Fakher A. Al-Shawaf
CEO, Al Bawani
The company was established 30 years ago when we participated in the construction of the air bases in Saudi Arabia with some international companies. Today we have developed multiple business sectors in which we work through what we call our programs. We have a program for education, one for healthcare, one for housing, and we work with the metro lines. There is so much room for growth in the GCC and Saudi Arabia. The focus is particularly placed on infrastructure right now. In Riyadh, there are more than 55 projects on different sites. Infrastructure is large scale, and we are the largest construction company in Riyadh. In the year ahead, we have the Four Seasons in Jeddah, which is one of the most unique projects in the world and is worth about USD1.2 billion. At the moment we are waiting for the building substructure contractors to finish their work on this project. Also, we are involved in both the FAST and BACS metro lines. We are expecting more projects, and we are looking at selected project in Kuwait. As for the market, you have to be prepared and focused on discovering new opportunities and know that the market will never stop rewarding innovation and hard work.
Ahmet Halavuk
President, Yuksel Insaat
We are closely following the markets as well as government agencies. We are one of the biggest water pipeline contractors in the country, and there are four big water pipeline projects that will be tendered in 2017. One of these is the Rabigh-Mecca pipeline project, another is from Arafat to Ta’if, and a third pipeline is planned for Shoibah to Mecca. The last project is for another pipeline in the Ta’if region. So, there are four good opportunities coming up. The client for all of these is the Saline Water Conservation Group (SWCC) and the total investment is more than USD2.5 billion. These will be attractive packages. These tenders are by prequalification. Our aim is to get at least one of these four water pipeline projects. This is our core business in Saudi Arabia. We are mainly doing water projects rather than oil and gas pipelines here. We have installed around 1,000km of big diameter water pipelines in Saudi Arabia to date. In addition, we are expecting several invitations and contract opportunities from Aramco over the long term, based on their 10-year plan. We are classified, by Aramco, in the top category for pipelines, infrastructure, and building construction, and we hope this will create some good opportunities that are of mutual benefit for Aramco and Yuksel.
Mahmoud Chaaban
CEO, Mahmoud Chaaban
The anticipated fastest anticipated growth in the Saudi market is the tourism industry, primarily religious tourism, which sees people coming to Mecca and Medina for Hajj and Umrah. This is the most tangible growth element we can envisage. We are managing the development of 1.4 million sqm of land next to the metro station in Jeddah, which is envisaged to be the closest mega development to the metro station. Local Jeddah residents will also utilize the development, as they will be able to park their cars, use the local transport to the Metro station, reach the holy cities, and utilize the services and facilities provided. It is a very interesting project that will be developed to an international standard over the coming few years. In 2018, we are also expecting an increase in development. This year the authorities will start imposing land taxes on un-developed “white lands” within populated areas. Impact has not yet fully hit the market; soon people will be rushing to build to avoid being taxed. This is going to create a lot of opportunities for serious developers. Anticipate in 3-4Q2018, the real demand will begin, and we are already starting to see some interest in exploring what can potentially be done with various plots.
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