UAE contractors upbeat in playing major role in USD 1.3 trillion worth of projects in Middle East.

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15 Feb 2011

UAE contractors have expressed a positive outlook that the Middle East region’s construction sector will enjoy continuous growth and development; an indicative sign that the region is recovering from the global financial crisis. The resilient turn towards recovery has also prompted local contractors to play a major role in the more than USD 1.3 trillion worth of construction development projects across the region.

Shaikhani Contracting, a part of the Shaikhani Group, a multibillion dollar international business conglomerate with interest in real estate development, trading, manufacturing and IT, has pointed out that the region’s bid towards recovery has created an influx of projects across all industries that primarily aim at putting the Middle East on the path towards growth and development. The construction industry alone has either resumed development on once stalled projects or has already started with new ones - Saudi Arabia offering the most potential followed by the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.

Accompanying this growth in the Middle East region’s construction sector is the creation and merging of different companies and enterprises; serving a two-fold objective of branching into new markets and to create more chances of winning more contracts from different projects. Aiming to capitalize on this trend and on the construction industry’s continuous growth, Shaikhani Contracting has announced plans to roll out a strategic region wide plan targeting growth and expansion in both the UAE and the rest of the region.

Rizwan Shaikhani, Managing Director, Shaikhani Contracting.

The company further revealed that in the UAE alone, Dubai in particular, the promise of continued growth in the construction sector remains firm due to the strong support by the Dubai Government. To help complement their new strategy, Shaikhani Contracting is currently planning to hire more engineers, technical and non-technical staff, with a view to offer regional customers a broader portfolio of high quality services.

“These are exciting times for the Middle East region’s construction industry, as witnessed by the presence of more than USD 1.3 trillion worth of projects across the area,” said Rizwan Shaikhani, Managing Director, Shaikhani Contracting. “Construction firms in the UAE and the rest of the region remain upbeat that growth will continue and that more projects will be coming. We are on the path towards recovery and development and this has prompted Shaikhani Contracting to implement a region wide expansion plan that will not only help us grow but also consolidate our presence in the Middle East region.”

Signs of the construction industry’s turn towards recovery can be seen in leading countries like the UAE, where the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Regional Economic Outlook, released in October 2010, raised its 2010 growth forecast for the UAE to 2.4 per cent, from 1.3 per cent in May. UAE expects growth to accelerate to 3.2 per cent in 2011 - not bad for an economy exposed to crashing real estate and financial markets in 2009. Taking its cue from this report, contractors are now aiming to secure more contracts in the UAE, which is still the largest construction market in the GCC with USD 714.8 billion worth of projects in progress or in the planning stages.

“Our region wide expansion plan will allow us to enter and branch out into new markets across the region; creating new partnerships, opportunities and projects. This move gives us the opportunity to bring the Shaikhani brand to newer heights and to allow us to live up to our reputation of working closely with our developers, partners and associates and highlight our strong attention towards delivering projects on time,” concluded Shaikhani.