Honorable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates,
Owners, Chair Executive Officers and General Managers,
Reputed Suppliers
All the esteemed members of Arabia Insurance Company in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
Fellow clients in Lebanon and distributors around the world
The revered Baroody Family and all past and present Baroody’s employees,
Friends and Colleagues,

Let me thank you all for accepting our invitation. A special thanks goes to those who have crossed great distances to join our celebration. I am sorry for those who could not be present tonight; their attendance will be surely missed as this celebration is not like to happen twice in one’s lifetime.

Tonight, Baroody Co. celebrates its 100th anniversary.

How can I give justice to one hundred years in a few minutes? Specially that the reasons or factors that allowed this sustainability and continuity are numerous:

Baroody started in 1912 in “Souk al Tawil” which was the first and most prominent market district back then. Our company then moved to “Avenue des Français”. Since its initiation, our company has primarily focused on import and export.

We were renowned for maintaining high quality and high standards of the products we distributed, as we have always been dealing with the biggest and best multinational companies worldwide.

As we have also been advertising our products since 1920 which back then was unheard of in our country. Most of these advertisements were press ads.

When “Tele Liban” started broadcasting back in the 1960’s, we were also one of the first companies to ever place an advertisement through this new visual medium.
There are many of you who remember “Adeeb Haddad” who was known as “Abou Melhem” who used to drink “Maxwell House” coffee and would describe it as “Delicious, delicious to the last drop”, he would then light his cigarette using a “RONSON” lighter and would describe it as “The lighter that never fails.

We were pioneering in the advertising medium and still hold firm to our belief in this till the present day.

Our ancestors and forefathers taught us that no matter how difficult the situations get, one has to maintain honesty, integrity and transparency.
There is no room for error with banks.
There is no room for error with suppliers.
There is no room for error with clients.
Should an error occur, for to err is human; we realize and remedy our mistakes as soon as possible and save no expense even at our own account.

They also taught us how to maintain seriousness and be energized when it came to our business.
At the early hours of the morning, our teams begin their daily duties. Each team doing their job, no matter how concerning the country’s political situation is. It is true, competition is fierce and not always fair – but we have never drifted from the path of righteousness and fair trade.

They taught us patience.

Long were the days that we spent locked in our homes and our shelters, for we could not leave them due to the constant heavy shelling taking place outside. We waited long days and long months holding firm to our roots and believing in our country. I believe that God willing we will be rewarded for this ordeal and Lebanon will rise again in triumph.

They taught us conviction.

For true knowledge and education does not solely come from schools and universities, but also from listening to the experiences of others.
No matter who we deal with from customer to employee, each has a point of view to share and each has an opinion that might influence the company positively and contribute to the prosperity of our organization.
To reach this point, we must create an atmosphere that promotes freewill and freedom of expression.

Finally, they taught us that there is a special relationship between the company, its employees and its suppliers.

I would like to assure you that is not easy for a company to make profits and at the same time maintain the brotherly bonds that our society and Arab heritage is built upon.

Profits and gains are the bottom line of any trading organization in the world, but we still believe that man is more important than money. For each time we help our own colleagues surpass their problems, we greatly boost the productivity of our company and greatly increase its wealth.
This atmosphere that we created which promotes stability and comfort is the cause behind the excellent relationship between the company and all its employees. Thus we can finally say that this reflects back positively at our own community.

These numerous reasons are the reasons behind our 100 years of success.
We got through World War II
And World War II
And the tragic events of 1958
And the terrible war in 1975 which the Lebanese society is still feeling its effects to this day.
And God willing, on this course we remain determined.
This, my friends is what is known today worldwide in most corporations as “corporate governance”.
Thus we can finally say that this reflects back positively at our own community.

Thank you.
Nadim Emile Baroody
President