Abdul Rahman Bukhatir
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
By the mid-1970s, the United Arab Emirates had come into existence and was facing the beneficial fallout of the oil boom. With the advent of prosperity, Mr. Bukhatir rightly foresaw the onset of vast, nationwide construction activity, and created his business strategies accordingly.
As a young man, Mr. Abdulrahman Bukhatir was an unlikely candidate for a businessman, the son of a highly reputed judge, he joined a British bank after completing his education.
“But I guess my aspirations were unlimited,” he reminisces. “I began to look for other opportunities, and I realized the potential of life from the other side of the banker’s counter. Before long, my frame of mind had changed, and I quit my job, to get into business.”
With his aspirations, self-confessedly “unlimited,” Mr. Bukhatir began trading in timber, cement, and steel. He always sought new business opportunities – a trait that has today, no doubt helped him transform the Bukhatir Group into one of the UAE’s most diversified business houses.
Many of his companies were pioneers in their sectors; Emitac was the first to introduce information technology to the UAE, Conmix was the first to produce concrete and plaster mixes, Nitco was the first to offer prefabricated houses, and ULO was the first to deliver underwater grouting for oil installations. Additionally, the introduction of the sport of cricket to the country, was an innovation on its own, one that has rendered Mr. Bukhatir, a household name in the Indian subcontinent.
Mr. Bukhatir is also very much a ‘pro-people’ man. “I lay great value on human relationships. This is more so when they are built on mutual trust, regard, and appreciation. These relationships can take you a long way towards achieving your goals,” he says, adding that “personally, I have always looked at success as the reward of hard work by people, men and women ─ regardless of gender, color, or ethnic background”.