Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Nasser, director of international trade at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, speaking to reporters during the recent ceremony of signing agreement with B.R. Shetty, chief executive officer and managing director of New Medical Center Group of Companies and UAE Exchange, at a function held in Jazan. Sheikh Rafik Mohammed, chairman of the Gammon Group, and Prasanth Manghat, chief financial officer of NMC Health, are also seen. — SG photos

 

Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

 

THE story of Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, better known as B.R. Shetty, is an amazing saga of success of how a pharmacist can build an empire in healthcare and money remittance after leaving his native place to repay the money that he had borrowed to give dowry for his sister.



Shetty arrived in Abu Dhabi more than 40 years ago from Udupi in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Today he is the fourth richest expatriate billionaire in the United Arab Emirates. He came to the emirate as a single man in search of a job and stayed on to build businesses that employ 38,000 people at present. “I translated into action the words of my mother who advised me when I left India in 1973 for Abu Dhabi that I should engage in some works that would be a service to others,” he said.



In an interview with Saudi Gazette, Shetty, chief executive officer and managing director of New Medical Center Group of Companies and UAE Exchange, said that he sees healthcare and money transfer as the best fields to help people. He unveiled his plans to establish a center of excellence in healthcare in the new industrial city of Jazan. Shetty’s New Medical Center (NMC) has grown into the region’s largest integrated private health care provider. While voicing full confidence that his lifetime experience in the healthcare field will benefit people in Saudi Arabia, he announced plans to expand the prestigious NMC chain to the major Saudi cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam in the near future.



Going down memory lane, the politician turned businessman said that he started his career as a full time politician. “At the age of 25, I contested municipal elections and became the vice chairman of Udupi municipality. I still recall that former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had campaigned for me in the election in which I was the candidate of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which bagged 12 seats. Even though Indira Gandhi and other national leaders campaigned for the Congress party, it could win only three seats,” he said. He had also been elected to the council for a second term. “During that period in late 60s, we abolished the scavengers system and implemented a clean city program.”



Shetty recalled that his mother objected to his idea of leaving India for the Gulf in a desperate bid to clear bank loans. “She appealed to me to sell her land to solve my financial problems. When she came to realize that I was determined to leave, she advised me to be good to people and keep helping them wherever I go. When I came to Abu Dhabi, I found it very difficult to get a job. Being a pharmacist basically, I became the country’s first outdoor salesman, going from clinic to clinic selling drugs to doctors.”



Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the then president of UAE, wanted quality, affordable health care for all. “My mother’s advice and Sheikh Zayed’s directive together had an impact on me, and that was instrumental in my setting up the New Medical Center in 1975. It was then actually a small pharmacy-cum-diagnostic center. NMC grew into a multispecialty hospital and spawned satellite units across the country, and today it caters to 5,000 patients daily, with doctors of 42 nationalities.”



Shetty said: “I did not bring any money from India nor borrowed locally but my real partners were bankers. They gave me money after looking at my passion and enthusiasm. I was the first one to start private healthcare in Abu Dhabi, and of course, there was a big impact when I started providing quality healthcare by charging only two dirhams. Now, everybody has health insurance there.”



The center’s first doctor, Shetty’s wife, Chandrakumari, whom he married in 1976, oversees the eight-hospital chain. Four more are in the pipeline, including a 100-bed maternity hospital, the Emirates’ first private one. The pharmacy chain attached to the hospitals spawned an NMC Health division, which is among the top three trading companies in the UAE, with 65,000 products.



Back in the 1970s, as his medical operation began to thrive, Shetty saw many Indian expatriates lining up in front of banks for hours to send hard-earned cash back home, often to remote villages. In response he launched money remitter UAE Exchange with a single branch in Abu Dhabi in 1980. “The launching of the exchange is in a sense giving back to society for its support for my prosperity through helping the ordinary workers. Earlier, it took two or more days to transfer money home but now we made it possible within minutes,” he said, while noting that 80 percent of his customers are blue-collar expatriate workers, who live the single life and diligently send money back home every month. Nearly, 2,500 companies in the region route the monthly salary disbursals of 1.8 million workers through the UAE Exchange under the government’s program to ensure that workers, especially in construction, get paid on time. Adding a foreign exchange turnover of $24 billion, its total 2012 take came to $47 billion, and profits were $50 million. With a million daily customers the exchange can claim to hand 10% of India’s world-leading remittances.



In May this year, Shetty acquired the UK foreign exchange group Travelex Holdings for an estimated $1.6 billion together with Centurion, the investment arm of Saeed Bin Butti Al Qabaisi, his longtime business partner. He set up a manufacturing company called Neopharma, whose $30 million plant sits in a green oasis and is the top generic drug maker in the UAE. His businesses also includes a maintenance company called Guide; consumer products maker Neocare; the New Oil Field Services, which provides manpower and equipment to oilfields; a school chain called Bright Riders; and hotel chain Lotus. The catering company Foodlands was commissioned during the Gulf war to cater to American airmen.



Unveiling his decision to turn to the Kingdom, the region’s largest economy with huge potential for investments in his areas of healthcare and money transfer, Shetty said: “Saudi Arabia is a God blessed country. I think I have entered the right country, right business and at the right time. We came here to tap the potential of the region’s largest market. We promised our shareholders that we are going to expand our businesses to all GCC countries, and we start with the Kingdom. Investment is unlimited and sky is the limit. Any amount I invest, they will support. Let me start from Jazan with SR1 billion investments, then I’ll go to Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam in the near future. I see Jazan as a very good region for investors. Jazan Emir Prince Mohammed Bin Nasser and Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Nasser, director of international trade at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, are very supportive.



“It is very encouraging to make investments in a country like Saudi Arabia, which is well known for supporting and helping several countries in various parts of the world, especially poor countries with their benevolence and philanthropy. I came to understand that the people of Jazan are very nice and good. Here there are large numbers of consumers in health care. So our focus will be in this field, especially in manufacturing pharmaceuticals. We want to manufacture pharmaceuticals, especially genetics, and medicine for treatment and cure of cancer, malaria and dengue. We have patent from SBA Pharma of Japan for this. Ours will be halal medicine and there will be no alcohol ingredient. Our efforts would continue to retain a philanthropic touch in healthcare.



“We provide good quality and affordable healthcare. Apart from pharmaceutical factory, we will start a hospital and also a school in Jazan. I came to know that there are no reputable international schools here. Many expatriate families are here but do not have proper educational facilities. When we come with a very good quality project, I am sure the government and people will support and embrace it wholeheartedly. I have full confidence that this would be a successful venture. Here we will encourage Saudization, and there is a priority to give young Saudis education and training so as to qualify them to take up jobs.



“The Saudi government is giving a lot of encouragement and big support, including subsidies, interest free loan, and free land for those who make investments in Jazan industrial city. All these are very difficult to get in many other countries. I am really impressed and very much satisfied with this.”



Back home, Shetty has acquired a 220-bed hospital in Thiruvananthapuram in the southern Kerala state and is doubling its capacity to 500 beds in the near future with an eye on expatriate customers. He has also plans to open a bank in India. He emphasized that India will prosper further under Narendra Modi, the prime minister.



“During Modi’s rule, there is no basis for apprehensions about relations with the Arab countries. It will be very good. I am one of the ambassadors from Arab countries to India.”



Shetty is the first Asian to win the Order of Abu Dhabi medal, which is pinned to his suit jacket. Shetty, who is estimated to be worth a cool $1 billion, owns the 100th floor of Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest tower. Of Shetty’s four children, two are in the business. Son Binay is now chief operating officer of NMC Health. The youngest daughter, Seema, is a director of UAE Exchange and runs a diet-food chain called BiteRite. Shetty’s chauffeur, Dawood, has driven him for 24 years.