Wafic Rida Saïd Permanent Delegate of St Vincent to UNESCO
The Director-General of UNESCO received, on Thursday, 27 February 2025, H.E. Mr. Wafic Rida Saïd, a Syrian-born, British billionaire who previously served as St Vincent and the Grenadines ambassador to the Holy See (Vatican).
Rida Saïd presented the DG with the letters accrediting him as Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Saint Vincent to UNESCO. Wafic Rida Saïd is a businessman and philanthropist.
The Syrian businessman made a donation to the relief and recovery efforts in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) following the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking on NBC radio on Wednesday 27, November 2024, said the businessman contributed US $1 million to the relief and recovery effort.
Rida Saïd is the founder and chairman of the Saïd Foundation, a charity that works for a brighter future for children in need and talented young people from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, and the founding benefactor of the Saïd Business School at Oxford University.
Rida Saïd is also the founder of Saïd Holdings Limited, a privately held international investment company.
Rida Saïd is one of Britain’s wealthiest men, but how he accumulated his estimated £1bn fortune is somewhat opaque, the UK Guardian reported in 2007.