Nabil Zghier always knew he was going to be somebody.
After working with his father in Al Ahram Hotel in Jerusalem, and spending a few years trying to get an aluminum business off the ground in 1978, Zghier left for the Virgin Islands to find optimism. Even while working in a furniture store during the day and at a gas station at night to make ends meet, he never lost sight of what he really wanted: a company that would make something new in order to make him, and the generations after him, proud.
Most people would not have believed that in 1993, in the midst of economic and political change and instability in Palestine, Zghier would bring to life Royal Industrial Trading Company, which grew from a 12-person UPVC pipeline manufacturer into a massive, environmentally friendly plastic-industry company that makes everything from sanitary, fireplace, and household products to doormats, all while following top production standards and protecting the environment. Today, Royal employs 650 non-smoking employees with an endless array of expertise in 15 different departments.
Surviving and thriving in a place like Palestine, which is plagued with injustice and hardship, is far from easy, but Zghier has one distinct motto: hope and optimism. He says that these aren’t just words but day-to-day practice. You have to constantly exercise optimism in a place that always threatens to break apart, and you must rehearse hope to bring together an experience of excellence and dexterity, to avoid a mediocrity that regularly seems to force itself upon creation.
Zghier believes that it’s easy for an Arab to reach the world, but most businessmen and women believe in what he calls “cowardly capitalism,” which stops them from reaching farther than their most secure market. Royal Industrial Trading Company was never content with a small market, but managed within its 20 years to become a major supplier for plastic products in eleven countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Zghier is clearly not merely interested in capital, even though the company seems to be getting larger everyday; he seems to always be experimenting with the most difficult aspects of industry. For example, he found himself progressively more interested in the production of solar power, so he started to support individuals and projects that do research in the field and ended up creating a car and a trailer home that function solely on solar power. He even went so far as to install solar panels to provide electricity to his own home using photovoltaic cells. Naturally, Zghier says, that kind of support has been drawing researchers, scholars, and students to a place that clearly supports innovation beyond limits.
To emphasize the company’s values, Zghier wanted to give more back to the community. One of his most important projects was expanding Wadi al-Nar road that ties together the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, which had previously been considered one of the steepest and most dangerous Palestinian roads. Its 3,000-meter expansion has significantly decreased accidents and has probably saved many lives. Moreover, the company has donated dialysis machines to Alyah Hospital and seven fully equipped surgery rooms to the Ahli Hospital, both of which are public hospitals in Hebron.
But the thriving nature of the company doesn’t just happen. Without happy, appreciated employees the production quality would plummet. Royal Industrial Trading Company doesn’t just solve a real unemployment problem, it provides excellent working conditions. For example, the company covers each employee’s transportation expenses, provides one healthy meal a day, and even has extra-curricular activities to bring the team members together, for example, a football team, a dabke troupe, and even scouts. Zghier believes that the mental health of employees is as significant as their physical health; they both greatly impact the quality of work.
As for Zghier’s future endeavors? The sky is the limit! So far he has opened Home Plaza showroom for all kinds of household needs, Well International Company for household textile and accessories, and Al Jazeera for Sanitary Products, Royal’s sister company in Amman, Jordan.
Royal’s slogan “Beyond Creativity” is a subtle way to value everybody involved in the process – families, employees, and customers – as it fosters a space to share opinions and thoughts. “Beyond Creativity” also applies to Royal fireplaces, for they are truly works of art!