Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Well-known renowned Saudi businessman and philanthropist Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel passed away at the age of 79 due to a heart attack on Tuesday in Jeddah.

Sheikh Saleh will be dearly missed for his brilliant work in charity, business and media.

Moments after the news broke of Sheikh Saleh's death, condolence started pouring in on the social media from all quarters including officials and media figures.

Sheikh Saleh was the president of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks.

Sheikh Saleh also served as a member of the boards of trustees and directors in many institutions and foundations such as the Arab Thought Foundation, King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for Gifted, the international academy for info & Media Sciences, Arab Academy for Financial & Banking and the Islamic Solidarity fund.

Sheikh Saleh was born in Taif and started business quite early in life, in fact during his college years by borrowing money for a copying machine early in the 1970s and selling copies to classmates and others when copying machines were popular but not cheap to buy.

As a born entrepreneur, he obviously noticed a trend and plenty of opportunities for business growth. With the Kingdom launching its huge five years plan in 1974 and oil prices rising to unprecedented heights the road was open for anyone wanting to do business — like Sheikh Saleh.

In l982, Sheikh Saleh founded his flagship Dallah Albaraka an investment group including commercial, financial, tourism, banking, media, real estate and other pursuits too vast and too varied to enumerate here. He undertook some huge contracts in post, telegraph and telephones as well as municipal cleaning contracts that he agreed to carry out when others demurred.

In one interview he revealed the origin of the name Dallah the nickname for Abdullah as it is known in the western region. “My grandmother,” he said "used to call my father Dallah, so I used the name for my big company.”

Sheikh Saleh recognized early in his career the attraction of the media and satellite television production so he went on to establish ART which he owned.

He played a key role in promoting Saudi Arabia as a regional economic force and Jeddah as a leading international port and hub for global commerce.

Sheikh Saleh was also known as “‘the father of contemporary Islamic finance” and was bestowed upon Malaysia's Royal Award for Islamic Finance in November 2010.

He was actively involved in efforts to expand trade among member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries.