H.E. the Governor of the General Authority for Investment, Engr. Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar, expressed his deepest thanks and sincere gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, H.R.H. Crown Prince and H.R.H. Deputy Crown Prince, upon the issuance of the Royal Order, subject of appointing Engr. Al Omar as Governor of the General Investment Authority, at the rank of a Minister.
H.E. the Governor of the General Investment Authority expressed his pride for this precious royal trust, extending his full thanks and appreciation to H. E. the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Investment Authority, for his trust and guidance. Engr. Al Omar asked Almighty Allah to help him in fulfilling this task and in achieving the aspiration of the wise leadership. Looking forward to creating a sustainable and attractive investment environment that may contribute to the realization of the objectives and aspirations of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
H.E. Al-Omar pointed out that the royal trust, relevant to appointing him as a Governor of the General Investment Authority, requires great work to achieve the aspiration of the wise leadership, in building a strong and sustainable economy and for having a prosperous nation. This royal trust requires as well great endeavor to improve the business and investment environment in the Kingdom, as well as attracting qualitative investments in order to diversify sources of income and to facilitate the necessary services to the Saudi and non-Saudi investors.
H.E. Al-Omar confirmed that he will do his best to carry out the objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020. The most important of which is to increase the volume of foreign direct investment flow by 70 billion riyals a year in 2020, as well as to improve the regulatory and procedural environment through 218 items of reforms, to improve business practices environment, besides raising the rank of Saudi Arabia in the World Competitiveness Report to the 20th, instead of the current rank 29th , also achieving a radical improvement in the Kingdom's position in the World Bank Index, relevant to ease of practicing and performing Business, from the current rank 94th to 20th .
It is worth mentioning that Engr. Ibrahim A. Al-Omar, a Saudi national, joined The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on October, 2014. He also sits as Board member of Bahri Chemicals, Bahri Dry Bulk & Bahri Ship Management. Prior joining Bahri he held various executive positions in different business sector for the last fifteen years, among others Vice President – Personal Business Unit at Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Chief Executive Officer of VIVA Bahrain, Chief Alliance & Partnership Officer at Etisalat mobily.
As the CEO of Bahri, he completed the acquisition and integration of Vela, a shipping arm of Aramco, for US$ 1.3 billion, created and launched a US$ 1.5 billion APICORP-Bahri maritime industry focused fund. Lead Bahri’s unique innovation program in maritime industry with “Big Data” focus and brought several awards to Bahri to cement its position as a global leader in oil transportation to becoming the world’s largest owner and operator of VLCCs. He successfully repositioned the company as a differentiated player in the global maritime industry, and improves Bahri’s cost structure, EBIT and profit margin.
Engr. Al-Omar was also a Board member of Saudi Railways Company (SAR) and chairs in some of the major international projects and alliances. In addition, he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of VIVA Bahrain, Board member & Chairman of the Executive Committee at SALE Advanced Co. Ltd. And Board member of Intigral.
Engr. Al-Omar is a Harvard alumni of Program for Leadership Development and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum. He has further education and trainings at London Business School, INSEAD Institute in France and Henley in UK.