Indian expat businessman says his family's success is a reflection of UAE's vision

Gulf News

Dr Mustafa Taherali Saasa traces Saasa family’s journey in the UAE since 1958  Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/30doq1M  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Dubai #Indian

Transcript

00:00The privilege, you know, I will say is greater than the challenges because when my father

00:06he came to Dubai in 1958 and started a building material trading business. So, continuing

00:15that legacy of 63 years is a great privilege for us. The business started in 58, is still

00:23up and running. It is handled by my younger brother, Murtaza. And we then diversified

00:30into many avenues of business. Like in 90s, late 90s, we started into energy conservation.

00:42Short term, we were in real estate. We have a JVP with one American company in California

00:48manufacturing vehicle tracking system. We started in 2008. Then we have one manufacturing

00:55unit in India, in north of Delhi, in state of Uttarakhand, in Kashipur. In JVP with one

01:02local company, we manufacture herbal cosmetics. These cosmetics are no alcohol, no chemical,

01:09no animal products. It's made from pure essential oil. So, in this, we make all three products

01:15hair, body and face. In all three, we have more than 100 formulations. And then, we

01:22have a manufacturing unit in Gujarat, in JVP with one local manufacturer. So, we manufacture

01:28pencils made out of waste newspaper. So, this is a very innovative product we manufacture

01:35and last year, we got Steve Gold Category Innovation Award. If you observe all our three

01:42manufacturing units are all sustainable. In 2004, we rewrote our mission and vision

01:51statement that whatever we do should have positive social impact on environment, society

01:58and people. So, all our three manufacturing units are in align with creating positive

02:05social impact on environment, society and people. Vehicle tracking system reduces lot

02:10of carbon footprint because it reduces the abuse of the vehicle. Herbal cosmetics, very

02:17organic product and pencils, it is a big time saving of trees. Currently, 400 million trees

02:24are cut to make pencils. And whatever pencils we make, that much trees are reduced in the

02:31usage of pencil. See, yesterday's newspaper is today's rubbish. Today's newspaper is tomorrow's

02:36rubbish. So, we roll it and make pencils out of it. The story doesn't end here. 15-20%

02:43of the pencils always goes in the bin. Our pencils, when it grows small, you should not

02:49throw it. At the end of the pencil, there is a capsule and cap, like a same medical

02:55capsule what we swallow. Inside there are seeds. So, just when it grows small, dip it

03:00in the pot and it will grow plants. Currently, we have five types of seeds, tomato, chilli

03:06coriander, foragrik and mustard. When my father came in 1958, there was no water supply,

03:12no electricity, no roads, no cars. And Dubai, there was no airport also. So, my father landed

03:18in Sharjah that time. And that, those were the days, you know, when my father came and

03:24started business. In fact, I used to ask him that what made you stay here for so many years,

03:32let's say, five, six years, until the basic civil amenities were, were in, were instated

03:39by the government. Because the water supply, let's say, started in early 60s. So, that

03:45time when I used to ask him, and if you see that time, India was quite advanced. India

03:50had its own airline, own this, you know, roads, cars, air condition, electricity, train, stations

03:59and it was quite advanced compared to what Dubai was that time. So, I used to ask him

04:04what made him stay here for so long without basic civil amenities. And he always used

04:09to tell me that, you know, we had a vision that this place will grow. So, when I, when

04:14I did my, studied my PhD in leadership, I, I came, you know, I wrote in my, in my thesis

04:23that vision is seeing the invisible. Everybody saw it as a, as a small village or a small

04:32cluster of villages of that time being Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah. But the rulers of

04:38that time, they saw it as beautiful cities coming out of it. And that's the result of

04:43that vision what Dubai and UAE is today.

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