Pearl of the Middle East - Meypack

Interview
INTERVIEW WITH TONY HADDAD, CEO OF
TECHNICA INTERNATIONAL, LEBANON
Tony, you speak about Lebanon
being a gateway between the
European west and the Arab world.
How would you describe that?
Well, I am referring to the moderating
position that Lebanon has been playing
between Europe and the Arab world
throughout its history. In Lebanon, there
are a large number of superbly trained
and educated people who speak Arabic
as well as European languages, in particular
English and French. Furthermore, in
Lebanon we are exposed to and understand
the western mentality and its work
habits. Being part of the Arab world and
speaking the same language, we also are
very close to the social and work habits
of the Arab world. This “Gateway Function”
makes Lebanon an ideal meeting
point between both worlds. That is why
we at Technica have our headquarters
here, from where we can coordinate the
cooperation with our European partners,
such as Meypack, but also from where can
operate our own sales offi ces in countries
such as Saudi Arabia, GCC, Egypt or other
North African countries. And last but not
least, Lebanon is my homeland and that of
my family – that certainly also plays a role
in the decision to be located here.
2007 is now behind us and we are
now fi rmly into 2008. How would you
describe the past year for Technica
and what is the outlook for 2008?
For us, the year 2007 was a very good
year; or more precisely it was a record year
in the company’s 25 year history. We were
able to further develop our own ma chines
and secure new cooperation partners.
With partners such as Meypack, we were
able to realise projects, a number of which
were very big, comprehensive and technologically
sophisticated, such as Al Marai
or Health Water Bottling. Consid ering that,
one can say that 2007 was real export year
for Technica. And 2008 is show ing signs
that this trend will continue.
Tony, what is special about Technica?
What makes you so successful?
I think that the key to our success is
that we are not a simple reseller or trading
agent for a company like Meypack
pack aging machines but rather that we
have our own engineering and production
expertise. We do not just design and
manufacture transport conveyor systems
but incorporate these in packaging lines
that we then offer as a new complete solution.
In this way, we offer a value-added
product which is not offered by anyone
else in this market. Another reason for
our success is the high motivation and
the good training and education of our
employees. We work as a team, with a
sense of responsibility towards each other,
which has contributed to a signifi cant
increase in productivity.
Let’s stick with the issue of “employee
motivation” – what measures does
Technica and do you undertake to
keep your team motivated to deal with
this enormous growth process?
We invest in our staff, not just with
money but with time and trust. Our
employees receive training regularly on
technical as well as managerial levels. Furthermore,
we live and work here by the
principle of shared responsibility. Every
member feels responsible for the success
of his team and consequently for the success
of the whole company. Our teams
take responsibility for fi nding solutions
to new problems and new challenges. In
this context, I no longer feel like a controlling
managing director but rather play
a moderating role. My leadership style is
to motivate the staff to give the best of
themselves, and when results are not as
good as expected, we analyze the gap and
design corrective and preventive actions.
We are hard on the problem, soft on the
people. The atmosphere is very open and
transparent. I am convinced that this form
of employee management has contributed
signifi cantly to the development of Technica
and continues to remain essential.
Tony Haddad, thank you very
much for the interview.