Michael Wakim. (Photo supplied)

As the exodus of Canadians from Lebanon got underway last week, the president of an Ottawa electronics engineering firm found himself waiting his turn to board a ship.

Fidus Systems Inc. president Michael Wakim, a Lebanese-born Canadian, was in Beirut to attend an employee's wedding when the bombing began two weeks ago. He found himself marooned and deemed "low priority" for evacuation. Over the weekend, however, he was able to board a ship for Cyprus, then take a flight to England and on to Toronto, where he touched down last night. He is expected to return to Ottawa on Tuesday, Denise Allen, the firm's director of communications, told the OBJ.

Fidus, which employs about 60 people in Ottawa, set up a Lebanese-based facility more than a year ago and has 11 employees at the site. Mr. Wakim spoke with the OBJ last Thursday by satellite phone about his current situation, his business concerns and why outsourcing overseas remains a good idea.

OBJ: Do you know if you'll be evacuated today?

WAKIM: No, I don't think so. I'm waiting for a call from the embassy. My contact there told me to sit tight and wait for them to let me know.

OBJ: Are you somewhere safe, like a hotel or a holding area?

WAKIM: No, I'm at the office. Everyone's working here at the company. It's weird because it's totally normal here and unbelievable. There are bombs going off constantly, but people don't seem to mind. We're pretty sure they're not going to blow up our building because there's nothing much of interest here. We're in an isolated area in the hills overlooking Beirut. It's actually a really nice location.

OBJ: Are you worried about the business operations there or are personal concerns more important at this time?

WAKIM: My business and personal life are mixed together and I've never really had a big separation between them. I've made really close friends with our staff here and advisors. I'm worried about them for sure and we're telling people to only drive here when they're positive there are no real issues on the road. But most people live quite close, only two or three minutes from their home. So, I'm trying not to worry too much, but at the same time I really want to get back home to my family. I've never lived here before, so this is a new experience for me with the politics in Lebanon.

OBJ: Have you visited Lebanon many times?

WAKIM: Just since Fidus started a year and a half ago.

OBJ: Will the facility keep running after you leave?

WAKIM: I'm very comfortable with the facility and there hasn't been a big impact. Our business is a portable business and our customers are from all over the U.S. and Canada, so we have no local business at all. I tell my staff when they come here that when they walk into our offices, with its beautiful view that is a bit scary right now, but basically they're working for a Canadian company and they just happen to be Lebanese people doing work alongside our staff. They're on the phone all the time with our Canadian staff. This building has completely independent power, water, Internet, everything. It could run for a couple of months without the country even existing, not that that's going to happen. It's a very autonomous facility and it's actually a very small part of our overall business. Only 11 people total right now.

OBJ: When you outsource overseas, do you have contingency plans in place in case the situation becomes volatile?

WAKIM: I always had in the back of my mind that we have to have the business be able to operate regardless of the conditions. With the staff here, they're all working away on their designs and talking to their counterparts in Canada throughout the day, it's just amazing. The fact we're outside of Beirut and you have to understand that in Lebanon, after Beirut it's all hills and I think that's the reason society has existed and survived here for so many centuries. Here we are, a technology company – hiding in the hills.

OBJ: Was the building you're in already autonomous or did you work to make it that way?

WAKIM: It was a business-hosting facility and it's not the only building like this in Lebanon. The country was occupied for the long time, 15 years, and Lebanon was basically being controlled more or less from outside the country. So, everybody who built a building didn't count on electricity or water supply or anything like that. My apartment building here is the same way – the guy who owns it used to work for Microsoft in San Francisco and moved back to Lebanon and he built his building where I'm renting so it can withstand almost anything. It's incredible.

OBJ: Why did you decide to start the Fidus facility in Lebanon?

WAKIM: There were many business reasons besides the excitement of doing something where my ancestors came from. Some of the business reasons are because there's nobody competing with us here and it's not like our staff are going to be jumping back and forth like they do in some of the other competing countries. Plus there's the stability of the workforce because they're so loyal. I wish I could describe how amazing they are. Also the salary costs are really stable here. We offer reasonably good salaries by Lebanese standards and there's not a lot of pressure to keep rising them. In India, for example, I'm told salaries have gone up almost 50 per cent in the last year or two. It must be because people jump back and forth whenever they get a new opportunity. It's similar to the craziness in San Jose in 2000 when the average amount of time someone would spend at a company was 11 months. You can't run a stable company when your turnover is so high.

OBJ: When you set up the facility overseas, did you receive assistance from consultants or agencies?

WAKIM: I used the usual advisors, our board of directors, our lawyer in Canada and I have a lawyer in Beirut. Both of them are personal friends, so they warned me how each country works and what to look out for.

OBJ: Do you think the current situation will change your views of outsourcing overseas?

WAKIM: I still have really high hopes for our group here. Our plan from the beginning was to grow it very gradually and we haven't invested a lot of money yet. Our Canadian operation is working perfectly right now, so it's not hurting us at home. It's scary being here right now, but I still think it's the right thing to do long term.