its general industrial policies? Without a doubt, the 2005 board of the DCI is carrying on in the path of previous boards, and their efforts throughout the past 40-50 years.
Government stakeholders in the past few years have greatly influenced the shaping industrial policies.
I have the courage to conclude that the outcomes the current DCI Board will reach will not be equal to the efforts we put in.
Obstacles industrialists used to face in the past have been eliminated, since dialogue with the government, and especially the Ministry of Finance, is more elastic and open.
Can you elaborate on the government’s cooperation? All imported material, both raw and finished products, should stand up to international standards without any exceptions In the past eight years there has been extensive cooperation between the government and various economic sectors, this is clearly reflected in the Finance Ministry’s income taxes, which have doubled and tripled in a substantially short period, a great indication of transparency.
In very few words we should not differentiate between the government and other members of our economy, by labeling them the public/private sector.
I would like to stress on the concept of public sector; we are all in the same boat and we need to reach the other shore safely or we will sink together.
What further responsibilities have been assigned to your generation of industrialists as members of the Chief of Craft Council in order to maintain partnerships with other beginner industrialists, and in encouraging team work and cooperation? Of course there are numerous methods of cooperation.
I believe that vocational education and training, especially the apprenticeship system, are the foundation stones to any development, and steering these training programs towards actual market needs.
Here I need to clarify that it is not the responsibility of one party, but of all parties and stakeholders in Syria; they need to act accordingly in order to accomplish this goal.
What do you think of the joint role assigned to both the chambers of commerce and industry? Both the chambers of commerce and industry complement each other’s aim to serve the national economy, but by using different tools.
There are various occasions and investments that we have collaborated on, such as banks and insurance companies.
We are also expecting the chambers of commerce and industry to support and fund new national mega-industrial companies like cement plants, refineries, fertilizer factories, and others.
With rising competition in the business sector, what efforts are in place to ensure quality assurance for Syrian products? First of all, we need to change our culture and attitude in a short period of time, which is not an easy job.
Quality in the short, medium and long term will reduce wastage of time and materials, in addition to reducing direct and indirect costs.
This will benefit both domestic consumers, offering them good consumable products at reasonable prices, and manufacturers by increasing the added value and multiplying exports.
We do not get rich by buying cheap commodities.
The “Strengthening Quality Management Capabilities and Infrastructures in Syria” project took off two weeks ago under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry.
It is a joint effort between the Syrian government and the EU, with the involvement of various other parties, at a value of 12 Million EURO.
This project, in my opinion, will change in the next four years the present concept of quality, testing, standardizations metrology, and calibration.