I was born and raised in Kuwait. After schooling in my native country, I proceeded to the United States of America to undertake my post school education. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Gannon University in Pennsylvania and then returned to Kuwait, where I worked with a company called Schlumberger, an oil company and a subcontractor to Kuwait Oil Company, a public-sector enterprise specializing in oil exploration. After some time, I switched over to another public-sector entity, Kuwait National Petroleum Company, and took up the position of field engineer in the liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) train in Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery one of the biggest refinery in the sate of Kuwait.
My next employer was Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, an umbrella company overseeing oil-sector activities and chaired by Kuwait’s oil minister. Fortunately, I was posted to its international marketing wing as a sales representative, a most rewarding experience for me. Here, I would learn the logistics involved in a government organization and in the oil sector, the bread-and-butter earner for an oil-exporting country.
KPC is one of the premier organizations of the country, but it is a typical government-styled entity, where procedures and rules take precedence over logic and prudence. The word of the boss, even if unreasonable, carries great weight, and juniors dare not ignore it. I spent six long years, toiling 24/7 in the belief that it was my duty to my country to serve to the best of my ability. However, finally, my sixth sense would alert me that I was being brainwashed and that there was hardly any opportunity for me to demonstrate my inner talents and potentialities in such an autocratic public-sector working environment. Frustrated, and awed by the nepotism I saw, I had no option but to quit KPC—of course with a very heavy heart, since for years I had been reared to serve government in any manner I could.
I then tried my luck in the private sector, which I found wider in spectrum and in application and, honestly, which paid greater dividends. I am not reluctant to admit that the private sector is the real world of business, and though this is only my second year working for a private commercial organization, I have learnt much more than I could have learnt otherwise. My present title is oil trader with Independent Petroleum Group (IPG), where, from day one, I was completely at home; regretfully, such feelings didn’t arise in me in eight-plus years working for public-sector organizations. I am one of the active members of the group, primarily assigned with procuring new businesses for the company. There is no denying that my efforts have been successful.
I received my MBA, specializing in international strategies and strategic alliances, from Maastricht School of Business, where my focus was on the strategic alliance between government and the private sector in Kuwait. I explored the importance of linking up the public sector with the private sector through a strategic alliance between the two independent and separate entities. For many years, I have closely observed the local business environment and found out that in my beloved country, the public sector lacks in truthful commercial surroundings.As such, it is hurting it rather than supporting and promoting it. The public sector is short on business acumen but strong on procedural legislation, which injures the sector rather than benefits it. However, since it does not belong to any individual or a group of individuals but rather the state, no one ever bothers to fix it.
Kewl you sohlud come up with that. Excellent!
Glad I've finally found someithng I agree with!