Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), a major provider of investment opportunities, is today 100% shareholder of Poti Sea Port Corporation (PSPC) after phases of acquisition that spanned between 2008 and 2009. To head and run the daunting endeavor of operating Georgia s gateway to Europe and a major component of the Caucasian and Central Asian transit-transport networks was selected a bold and intensely weathered General Director from the seafaring nation of Lebanon. With supply-chain-management and terminal-management education and experience in Europe and the Gulf, Rony Saab undertook the challenge to transform this public-sector transport facility into a benchmarking, modern private organization. Saab joined RAKIA in 2008, right after the port was purchased, with a mandate to develop the business, optimise the port s infrastructure, and realise RAKIA s future development plans. “Prioritisation in cases of scale transformation is not always an option; I simultaneously had to clean up the mess and double the port s efficiency by making reforms on processes, training employees, and investing in infrastructure,” he now reflects on his start-up at PSPC. It would seem as a typical 10-year plan, but this surprisingly young professional (only 28 in 2008) battled down old infrastructure, the language barrier, and outdated operations mode and port procedures in less than two years. The results speak for themselves; despite the global crisis of 2009, a formidable addition to the list of challenges which ate away at the port s cargo volume and an economic knockout to larger and more stable organisations, Saab s success is measured by a 35% less cost of sale and a targeted 40% increase in net profit. At a global time of downsizing, the labor-heavy port increased its personnel count from 1279 in 2008 to 1287 in 2010. The figure is expected to increase by an additional 300 following the port s expansion and construction of additional berths. Rony Saab brings vision to Georgia s private sector and a business ethic that promises to place him as one of Georgia s key economic figures. His success story, he explains, is a matter of attitude: “Aim high and shoot for the stars; if you miss, you will probably land on the moon.” RONY SAAB GENERAL DIRECTOR
