Sheikh Hamed Abdullah Al Zamil, one of Saudi Arabia’s great captains of industry, has died.

He was a successful business leader with a shrewd mind who helped build the A H Zamil Group of Companies into one of the kingdom’s largest industrial and manufacturing conglomerates, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Today, the Zamil Group Holding Group is a multi-faceted industrial giant with a combined workforce of more than 12,000 dealing in more than 60 countries having interests including steel, aluminium, plastics, air conditioning, food and travel.

The internationally respected group has diverse business sectors spanning a vast network of manufacturing facilities, joint ventures, affiliations, alliances and strategic acquisitions.

Born in 1942, Sheikh Hamed was the third son of Abdullah Hamed Al Zamil, a well-established trader and real estate owner hailing from Onaiza in the Qassim area of Saudi Arabia.

The Al Zamil family can trace its roots back more than 700 years.

Sheikh Hamed spent his early years in Bahrain helping his father conduct business and at the age of 18 travelled to England to continue his education.

Later, he travelled to the US for his degree where he attended the University of Southern California graduating in business management in 1969. He then completed a masters in public health at the University of Beirut, Lebanon.

After leaving government service in the 1970s, Sheikh Hamed worked full-time with his brothers to build the then fledging A H Zamil Group of companies through industrialisation.

In his later life, Sheikh Hamed reflected, “My father was the main catalyst for the establishment of Zamil Group just as he was always one of the main influences in my life as he spurred my brothers and myself to take on the challenge of business. The Zamil Group of today was built by all the brothers in a unique display of teamwork.”

Sheikh Hamed’s tutors and lecturers also played a large part in his early life and he remained an avid reader and lover of poetry and was fond of reading biographies and the philosophies of world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, whom he met.

He was also a great philanthropist ranging from educational sponsorships to medicine.

Outside his business life, Sheikh Hamed received many honours and commendations for his many accomplishments.

His public service included chairman of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, leading delegations to the US, Europe, Australia and Asia where he conferred with many heads of state including Mandela.

Sheikh Hamed’s drive towards internationalising Saudi business began in earnest as president of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce where he intensified international contracts and trade missions.

Receiving many accolades and awards during his life, Sheikh Hamed was always urbane and down-to-earth. He received the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur from France, awards from the Italian government for promoting Saudi-Italian ties and at home in Saudi Arabia he was the recipient of the prestigious King Fahad bin Abdulaziz medal.

More recently, Sheikh Hamed helped promote stem cell research in Saudi Arabia as a well as telemedicine initiatives focused on psychiatry. - TradeArabia News Service