Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, chairman and founder of the Dallah Al Baraka Group, has been named president of the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FGCC Chambers). He will assume this post effective Feb. 10, 2010. He takes over the presidency of the FGCC Chambers from Dr. Essam Abdullah Yousif Fakhro, president of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, whose term as head of the federation will expire on Feb. 10. Sheikh Saleh is expected to bring new vigor to the FGCC Chambers, whose functions have been perceived as redundant because of the active presence of various national chambers of commerce and industry in the six Gulf countries that are directly in contact with the region's private business sector. The Dammam-based FGCC Chambers is also strapped with lack of fund, a setback why it is struggling in implementing some of its primary objectives. Sheikh Saleh, 69, was ranked 12th on Arabian Business list of richest Arabs whose estimated worth is $5.3 billion. He founded Dallah Al Baraka Group, now based in Jeddah, in 1969. The group has diversified into an international conglomerate operating in 40 countries with activities in banking and finance, industry, trade, real estate, tourism, health care, communication, media, production, education and training, operation and maintenance, and transport. The group is ranked 5th in the top 100 Saudi companies for the last 10 years.
