CEO Today Middle East Awards

CEO TODAY MIDDLE EAST AWARDS 2020 26 Construction to come. The UAE remains a very attractive economy for international investors considering its favourable business environment, excellent infrastructure, strong connection to international markets and a super dynamic private sector. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce, in oneof its recentbriefings, released a new analysis which ensures that the Dubai Expo 2020 and government-led infrastructure projects will continue to play a key role in driving the growth of Dubai’s construction sector in the coming two years, similarly to the way it did in 2018 and 2019. According to KPMG’s annual Global Construction Survey, the construction sector in the UAE is expected to grow by between 6 and 10% in 2020. Even post 2020, the construction industry has a promising outlook, thanks to the various government initiatives such as the Ministry of Education Strategic Plan 2017- 2021, the national strategy of higher education 2030, the energy strategy 2050, the Sheikh Zayed housing programme and the Dubai tourism strategy etc. which expects investment in residential, energy and utilities, infrastructure and commercial construction projects. So, there will never be a shortage of work in the construction sector for disciplined contractors. It just takes a systematic approach and superior project management techniques to stay competitive in the market. What trends are you foreseeing for the future? Sustainability is the future of construction. E&C industry consumes around 50%of the steel produced globally and 3 billion tonnes of other raw materials. Hence, it only makes sense that any improvement in productivity through the adoption of modern engineering technologies will have a huge impact on the sector. The industry is advancing in R&D on addressing the sustainability of the building materials we use, the construction methodology we follow etc. to develop a socially conscious, environmentally- friendly and profitable business model that supports sustainable construction.