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If I could have your attention, please.

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Can you hear me? Is that on? Your Royal Highness;

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Your Excellency; My Lord;

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Ladies and Gentlemen, it's a huge honour to be able to host this memorial event for a much missed colleague and friend, Nemir Kirdar.

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In this building, the Investcorp building; in this centre, the Middle East Centre; at this college,

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St Anthony's College, with all of which Nemir was so closely associated over so many years.

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This evening gives us the chance to remember and give thanks for all those associations and many more associations.

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And to hear from those who knew him best.

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So on behalf of everyone here this evening, I would like to start by thanking our guest of honour,

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His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, for joining us here today.

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And we look forward to hearing from you, Sir, later.

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I would also like to thank Lord Rosslyn, Master of the Royal Household, who is here to represent His Majesty, King Charles III.

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I think that's the first time I've ever said that in public. His Majesty has sent his apologies that he could not be here in person

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and has written very warmly to Mrs. Kirdar and the family, extending his condolences and sharing his own fond memories of Nemir.

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Nemir Kirdar was born in Baghdad on the 28th of October 1936, and he passed away in Antibes in France on the 8th of June 2020.

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He had a long association with St Anthony's,

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where he was elected as an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his remarkable leadership and support in the development of the Middle East Centre.

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And I mean remarkable support. The College's Middle East Centre comprises two buildings:

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The 1887 building next door designed by the Victorian architect H.G.W. Drinkwater,

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which is now called the Kirdar Building; and the 2015 building

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we're in, here, today, designed by the remarkable architect, Zaha Hadid, called the Investcorp Building.

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Investcorp's gift of £11 million for this building is the largest gift the College has received in its whole history.

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Nemir himself made a further personal gift of £3.5 million.

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Their combined support for the project of £14.5 million not only allowed us to fully cover all the costs to construct the building,

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but also provided the basis of an endowment fund for its maintenance and has given us that dream of all institutions: A brand new,

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iconic and totally debt-free building.

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You'll understand, therefore, why I feel so privileged to hold this event, where we feel so privileged to hold this event here today.

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And why, as Master of Ceremonies, I'm so honoured to be able to introduce our speakers.

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Our first speaker is Mr. Mohammed Mahfoodh Alardhi

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Mr. Alardhi is Executive Chairman of Investcorp and he leads the firm's activities across it's global network in New York,
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Riyadh, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Mumbai, Singapore and London.

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He is a graduate of the Royal Air Force College in Bracknell and holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School in Harvard.

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He joined the Royal Air Force of Oman in 1978 and subsequently, subsequently was appointed as Chief of the Omani Air Force,

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retiring with the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

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Somehow in this incredible career, he also found time to write three books: Arabs Down Under, Pearls from Arabia, and Arabs Unseen.

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We thank him for sharing a few thoughts with us today.

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Thank you very much, indeed.

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Your Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain;

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Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen,

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it's wonderful to be with you tonight in this heart of learning, to celebrate a man who truly deserves to be celebrated.

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I could not think of anyone more befitting of this title, Man of Principles and Vision.

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If there is anyone who I have had the pleasure to work with in my career journey, namely at Investcorp,

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it's Nemir Kirdar. He was a maverick in the true sense of the word.

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Someone unafraid of taking a calculated risk.

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Someone who dreamt big and delivered bigger.

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Someone who put people at the heart of his business.

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All traits that anyone lucky enough to call Nemir a colleague, a friend, a father and a husband can vouch for.

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Wherever he went, whoever he met,

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Nemir offered lessons for everyone, whether he meant to or not:

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Whether in appearance (tying a Windsor knot and picking out a matching pocket square);

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whether in business (negotiating a big deal with patience and perseverance);

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or whether in our industry (eaving a legacy of iconic deals in the history of private equity);

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we all learned from him. Nemir's vision and nose for entrepreneurship led him and others to greatness. As far back as the eighties,

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he saw the Gulf as the Middle East's unrealised Silicon Valley, a region that offered a huge amount of potential waiting to be tapped.

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He saw it as a place where ideas could become new realities;

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at pace and scale. He believed that the family businesses operating then would appreciate and believe in well-thought-through business ideas.

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He pitched his vision to 250 investors in 1982, and each of them committed capital to Investcorp,

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when it was just an idea and five people burning the midnight oil in a hotel room in Manama.

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They trusted the vision, the principles and the ethics he put forward.

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And they were right to, because he delivered on every part of his plan.

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The roots of this plan were formed and grew in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

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We will always deeply value the role that Bahrain played and continues to play as the home of Investcorp.

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We're tremendously grateful to the Nation's leadership for creating a place where businesses can thrive and prosper at the intersection of the globe.

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A place that has developed robust fundamentals for business growth, an agile regulatory framework, and a hub of skilled local talent.

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A place that continues to attract investors from all around the world to its shores.

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Bahrain was, and is, true to Nemir's vision.

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The perfect launchpad for Investcorp's growth journey. At the centre of Nemir's plan for an alternative investment based out of Bahrain,

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were the Company's values: Empathy, boldness, resilience and agility.

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For Nemir, they provided the organisation's North Star, inspiring the way forward.

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These values combined with Nemir's singular, driven, futuristic,

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unfocused mindset saw him accomplish whatever he set his mind to. In 40 years

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the brand we built together has become a successful, diversified global company.

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Today, Investcorp is competing at the highest level of the finance world.

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We are operational across three continents with 13 international offices,

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and we are heading towards a long range plan of becoming $100 billion AUM company.

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And as we look forward to the years ahead, I can think of no better way to honour and perpetuate Nemir's legacy than delivering on this goal.

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This is our vision for Investcorp, and I know he would be truly proud of what we achieved together and what we aim to achieve in the future.

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Beyond financial success, at Investcorp we also want to honour Nemir's passion for education.

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And that's why we are launching a global internship program in his name. The Nemir Kirdar

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Internship Program will bring together the top performers from the global markets where we operate today to enhance their knowledge,

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expertise and professionalism with a stint at Investcorp.

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Through this program, we hope we can live up to his high standards of mentorship and support for those who share his vision.

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Enabling talent and education was an endeavour very close to Nemir's heart.

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In fact, it was his belief in the ability of education to break barriers and bridge divides

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that built the Middle East Centre in the United Kingdom right here at St Antony's,

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at Oxford University. I recall when he presented the idea of the Investcorp Building in Oxford to us,

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members of the Board of Directors, in the wake of the global financial crisis.

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The idea certainly stimulated a lot of debate in the boardroom.

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Nemir simply replied that this would be great for the future of Investcorp,

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for future generations of young people from the West and the Middle East and for society.

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And of course, he was right. The bridges that Investcorp built through the Centre were not just cross-border educational opportunities,

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they also connected cultures and civilisations at a time when bridges needed building.

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Nemir was also a man of great taste, with a refined eye for the elegant, especially design and aesthetics.

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For him, there was no one else who could be commissioned to deliver on this project than the late world-renowned Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.

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Nemir loved the design of the building. He thought it would drive Oxford into the 21st century.

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For him, it was a perfect meeting of form and function, something he always strove to achieve in and out of the boardroom.

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This vision, these principles, this conviction to continuously grow and learn will live on at Investcorp.

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They will stay with me forever. And for that, I'll be eternally grateful.

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So to my dear friend and mentor, Nemir Kirdar,

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thank you, and may you rest in peace.

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Thank you. Thank you very much indeed.

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Our, our second speaker is Margaret MacMillan. My only real personal claim to fame in life is that I somehow managed to be both

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Margaret's immediate predecessor and immediate successor as Warden at St Anthony's,

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and you can work that out if you go onto the website. Margaret is one of the world's best known contemporary historians and one of its best

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commentators on the historical roots of so many of the world's contemporary challenges.

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I don't actually know exactly how many books she's written. I doubt whether she knows exactly how many books she's written.

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But amongst the best known are: Peacemakers; Nixon in China; The War that Ended Peace;

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The Uses and Abuses of History; History's People; and most recently, War,

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How Conflict Shaped Us, based on her extraordinary 2018 Reith Lectures.

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Margaret, thank you very much indeed. Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

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and my predecessor and successor, thank you for that very nice introduction.

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It is an honour, of course mixed with sadness to be here at the memorial for Nemir Kirdar,

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an Honorary Fellow and Benefactor of the College and its Middle East Centre.

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And it is a pleasure to see so many of the Kirdar family here, including his widow, Nada,

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and his daughter Serra and Rena, as well as so many friends and members of the Centre.

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And here we are, as is fitting in the building which would not exist without Nemir.

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It was his vision and his support that made it possible.

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From the time it was first conceived and commissioned in the first decade of the 21st century,

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through the groundbreaking in 2013, a happy occasion which I remember well to the equally happy gala opening in 2015.

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One of the nicer parts of my job as Warden was getting to know the College's supporters.

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And to me, he was, quite frankly, one of the most pleasant and thoughtful donors I've ever encountered and a true friend to the College.

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One day I may write my memoirs about the other sort. He understood the academic world.

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Indeed, I think if he had not chosen the career of a banker, he could have been an equally successful academic.

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And he knew how important the Middle East Centre was as a place where scholars and students from

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the region and the rest of the world could meet and exchange ideas. In his own life and career

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he too moved between several different worlds. In his autobiography, he kindly gave me a copy, which I read with great interest and enjoyment,

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he told of a life that had started in an Iraq where his family had occupied a trusted and respected position for generations,

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and of how the Revolution of 1958 and the troubled years that succeeded

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it, had upended his life and that of his family.

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When Iraq became impossible and dangerous for him and his family, he had to embark on a new career in the United States.

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While he did not dwell on those years and was surprisingly without bitterness,

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his account of them shows the determination,

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his essential decency and the business acumen that was to make him a pioneer in bringing together the growing

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funds being accumulated in the Middle East as oil profits rose and the opportunities for investment in the West.

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And it also shows how much his extraordinary partnership with Nada and his family meant to him.

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Nemir would have been a leading businessman and a benefactor to society wherever he lived: In Iraq, in Turkey or in the United States.

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But it was Britain's great, good fortune and us here in Oxford that he and Investcorp developed such strong ties with this country.

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Wherever his career took him, he had a profound and continuing interest in the Middle East;

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felt sorrow at his problems; and continued to hope for a better future,

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as his book among other things, Saving Iraq, demonstrates yet again. I remember well when I first met him:

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I had just become Warden of this College, and we met in his office in London,

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where Zaha Hadid was showing her plans for what was to become this building,

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and in my view, one of the finest pieces, one of her finest pieces of work.

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Nemir once told me that he remembered her running about as a little girl.

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Hard to imagine someone quite so formidable as a child. And he had followed her career and thought she was the right architect for the project.

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And of course, he was absolutely right. He took an interest, intense interest in her design as it developed and the work started.

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His hope, sadly cut short by his illness, was that he would become even more a part of the scholarly community at the College and work in the study

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which had been created for him in the Centre.

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He wanted to work on the problems and challenges before the Middle East and its relations with the wider world.

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And I think, I reflect yet again how we could use his wisdom today.

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I wish he were here today to see for himself what he has set in motion.

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Many and profound thanks Nemir Kirdar and salutations to you.

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Thank you, Margaret. That was lovely. If anybody needs an introduction to our next speaker, they may actually be in the wrong room.

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Our next speaker is Eugene Rogan. He has been a Fellow of the College and of the Middle East Centre for, for over 30 years.

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And he, as Director of the Middle East Centre, together with his colleagues here,

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has steered the Centre to the pre-eminent position that it finds itself in today.

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He's the author of The Arabs, currently available to my last count in 18 different languages; and the Fall of the Ottomans.

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He's just returned from a sabbatical leave and we're hoping he'll be unveiling his

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latest book on Damascus in the very near future. On behalf of the Middle East Centre

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Eugene, I invite you to say a few words. Your Royal Highness;

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Your Excellency; My Lord; Ladies and Gentlemen; Warden, for those kind words of introduction, good to know you've got my back;
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and looking at the photograph, it was good to know that Nemir had my back.

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There was something larger than life about Nemir Kirdar.

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Seen from a distance he was almost unapproachable,

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and yet up close, Nemir was one of the warmest and most engaging of men.

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These qualities engendered lifelong friendships and deep loyalties.

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Just look at those of us who've gathered this evening in Oxford from such varied backgrounds.

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Investcorp colleagues, welcome; Kirdar family, honoured by your presence;

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lifelong friends; and Oxford scholars. Each of us has been marked by our contact with this man, this great man.

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I first met Nemir Kirdar, through his daughter Serra while she was a student at Oxford.

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He addressed the Oxford Middle East Society while Serra was still just an undergraduate.

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My wife, Ngaire and I were invited to a massive London celebration of Investcorp's 20th anniversary, 20 years ago this year.

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Lovely to be hosting this event with Investcorp, marking the 40th anniversary of the House that Nemir built.

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We were welcomed to incredible family occasions when the other guests included crooners and royalty, from Britain through to the Middle East.

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I've never met anyone who moved with more comfort in high society than Nada and Nemir.

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Yet it wasn't until Serra took her doctorate in 2004 that I had my first real conversation with Nemir.

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Graduation lunches are a family affair at St Antony's, far from the glitzy social scene in which I had previously encountered Nemir and Nada.

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Students in flash gowns pose with proud parents for photographs taken in the College quad before

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moving on to the shabby gentility of the College Hall for a buffet lunch. On my home turf

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I finally had the chance to sit and talk at length with Nemir and Nada; and what a wonderful experience that proved to be.

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Nemir's deep culture, his knowledge of history, his deep Ottoman family roots, the warm humour, that humour that he shared with Nada.

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The hours raced by in their captivating company. As they prepared to leave, Nemir took me aside.

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"Serra tells me you have plans for the Middle East Centre. I'd like you to come to my office to discuss them with me.

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We might be able to do something together."

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The ever irrepressible Serra had long given me grief over Middle East Centre facilities. A centre of excellence founded by Albert Hourani in 1957,

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Serra was forever accusing us of being deeply stuck in the 19th century.

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She dismissed our cherished Victorian premises as a dump and at the dawn of the 21st century,

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challenged us to bring the Centre at least into the 20th century.

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I told her she was impertinent. But I recognised she had a point.

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We needed to raise our game.

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We had long since outgrown the confines of our cherished Victorian vicarage and as our Centre approached its 50th anniversary,

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we entered into discussions with a local Oxford architectural practice to provide us

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with expanded modern facilities to bring our Centre at least into the 20th century.

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I followed up on Nemir's invitation and called on him in Investcorp's offices on Grosvenor Street shortly after his Oxford visit.

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The wood-panelled walls, leather-bound books, fine art -

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a look I would very quickly learn to associate with Investcorp and with Nemir

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Kirdar. It felt impressive and inspired confidence.

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Nemir himself came down to Reception - very modest - to usher me into his upstairs office,

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where we took lunch in a perfectly appointed dining room just off his office.

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And we moved very quickly from small talk to the future of Oxford's Middle East Centre.

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I laid out my stall, unrolled some architectural drawings,

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and pitched a vision.

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I don't think Nemir was impressed in particular by anything I said, but he seemed to have decided I was someone he could work with.

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"I would like to do a building with you", he said at the end of my spiel.

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"But not that building", he said, pointing to the modest architectural plans.

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His friend, Lord Foster had just done a remake of Asprey's Jewellery shop in New Bond Street.

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And Nemir suggested I go on a little field trip after our meeting to go and see

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what a signature architect might be able to do to transform Victorian settings.

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Now the Asprey building is magnificent, but if we were going to approach a signature architect, the obvious choice for a Middle East Centre was Zaha Hadid.

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She knew us. We had been introduced by her brother Foulath Hadid, who was a stalwart of our community,

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who persuaded his celebrity architect sister to give our big annual lecture in 2004.

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A lecture that left our entire audience entirely confused by her architectural vision.

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Given her brother's ties and her own familiarity with our community,

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I thought the increasingly famous Zaha would perhaps get even more deeply and personally involved in designing a building for us

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than would the great Norman Foster. I raised the suggestion with Nemir.

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Of course he knew her well. Both were Iraqis and Nada's father had been Zaha's paediatrician.

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Nemir had followed Zaha's rise with interest and admiration.

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If she were interested in the commission, Nemir would be interested in talking with her.

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And so began a project that established a very special friendship that I was privileged to enjoy

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with Nemir and Nada Kirdar over the course of the decade it took to realise that project.

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Once asked, Zaha was quick to accept the commission.

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We signed agreements and Nemir very generously agreed to pay the very high architect's fees for the first stage of development.

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This was all a brave new world for me. I was not used to concluding six figure contracts with cultural icons like Zaha Hadid.

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But for Nemir, this was second nature.

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I took my cue from my mentor and we set the project in motion. Zaha's idea for the building, in a site constrained by two Victorian houses and a

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giant redwood tree, was a double curved sculptural feature that swelled at either end, narrowing at the centre to go around the protected redwood.

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She called it a dumbbell. We discouraged that language:

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Academics don't go for anything with the word dumb in it!

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And we rebranded it a softbridge. With its fluid form and state of the art systems for our library, archive and lecture theatre,

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the Softbridge was propelling the Middle East Centre from Victorian Times, as Mohammed Alardhi has suggested, deep into the 21st century.

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At last Serra Kirdar would be satisfied. The year of developing the building was punctuated with regular meetings in Investcorp,

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such that Margaret MacMillan has referred to, where Zaha and her team would brief Nemir

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on the project to secure his approval to proceed to the next stage of development.

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Eventually, we reached the critical point where we were ready to proceed to planning permission.

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You would think that Oxford City Council would celebrate the prospect of a major landmark by a global leader like Zaha.

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But you must remember just how conservative a city Oxford is.

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A stroll through the city centre with historic buildings going back to the 11th century is a lesson in architectural conservation.

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Half the city thought a major new 21st century building by a leading architect was precisely what North Oxford needed.

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The other half thought our project violated all the fundamental rules of the

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conservation area in preserving greenspace and in protecting Victorian heritage.

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By the time we went for planning permission, we had already spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in architectural fees; entirely Nemir's money.

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The stakes could not have been higher for if the Council rejected our plans:

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The building would not be built, and we would have wasted Nemir's money and violated his trust;

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the Softbridge relegated to a large stack of failed projects collectively known as Unbuilt Oxford.

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I sat with the architects in the meeting of the Planning Committee to hear how they would rule on our application.

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Each councillor gives their views openly and then expresses their vote.

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It's open democracy at its most fundamental and it's a gut wrenching experience when things are in the balance.

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Each councillor spoke. One for. One against.

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Two against. Three against. Another one for.

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This was getting excruciating. In the end, it came to an entirely divided committee: Four in favour and four opposed.

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Fortunately, the Chair was in favour and he gave the casting vote in favour and we secured our planning permission,

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by the slimmest of margins. The architects called Zaha.

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I called in Nemir. "We got it." I said, in a shaking voice.

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"I knew you would", Nemir replied with far more confidence than I'd ever felt.

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We had our planning permission.

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But our story took another dramatic turn with, as Mohammed Alardhi has mentioned, the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. In 2007

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Nemir was really talking about retirement and had envisioned taking place in his office

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in our building to write a number of books he had in mind: About the future of Iraq;

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his autobiography; the History of Investcorp. All books he wrote, but not from our premises

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alas. The financial crisis proved the most serious in Investcorp's 25 year history at that point.

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For the first time ever, the chairman had to write to investors to explain why they would not get the standard

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profits that had been the hallmark of Investcorp's relations with its clients.

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And Nemir went to work raising the funds to recapitalise the company.

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His success was a reflection of the remarkable trust his investors had in Nemir's integrity. While he was rebuilding Investcorp,

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Nemir was in no position to proceed with the Oxford building. Over those intervening years

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ties between Nemir and Nada and Oxford only deepened. The Kirdars received the Vice Chancellor,

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Andy Hamilton; the Warden of St Antony's at the time, Margaret MacMillan;

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along with Zaha, with their remarkable hospitality and flair,

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and kept the hopes for the project alive all the way through the hard times of the financial crisis.

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And we knew the project would come to fruition as soon as we came out of that crisis.

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So it was with tremendous joy that we finally went to contract and broke ground on the Softbridge in January of 2013.

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Nemir and Nada came to a formal ceremony in College where shovel in hand,

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they literally turned the first spade of soil, marking the beginning of construction.

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Nemir made a point of coming to Oxford to follow the progress on the building at firsthand, right through the, right through the project.

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I remember one occasion with a high vis. vest and hard hat on head,

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we marched Nemir to the edge of the very precipice, overlooking a seven metre hole in the ground as we were digging our foundations,

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only to learn at that point just what a fear of heights Nemir had.

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But he joined us at every stage of the works.

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As from that deep hole, a new, uniquely innovative building began to emerge. A 21st century landmark for Oxford's architectural history.

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Many of you in the room today were with us in May 2015 when we celebrated the completion of the Investcorp Building,

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Transforming the Softbridge into its new identity.

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Named in recognition of the transformative gift of Investcorp to St Anthony's in honour of their founder, Nemir Kirdar.

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Our guest of honour on that occasion was Sheikha Moza of Qatar, with memorable addresses by both Nemir Kirdar and Zaha Hadid to crown the ceremony,

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speaking from this very podium. How were we to know that we would lose Zaha just a year later, in 2016,

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and that the Investcorp Building would prove the last of her buildings she would ever see completed?

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And that four years later we would lose the dynamic Nemir.

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But we were to have one more celebration in College in 2018 when we named our Victorian vicarage, The Kirdar Building,

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in honour of this remarkable family and their deep ties to our Centre, our College and our University:

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Rena, Serra, as graduates of Oxford; Nemir as an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's and a Fellow of the Chancellor's Court of Benefactors.

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But for me, the enduring memory is of a special friendship cultured over a decade in which Nemir and I shared a project.

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To have been accepted by this great man as one of his friends was the honour of my lifetime.

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It's why our ceremony today is so important. To do honour to the memory of a man who so richly influenced all of our lives.

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As I look out over you all, all of our lives. In Oxford his memory lives on, as it does in Bahrain,

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in London, in New York and in all of you.

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Thank you. Thank you, Eugene.

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Thank you for reminding us of the, the history of the founding of this building.

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And thank you particularly for making sure it was never known as the dumbbell.

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Our next speaker is Mr. Yousef Abu Khadra, who has been a close friend of the Kirdar family for many years.

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He holds a BBA from the American University of Beirut and an MBA from Michigan State University.

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His career in banking spans over almost 40 years, half of which was with Nemir and Investcorp,

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where he served on the management executive committee. He was a close confidant and a friend of Nemir,

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and we're very grateful that he's agreed to share some of his thoughts with us today about a remarkable man.

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Yusef. It's an emotional day for me.

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So if you don't mind, I'm. Your Highness, Distinguished Guests,

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it is an honour to be here today standing in front of you.

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And I, for one, I represent Investcorp people who are here and who were former colleagues of mine and Nemir Kirdar for many years.

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We heard about this, the story of this building, but I wasn't going to talk about the story of Investcorp House in Bahrain.

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You know, some of, some of my colleagues here know, know the details.

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This was a residential building in, in, in, in Manama in Bahrain.

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And Nemir saw the potential of turning that building into an office building.

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You know, and he said, "Yusef, you take care of the project."

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I said, "Nemir I'm a banker, I've been all my life, you know, in banking,

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I have no idea where to put the electric plug, where to put a nail, where to put a switch.

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I don't know." He said, "No, you would learn, you would learn, you know, it's your project."

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I said, "Fine." You know this, this was, I hardly was with Investcorp for more than a month when this started. So I started kicking out the tenants.

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You know, that's the first job, before we started, you know, bringing walls down.

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So most of the tenants evacuated.

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Some with screaming, shouting; some with a handout; some with, you know, just moved out.

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There was one tenant, Toronto-Dominion Bank in the basement, on the ground floor for those who remember those days.

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And I met with the general manager and said to him "We want you out".

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He said "No, I'm not leaving". I said "But we are turning the building into an office."

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"No, I'm not leaving." So I went back to my, to my desk.

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It was July, I turned off the air conditioning. I said, you know, this could push him out. Instead of pushing him out,

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half an hour later, one hour later, the police comes to the site.

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"Who's responsible here?" Everybody said "He is." Alright.

326
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,800
"Yes, what can I do for you?" "You've turned off; this is illegal,

327
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come with us." So I went to the police station for interrogation.

328
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,980
And for some, you know, "Why are you doing this?" and I said, "Fine".

329
00:38:28,380 --> 00:38:34,310
"I will give them back air conditioning." Two weeks later, I turned it off again.

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The police came and I went back and, you know, they were really threatening me with a prison term if I don't give them what they want.

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I said "No, I promise we will give them air conditioning".

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I went down to the man, to the general manager of the bank, said, "How much is your annual income?"

333
00:38:57,380 --> 00:39:00,890
"How much you make out of this branch?" And I wasn't talking to Nemir,

334
00:39:00,890 --> 00:39:07,040
I wasn't consulting Nemir. He said, "You know, we're doing something like, you know, 50,000 dinars" or something like this.

335
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I said, "I'll give you half of it. Leave." And went to Nemir and said "Nemir, this is

336
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what I did, I just spent 25,000 dinars to get them out of the building because they're delaying us."

337
00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:24,040
And on the other hand, we had a deadline with Sheikh Khalifa coming for the inauguration.

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So we really had to work double, double, you know, double hours, you know, to get the building ready.

339
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So it was done, accomplished. And we moved into it.

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And, you know, it was, it was a fantastic building. Still, it's one of the most beautiful buildings in Bahrain til now.

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So this is the story of my, of my architectural experience with, with Nemir.

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But before I go any further, I would like to differ slightly over the name of this event.

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This event has been called Memorial.

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For me, this is not a memorial. For me, this is celebrating a great man.

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And so let's, let's, you know, I don't want to talk about a memorial.

346
00:40:13,020 --> 00:40:16,090
We are celebrating his life, we are celebrating his achievement.

347
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:22,980
You know, I, I joined Nemir in 1981.

348
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And I left Investcorp in 2014 or something like this.

349
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So for over 20 years we were together. We've done deals together; we, we travelled together;

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we, we had lunches and dinners and parties and all sorts of things.

351
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And during, during this time, you could, you could see Nemir and you could see,

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you know, what, what kind of person he is; what's, what's the material that he's made from?

353
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Let's start with the simple things: Nemir is a loving husband.

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Nemir is a loving father to his daughters; and he's a loving grandfather to his grandchildren.

355
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But but he is, he's a friend of many, many, many people.

356
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I mean, there are at least, I could count, looking at the faces here, there are at least 50

357
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who can call Nemir a friend, you know. But I know his, his rollercoaster of friends is, is much longer than this.

358
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Nemir is a man of the world. A true universal man.

359
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And wherever, wherever he goes, he is always at ease.

360
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I mean, you don't see him upset; you don't see him mad;

361
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you don't see him losing control of things.

362
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:58,120
The man is always in control. You know, and it's funny because we, in high finance, you know, you cannot be in control

363
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24 out of, you know, out of the hours of the day.

364
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But the man was always in control.

365
00:42:06,940 --> 00:42:11,940
You know, maybe, maybe in the 40 years I've been with him, I saw him lose temper, you know,

366
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:17,260
no, no more than a handful, a handful of times. He was a philanthropist.

367
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,760
He, he, he loved to, to help people.

368
00:42:22,810 --> 00:42:34,240
And I've, I've been in more than one meeting where he was a generous contributor to things in Iraq or things in London or,

369
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:38,070
you know, the man was, was always, he's a giver.

370
00:42:38,110 --> 00:42:45,520
You know, he's not a taker. He's a giver. And, you know, he will always do things with a big smile on his face.

371
00:42:48,890 --> 00:42:53,300
With Nemir, no matter what you see, is what you get. There is no hidden agenda.

372
00:42:53,570 --> 00:42:56,740
You know, the man doesn't have a double face. You know, that's him.

373
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You know, he says "Yes", yes. He says "No", no. You know, the end of, end of story.

374
00:43:05,050 --> 00:43:10,100
With, with me personally,

375
00:43:10,790 --> 00:43:14,899
you know, after completing the build, the building, he took me under his wing.

376
00:43:14,900 --> 00:43:21,560
He really took me under his wing and he showed me things that, you know, my parents had not shown me, you know,

377
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:29,090
how to, on how to live, how to, how to enjoy life, how to be successful in what you're doing.

378
00:43:30,170 --> 00:43:34,520
He gave me an opportunity to grow and to be a better person.

379
00:43:35,210 --> 00:43:41,770
And thanks to him, I think I have grown and thanks to him, I am a better person.

380
00:43:41,780 --> 00:43:49,610
You know, my wife might disagree. For over 20 years we travelled together.

381
00:43:50,270 --> 00:43:54,890
And I want to tell you a couple, couple of stories about travelling with Nemir.

382
00:43:56,760 --> 00:44:01,260
Nemir, if he is determined on something: He wants it.

383
00:44:01,590 --> 00:44:06,670
I mean, don't try to argue with him, try to convince him that this is not worth it,

384
00:44:06,690 --> 00:44:10,680
let's do this. No. No. "This is what I want and this is what I will get."

385
00:44:11,130 --> 00:44:14,190
So the building is an example of this. But,

386
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:28,000
it's, so I,

387
00:44:30,430 --> 00:44:43,120
I, what, what I learned from him is really to be a doer, not to hesitate, you know, listen to your conscience,

388
00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:50,560
listen to your subconscious, and do what you think is right, even if some people disagree with you.

389
00:44:53,810 --> 00:44:59,840
We travelled together, and I have hundreds of stories about Nemir and travel.

390
00:45:00,470 --> 00:45:07,710
But, you know, I will only mention one of them.

391
00:45:09,510 --> 00:45:12,570
This was, I think, in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or somewhere in the Gulf.

392
00:45:13,140 --> 00:45:23,340
And it was a long day. We'd had dinner and we sat on the balcony of his, of his suite room and he was having a drink.

393
00:45:24,750 --> 00:45:30,060
And he said, "Have one". I said, "No Nemir, I've had enough today." "Have one." I said, "No I've had enough".

394
00:45:31,350 --> 00:45:35,260
He took a cigar, lit it and said, "Have, have a cigar"

395
00:45:35,340 --> 00:45:38,760
I said, "No Nemir, no I don't smoke". "Have one."

396
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:45,629
"No Nemir I don't smoke". He looked at me and he said, "You know, Yusef, you're going to live longer than me, but I'll be happier

397
00:45:45,630 --> 00:45:53,310
man." Well, he, he was, he was a philosopher, really,

398
00:45:53,520 --> 00:46:00,420
he was a philosopher. Sitting together in meeting, he has this principle of go round the table, go round the room.

399
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:08,250
And when you have a management committee of 28 people, going around the room and everybody making a five-minute comment, that takes the whole day.

400
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:16,020
So we will, we will go round the table and somebody will say something that will disagree with the other sitting on the other side.

401
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:22,829
And we have to go round the table one more time. You know, it didn't bother him, that, you know, we missed lunch,

402
00:46:22,830 --> 00:46:26,220
you know, we're going to miss afternoon tea and it's almost dinner time.

403
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,880
He wanted to accomplish what the meeting was all about.

404
00:46:30,270 --> 00:46:33,570
The meeting was to, to, to finalise X-Y-Z

405
00:46:33,750 --> 00:46:36,750
and we're going to stay in this room till we finalise it.

406
00:46:37,630 --> 00:46:41,880
Hook or crook. You know, "Don't, don't look at me." So that,

407
00:46:41,930 --> 00:46:46,370
that was him. That was one of his, his strengths. And he wouldn't,

408
00:46:46,580 --> 00:46:50,960
it wouldn't matter what time he was meeting.

409
00:46:51,500 --> 00:46:59,210
I was once in Bahrain, still living in Bahrain, when the phone rang at about 10:00, 10:30 or something like this, late. "What are you doing?"

410
00:46:59,810 --> 00:47:04,010
I said "Nemir, I'm getting ready to go to bed." "No, no, no. Get dressed and join me."

411
00:47:04,430 --> 00:47:10,700
"Where?" "Just, please." "Okay? Why?" I went there and you know, he was there,

412
00:47:10,700 --> 00:47:15,649
Mike Meritt was there, another partner of ours.

413
00:47:15,650 --> 00:47:20,600
[inaudible name] was there, another partner of ours. And we sat to discuss something.

414
00:47:20,990 --> 00:47:24,709
At 11:00. I mean the restaurant was, was empty.

415
00:47:24,710 --> 00:47:29,870
Nobody there. The waiters wanted to go home. And, you know, we just have to finish this point.

416
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:34,280
So it didn't matter whether it was lunchtime, dinner time,

417
00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:37,970
morning, evening. You know. He has something on his mind,

418
00:47:38,630 --> 00:47:45,860
you know, he needs his, sort of lieutenants, to be around him to discuss and come up with a solution for this problem.

419
00:47:48,230 --> 00:47:54,830
Nemir was a visionary. When he bought, when we bought Tiffany,

420
00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:04,520
I remember without naming names that many people on our board of directors, were against buying Tiffany. Luxury? Jewellery?

421
00:48:05,510 --> 00:48:11,690
And we were at the same time buying a company called Dellwood, which sells milk in the US.

422
00:48:12,870 --> 00:48:17,460
And everybody is saying, you know, we buy jewellery? But what about milk, everybody needs milk.

423
00:48:18,450 --> 00:48:24,000
He said, "No, it's the jewellery." And he insisted.

424
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:31,410
We ended up buying Tiffany and as you all know, we made a bundle on the transaction.

425
00:48:32,370 --> 00:48:38,490
And I tell you, one of the side benefits of Tiffany and this story I heard it from Sheikh Al Khalifa.

426
00:48:40,900 --> 00:48:51,430
Nemir and I were visiting him, Mohammed, and he said "Thank you Nemir for getting Bahrain recognised,

427
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:57,970
people start asking about Bahrain." and we said "How?" He said "Because a friend of mine..."

428
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:07,510
A friend of the Prime Minister was in New York on a visit and he got in a taxi and the taxi driver asks him "Where are you from?"

429
00:49:08,140 --> 00:49:13,100
"Bahrain." "Oh, Bahrain, this is where the company that bought Tiffany, is there"

430
00:49:14,050 --> 00:49:21,400
You know, so Sheikh Al Khalifa was saying, you know, Tiffany has turned out to be a good deal for, for Investcorp,

431
00:49:21,730 --> 00:49:29,830
but at the same time, it put, you know, in a small way, it put Bahrain on the map with the taxi driver in New York.

432
00:49:30,580 --> 00:49:39,400
Nemir had a fun side which many people sitting in this room know.

433
00:49:40,060 --> 00:49:44,040
He loves to sing, but his voice is awful.

434
00:49:46,190 --> 00:49:50,440
Really. I can do, I can do better than him. But he loves to sing.

435
00:49:51,010 --> 00:49:55,590
He loves friends, he loves to, he loves life.

436
00:49:55,600 --> 00:50:01,540
You know, this is a really, the summary, you know. But, but he loves life

437
00:50:01,990 --> 00:50:09,879
always surrounded by his friends, you know? I know he, he loves his daughters and wife and grandchildren and they go skiing, etc., you know,

438
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:17,740
but Nemir finds himself more maybe with, with us the guys, you know that we share his common interest.

439
00:50:18,700 --> 00:50:22,090
And one, one last thing.

440
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:27,160
You talk about this Centre. Nemir wanted to do something like this in the Arab world.

441
00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:39,850
And I remember we used to sit together and he would say, you know, we need to create a centre like this centre in the Arab world to help education.

442
00:50:40,180 --> 00:50:44,860
He was very strong, very high on educating women. Really,

443
00:50:44,860 --> 00:50:57,160
this was one of one of his agendas, but unfortunately circumstances and other things, he couldn't, he couldn't finish that project. But.

444
00:50:58,530 --> 00:51:05,980
But as we gather here today, I want to remember Nemir as a friend.

445
00:51:09,580 --> 00:51:12,640
He is, his memory is never really gone.

446
00:51:14,590 --> 00:51:18,670
He lives in my heart and he lives in my mind.

447
00:51:19,150 --> 00:51:25,960
And I'm sure many of our colleagues in this room, we share my, my love to this man.

448
00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:40,170
Thank you very much. Yusef.

449
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:42,570
Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that,

450
00:51:42,870 --> 00:51:51,540
sharing that with us. Our next speaker, Dr. Serra Kirdar, I've always thought the ultimate St Antony's Alumni.

451
00:51:51,540 --> 00:51:56,340
She's a global citizen in a community of global citizens.

452
00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:01,620
She completed her thesis at St Anthony's on education,

453
00:52:01,620 --> 00:52:10,320
gender and the cross-cultural experience with reference to elite Arab women, a thesis contracted subsequently by, by Bloomsbury,

454
00:52:10,770 --> 00:52:20,099
and she has combined a rigorous academic career and interest in education and women's empowerment in the Middle East with involvement with many,

455
00:52:20,100 --> 00:52:27,600
many philanthropic ventures. She sits on the board of the New Leaders Group at the Institute of International Education;

456
00:52:28,710 --> 00:52:32,220
the International Advisory Council of the Asian University for Women;

457
00:52:32,550 --> 00:52:37,020
and of course, she chairs the Advisory Board of the Middle East Centre here.

458
00:52:37,950 --> 00:52:46,860
She's a staunch supporter of the arts and a patron of the University of Arts of London and Art Dubai and of the British Film Institute.

459
00:52:47,250 --> 00:52:50,580
And she is, of course, Nemir's daughter, Serra.

460
00:53:01,180 --> 00:53:09,100
Thank you, Roger. Does this work? Well, this is an emotional day.

461
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:20,800
Your Royal Highness, Your Excellencies, Esteemed Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen and my beloved family, today is an exceptionally special day.

462
00:53:21,610 --> 00:53:24,159
Firstly, on behalf, on behalf of my family,

463
00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:32,590
we would like to give a very warm thank you to St Anthony's College and the Warden for graciously hosting this event.

464
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:40,239
And a very special thank you to Eugene, who was so determined to host a memorial in this very special place to remember

465
00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:44,320
our father and who has been spearheading this over the last few months.

466
00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:49,690
Your Royal Highness, it is a great honour to have you here with us today.

467
00:53:50,590 --> 00:53:56,440
My father loved you, loved your family, and, of course, Bahrain. A country he called home

468
00:53:56,770 --> 00:54:05,140
and was so welcoming to him and to all of us. Taking time from your very busy schedule to be here in Oxford is a huge privilege for us.

469
00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:13,970
We are also incredibly honoured to have, to have Lord Rosslyn on behalf of King Charles III with us this evening.

470
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:20,360
My parents shared a very special friendship with His Majesty and some very wonderful memories over the years.

471
00:54:22,370 --> 00:54:27,649
I would also like to thank my dear family members and close friends for making the trip to Oxford,

472
00:54:27,650 --> 00:54:31,120
many of whom have come and travelled from the US and the Middle East.

473
00:54:31,130 --> 00:54:40,140
So really a very big thank you to everybody. Nemir Kirdar was a pioneer, a visionary, a man with a mission.

474
00:54:40,530 --> 00:54:45,090
He was also our father. His values were clear to all who knew him.

475
00:54:45,450 --> 00:54:48,900
He was kind and gracious, but he was also larger than life.

476
00:54:49,410 --> 00:54:57,060
A true leader. His values are what drove him throughout his life and what he made sure to hammer into us as we were growing up.

477
00:54:57,930 --> 00:55:02,820
He coined them: Be needed, be trusted, be respected.

478
00:55:03,480 --> 00:55:07,620
Big shoes to fill, but words that have guided us through our, throughout our lives.

479
00:55:08,340 --> 00:55:13,020
Education was the cornerstone of what he believed to be the guiding light.

480
00:55:13,710 --> 00:55:17,460
"Girls, the most important thing is to invest in your education.

481
00:55:17,730 --> 00:55:22,260
It is the only thing no one can take away from you". And how right he was.

482
00:55:22,770 --> 00:55:29,430
I would not be standing here today had it not been for his incessant encouragement and deep commitment to my own educational path.

483
00:55:30,540 --> 00:55:38,519
Oxford was my home for eight years, and through those years Daddy was so keen to see how he could add value to this formidable

484
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:43,649
institution. That was such a part of who he was, always asking how he could help,

485
00:55:43,650 --> 00:55:48,810
what role he could play. He wanted to leave his mark and create value for the next generation.

486
00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:52,740
He always talked of the future and saw what many could not see.

487
00:55:53,700 --> 00:55:58,349
So, given that both his daughters were Oxford graduates and home was London for our family,

488
00:55:58,350 --> 00:56:03,210
it made perfect sense. Then and there I knew I had to introduce Eugene to my father.

489
00:56:03,870 --> 00:56:09,839
Given that the Middle East Centre at the time was simply 68 Woodstock Road and I had many,

490
00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:14,520
many discussions with Eugene as a student about how to "Up your game",

491
00:56:15,030 --> 00:56:22,350
it was a match made. With vision, commitment and a blossoming friendship between Eugene and my father,

492
00:56:22,530 --> 00:56:27,510
a plan was made to put the Middle East Centre on the map. A very ambitious plan.

493
00:56:27,990 --> 00:56:31,980
Again, a signature trait from a man who dreamt big and made things happen.

494
00:56:32,490 --> 00:56:37,380
But here we are. Our father wanted us to go to Oxford.

495
00:56:37,800 --> 00:56:43,440
I remember when applying to university, my school asked me to apply to several like normal people.

496
00:56:44,370 --> 00:56:49,110
But he wasn't having any of it. Neither Rena or I, nor I, had backup plans.

497
00:56:49,410 --> 00:56:57,060
It was Oxford and that was it. So better get on with it because Daddy didn't have a plan B, there was only A or A.

498
00:56:58,140 --> 00:57:04,890
He also made no distinction on gender. Though he might have secretly wanted a son,

499
00:57:05,040 --> 00:57:11,880
we never felt it and he always said, "I may not have sons, but I have daughters, and there is no difference in my eyes."

500
00:57:12,480 --> 00:57:21,420
In fact, he encouraged us to be independent-minded and assertive and always brought examples of impressive women when wanting to inspire us.

501
00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:27,390
And really, there is no better proof of this than in the woman he chose to be his life partner.

502
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:37,500
In fact, the Nemir Kirdar you all know, attributed so much of who he became and the accomplishments he achieved, because of his life partner,

503
00:57:37,890 --> 00:57:43,620
his wife, our mother, Nada. My mother and father were a team.

504
00:57:43,950 --> 00:57:50,250
She was his co-pilot for 50 years. He had the ability to see potential when others didn't.

505
00:57:50,820 --> 00:57:55,140
Be it potential in a business, in a piece of property or in people.

506
00:57:56,070 --> 00:57:59,490
When he met our mother, she was only 19 years old in Baghdad.

507
00:58:00,030 --> 00:58:05,729
He immediately knew he wanted to spend his life with her and even orchestrated a party via his cousin,

508
00:58:05,730 --> 00:58:09,360
Aunty Nemin, who's here with us this evening, so they could meet.

509
00:58:10,260 --> 00:58:14,070
He had vision. He had a plan. And he knew what he wanted.

510
00:58:14,670 --> 00:58:22,770
Together, they built their lives for over 50 years. Our mother was not simply a wife or a homemaker or a housewife.

511
00:58:22,980 --> 00:58:25,690
She was his co-pilot and his partner.

512
00:58:26,700 --> 00:58:35,700
He encouraged Mommy to learn, to evolve, to follow her interests, to travel alone, to make her own friendships, to forge her own identity,

513
00:58:35,970 --> 00:58:42,000
never feeling that it would overshadow him, diminish his sense of authority, or threaten his ego.

514
00:58:42,900 --> 00:58:45,990
He wanted his wife to be an independent, strong woman.

515
00:58:46,710 --> 00:58:50,250
And I think we can all agree that Mommy, you do not disappoint.

516
00:58:53,220 --> 00:59:00,120
In fact, I know at many times having Mommy, Rena and I proved to be quite a handful and quite a challenge for him.

517
00:59:01,050 --> 00:59:04,740
But rather than try and control us, he allowed us all to grow.

518
00:59:05,520 --> 00:59:08,280
Daddy was our rock, our guiding light.

519
00:59:09,420 --> 00:59:18,210
We are eternally grateful for his kindness, his humanness, his decency and overarching love and deep sense of commitment to us.

520
00:59:19,290 --> 00:59:24,660
There are no words that can possibly do justice to express just how much my family and I miss him.

521
00:59:25,290 --> 00:59:29,670
As I am sure many of you share this sentiment. The void is there.

522
00:59:29,850 --> 00:59:32,670
And not a day passes when he is not deeply missed.

523
00:59:34,560 --> 00:59:42,810
We are living in an ever-changing world where the values he so vehemently subscribed to do not always seem so apparent around us.

524
00:59:43,710 --> 00:59:47,430
He had the ability to cut out the noise and focus on what was important.

525
00:59:47,820 --> 00:59:55,590
He did not sweat the small stuff. I often would go to him, overwhelmed and lost, and in a matter of moments he would calm me down,

526
00:59:55,590 --> 00:59:59,250
reset my perspective, and send me on my way with a clear strategy.

527
01:00:00,060 --> 01:00:08,160
His ability to convince you to do what he wanted without, without so much as making you feel it was anything less than your idea was legendary.

528
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:19,860
Nemir was a gentleman through and through. His appreciation and recognition of talent, culture, reading, curiosity had no bounds.

529
01:00:20,370 --> 01:00:25,950
He brought Rena and I up to understand the importance of education, both formal and informal.

530
01:00:26,790 --> 01:00:31,619
He would wake my sister up at early hours as he would be more stressed about her upcoming exams

531
01:00:31,620 --> 01:00:36,930
than she was. Something, I have to say, both Rena and I are very guilty of doing with our own children now.

532
01:00:38,730 --> 01:00:46,800
But how right he was to do so and how grateful I am for his guidance, his commitment to his family and his unwavering sense of duty.

533
01:00:49,930 --> 01:00:59,380
Nemir was a leader, a CEO, a friend, a brother, a colleague, a husband, a father and a grandfather.

534
01:01:00,370 --> 01:01:06,340
He took each of those roles seriously and believed he had an obligation to honour each one through and through.

535
01:01:06,910 --> 01:01:15,880
He had time for anyone and everyone. Although he worked around the clock, Nemir had a deep appreciation for the quality and beauty of life.

536
01:01:16,270 --> 01:01:20,800
We often joked that he was a frustrated decorator. His creativity was endless.

537
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:23,680
His attention to detail was second to none.

538
01:01:24,220 --> 01:01:30,310
Whether it was him stopping the car in the middle of the road because he, his eye had spotted an antique in a window

539
01:01:30,730 --> 01:01:36,280
or meeting with decorators to explain his vision for a new addition to something he wanted to further develop.

540
01:01:36,880 --> 01:01:46,870
He was always full of energy, vision and creativity. He loved art, music, antiques, walks in the park and the finer things of life.

541
01:01:47,410 --> 01:01:53,319
In fact, he often carved out time to meet our mother for weekend breaks: Somewhere to relax,

542
01:01:53,320 --> 01:01:57,880
to eat well and take in the beauty before heading back on his gruelling travel schedule.

543
01:01:59,290 --> 01:02:05,859
He had a joie de vivre, and I remember on one occasion he had just landed from L.A., came home,

544
01:02:05,860 --> 01:02:10,900
showered and took Mommy and friends out dancing till 3 a.m. and then went to work the next day.

545
01:02:12,190 --> 01:02:18,760
Big shoes to fill. He had his work, but he also knew he had his role to play as a husband and a father.

546
01:02:19,060 --> 01:02:23,770
He was a man of sheer determination who simply did not take no for an answer.

547
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:27,670
There was always a solution and always a way to make it happen

548
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:32,470
as many of us here know firsthand. Nothing was impossible.

549
01:02:33,130 --> 01:02:39,250
He was our real life superhero. The legacy he has left us is invaluable.

550
01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:45,640
We feel privileged to call Nemir Kirdar, our father, and for our children to have him as their grandfather.

551
01:02:46,960 --> 01:02:48,520
He was our lighthouse

552
01:02:48,820 --> 01:02:57,550
and his legacy, his values, his memories, endless hours of heart-to-heart talks continue to guide both Rena and I in our most difficult of times.

553
01:02:59,350 --> 01:03:08,710
Once again, on behalf of my mother, Nada, his lifelong partner, my older sister Rena, my nieces Liana and Talia, and my son Saif

554
01:03:09,250 --> 01:03:14,649
I thank you all for being here this evening to join us in remembering Nemir Kirdar and to

555
01:03:14,650 --> 01:03:22,030
Eugene and Roger and esteemed Oxford colleagues for making this evening a night to remember.

556
01:03:22,300 --> 01:03:36,010
Thank you. Thank you.

557
01:03:36,020 --> 01:03:46,839
Thank you so much, Serra, for that. I am very honoured to welcome as our final speaker His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa,

558
01:03:46,840 --> 01:03:50,920
the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

559
01:03:51,970 --> 01:03:56,830
His Royal Highness is a graduate of the American University in Washington and he undertook

560
01:03:56,830 --> 01:04:01,300
his postgraduate work at a university we often pretend we've never heard of in Oxford,

561
01:04:01,750 --> 01:04:12,040
called the University of Cambridge. His Royal Highness was appointed as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain in November 2020,

562
01:04:12,370 --> 01:04:16,090
a particularly challenging time in the history of any country.

563
01:04:16,990 --> 01:04:21,010
But he led team Bahrain in its national coronavirus response,

564
01:04:21,430 --> 01:04:28,900
establishing one of the world's leading vaccination programs commended by regional and international organisations alike.

565
01:04:29,710 --> 01:04:33,460
He has kindly agreed to share with us some of his memories of Nemir.

566
01:04:33,790 --> 01:04:44,840
Your Royal Highness. Thank you. Good evening.

567
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:51,000
Kirdar family; Excellency;

568
01:04:51,390 --> 01:05:00,840
my Lord; Warden; Ladies and Gentlemen, it is truly an honour to be here tonight.

569
01:05:01,350 --> 01:05:05,370
I wouldn't have missed it. But there is no thanks needed.

570
01:05:06,540 --> 01:05:09,960
Nemir was a very special man, and he had a very special place in my heart.

571
01:05:11,400 --> 01:05:14,790
I am here because I am grateful to him.

572
01:05:15,090 --> 01:05:18,390
I am here because Bahrain is grateful to him.

573
01:05:20,320 --> 01:05:24,670
His impact was not only felt in, in my country.

574
01:05:24,880 --> 01:05:32,620
It was felt globally. And sitting here, Investcorp legends, you know, you guys are rock stars.

575
01:05:32,770 --> 01:05:36,550
You need to know that, you know, the world knows that.

576
01:05:37,450 --> 01:05:44,550
And in the same breath that we talk about Blackstone's or KKR or the Nabisco deals, we talk about Investcorp.

577
01:05:45,790 --> 01:05:51,130
Nemir was a titan. He was a founding father of the investment bank business.

578
01:05:51,790 --> 01:05:57,760
He started in merchant banking, I think, when he was at Chase, and he saw a niche and an opportunity.

579
01:05:59,480 --> 01:06:03,800
And he didn't believe in bulk, bulk deals. He believed in quality.

580
01:06:04,790 --> 01:06:11,060
This I know because he told me. He said, you know, I'm not interested in mass market products,

581
01:06:11,490 --> 01:06:18,060
you know. Now the whole world of investment banking has changed and it is about size and it is about scale,

582
01:06:18,120 --> 01:06:21,170
but Nemir believed in the Rolls-Royce philosophy.

583
01:06:21,680 --> 01:06:25,430
If he didn't want to own it, he didn't, was not personally interested,

584
01:06:25,430 --> 01:06:30,830
it wasn't worth owning. In my opinion, at least that's the way he lived his life in many things.

585
01:06:32,180 --> 01:06:39,200
And as you've heard, he's a visionary or was a visionary. Is a visionary because his legacy is still going.

586
01:06:41,390 --> 01:06:44,400
And he was a great optimist.

587
01:06:44,420 --> 01:06:49,730
I think one thread that comes through everything that we've heard tonight was his optimism.

588
01:06:51,110 --> 01:06:57,620
He used to spend endless hours talking to me about how he imagined or hoped the world would be.

589
01:06:59,160 --> 01:07:04,920
As if he could will it into existence just by his sheer force of character.

590
01:07:07,080 --> 01:07:16,530
He would express his opinion, which I often felt was, you know, maybe idealistic or, you know, you know, to, um, not not too ambitious,

591
01:07:16,530 --> 01:07:22,280
that's the wrong term, but maybe not achievable in current circumstances.

592
01:07:22,290 --> 01:07:26,400
And he'd look at me and say. "Well, if you don't dream it, it won't happen." Fair enough.

593
01:07:27,630 --> 01:07:42,150
And he left an incredible, incredible memory and legacy with me, because, you know, you talk about the Softbridge, this building that we're in.

594
01:07:43,410 --> 01:07:46,650
Well, Nemir was a bridge between East and West.

595
01:07:47,790 --> 01:07:54,330
He was a bridge between young and old. And he was a bridge between modern, modernity and tradition.

596
01:07:55,410 --> 01:07:59,240
When I talk about the bridge between East and West, he could move in circles that nobody could.

597
01:07:59,250 --> 01:08:08,459
You know. Who, who could get Prime Minister Thatcher to come and speak at a, at an event or Colin Powell or George W. Bush, I believe, John

598
01:08:08,460 --> 01:08:12,960
Major, John Major it was, John Major. And you know the,

599
01:08:14,100 --> 01:08:20,910
I guess it was the shareholder meetings, they were legendary. Because you would, there would be Nemir,

600
01:08:21,600 --> 01:08:31,230
telling world leaders from all over the place what he thought of them. Usually it wasn't very much and insisting that, you know, there was a better way.

601
01:08:32,730 --> 01:08:35,970
And we were so lucky because it did put Bahrain on the map.

602
01:08:36,430 --> 01:08:42,870
Yusuf, you are so right. When I was growing up and maybe I'm, you know, we've, we've heard from the professional view:

603
01:08:42,900 --> 01:08:46,410
Mohammed, a lovely, lovely speech. You know, we've heard from the family;

604
01:08:47,580 --> 01:08:55,860
we've heard from the friend; we've, we've, we've heard from the colleague who worked; we've heard from many of you who, who have known him,

605
01:08:55,860 --> 01:09:02,520
and you will, I think, see that he could, he could bring people together like nobody else could.

606
01:09:03,270 --> 01:09:08,180
He really could. And putting Bahrain on the map in such a way made us all proud.

607
01:09:08,190 --> 01:09:12,579
So growing up, Investcorp was, was a shining beacon.

608
01:09:12,580 --> 01:09:19,240
Everybody wants to work at Investcorp. And he was always saying to people, "Go away, get some work experience."

609
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:22,770
Usually at Chase. Yes, and,

610
01:09:22,960 --> 01:09:26,290
"and maybe you will join us one day when you are, you know, ready."

611
01:09:27,460 --> 01:09:32,710
And he was a great believer in empowering people and keeping the organisation quite flat really.

612
01:09:32,950 --> 01:09:40,570
It wasn't, you know, he didn't govern by, you know, himself with his ideas and what he thought. He,

613
01:09:40,870 --> 01:09:46,730
he genuinely governed in a way that was participatory, used the participation of all.

614
01:09:47,770 --> 01:09:51,960
So, thinking of all of those things,

615
01:09:52,170 --> 01:09:55,650
you know, when you, when you think of the man, the legacy he leaves behind,

616
01:09:56,250 --> 01:10:02,910
the one thing I can ascribe him is that he wanted, well, the thing he left with me is he always made me want to be better.

617
01:10:03,980 --> 01:10:07,240
He wanted me to be, or I wanted to be better at my work;

618
01:10:07,280 --> 01:10:11,360
I wanted to be better at my education; I wanted to be better in,

619
01:10:12,200 --> 01:10:15,440
and I'm sort of stronger and bolder in my ambition.

620
01:10:17,760 --> 01:10:23,610
And yet with all of that - we've talked about, we've talked about his vision, we've talked about his optimism,

621
01:10:23,610 --> 01:10:27,450
we've talked about his role as an educator - his humility.

622
01:10:28,230 --> 01:10:33,240
That's one thing that was also extremely special, and he left that with me as well.

623
01:10:34,110 --> 01:10:40,260
So along with his great power, reach, wisdom and access, he left behind

624
01:10:41,540 --> 01:10:45,470
a legacy that I think still I carry today.

625
01:10:46,370 --> 01:10:49,550
And when I think of Investcorp, I will always fondly smile.

626
01:10:49,940 --> 01:10:53,750
Investcorp is something we are extremely proud of in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

627
01:10:53,810 --> 01:11:03,140
It is now Gulf wide. Mohammed you have done a fantastic job and I think you have taken it to the next phase of its evolution.

628
01:11:04,220 --> 01:11:07,879
And we still continue to hold you in extremely high regard,

629
01:11:07,880 --> 01:11:13,910
and you are one of our crown jewels, if I may say that, in the, in the banking community.

630
01:11:15,710 --> 01:11:19,940
But he left behind a way to live; a way to learn;

631
01:11:21,080 --> 01:11:27,980
and a way to work. More than that, I think, I would certainly not wish for more.

632
01:11:28,220 --> 01:11:32,360
So may he rest in peace; thank you for inviting me;

633
01:11:32,900 --> 01:11:42,290
and it has been a great honour and a privilege to be here with you tonight, because all of us really owe the late Nemir Kirdar a great debt of thanks,

634
01:11:42,440 --> 01:12:06,659
and I'd like to give him a big round of applause, please. Thank you so much, Your Royal Highness, and thank you to all our speakers.

635
01:12:06,660 --> 01:12:10,320
I think everybody would agree it's been a very moving, a very moving event.

636
01:12:11,040 --> 01:12:18,210
So just before we finish, I would like to just say a few words of thanks to all of those who have made today's event possible

637
01:12:18,960 --> 01:12:24,000
behind the scenes and apologies in advance if I have actually forgotten somebody when I, when I do this.

638
01:12:24,330 --> 01:12:28,530
But can I just thank Suzie Garas at Investcorp, who's been very helpful.

639
01:12:28,980 --> 01:12:35,340
Can I thank the College staff: The Domestic Bursar, Steward, Chef, and all of their team for making the Middle East Centre look better.

640
01:12:35,370 --> 01:12:42,300
I have to say better than it's ever looked before and for hopefully the hospitality that is to come, I'm sure it will live up to its normal standards.

641
01:12:42,630 --> 01:12:50,220
My colleagues at the Middle East Centre that's Stacy Churcher and Caroline Davis for all their work and special, special thanks to you,

642
01:12:50,520 --> 01:12:56,520
Nada, to Rena and to Serra for making this event possible and for letting us actually have this event

643
01:12:56,520 --> 01:13:03,71
at St Antony's,so a huge thanks to the three of you. This is actually the end of the formal part of the evening

644
01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:11,820
but can I ask you to perhaps remain in your seats just a minute or two so that His Royal Highness and his party would be allowed to depart?

645
01:13:12,240 --> 01:13:19,650
And then can I invite you all to come and join us at a reception which will be held in the upstairs gallery and in the marquee,

646
01:13:19,890 --> 01:13:22,980
and who knows what the weather will be like when we go up there and find out.

647
01:13:23,700 --> 01:13:27,360
Fingers crossed. But thank you to everybody indeed for your participation this evening.