SAUDI ARABIA - Real Estate & Construction
Managing Director, Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC)
Bio
Elie Alexandros has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and has been with CCC for almost 30 years, working in various roles and countries in the Middle East and North Africa. He has extensive experience in megaprojects and has been involved in a variety of EPC and construction only projects, ranging from airports and transportation to infrastructure and mixed-use development projects. He is currently leading CCC’s operations in Saudi Arabia, overlooking major transformational projects across the Kingdom.
Elie Alexandros: KSA has always been in the center of the world economy and particularly in the construction industry. We have been in continuous operation in the Kingdom since 1965. It has been one of our largest areas of operations since then. We have completed major oil and gas, petrochemical. and industrial projects for Aramco and other clients as well as many iconic projects in education, infrastructure, and other business sectors. We are currently part of the Riyadh Metro Programme delivery. It is a strategic national project, one of the largest global infrastructure projects, and will transform and improve the quality of life of those living in the capital. We are extremely proud being part of this achievement. KSA has always contributed a major share of our group’s revenue over the years. KSA, and the GCC in general, continues to be our primary focus, but we are of course well spread geographically into the MENA region, sub-Saharan Africa. and the CIS countries. We also have other affiliated companies in the Middle East and Europe. We are diversifying our portfolio of projects and are in oil and gas, petrochemical, infrastructure, buildings, and transportation. We are also venturing into clean energy, and have recently been awarded some of the biggest green hydrogen and blue ammonia projects in the world. We continue to look for new sectors and projects where we can be pioneers, similar to what happened, for example, in the early days of the LNG industry, where we ended up building most of the LNG plants in the region.
Elie Alexandros: The metro is a consortium between Siemens as the transit system partner and the joint venture of Bechtel, Al Mabani, and CCC; hence the name of the consortium: BACS. Over the years, CCC has contributed a large share of staff and manpower to the project. After the unfortunate slowdown during the pandemic, we have now remobilized a massive number of resources to complete the delivery of this iconic project. The geographical footprint of the metro requires innovative construction methods to deal with location specific issues and overcome various challenges. While construction is being progressed, commissioning and trial tests are being performed on completed sections of the project.
Elie Alexandros: We always try to target unique and challenging niche projects. Earlier this year, we signed the construction contract for a clean energy source plant and we have already started mobilization and some early works activities. It is the largest in the region and the first of its kind. This is a major transformational project and is only one of a stream of clean energy mega-projects CCC expects to participate in. The energy transition sector is growing rapidly and we are proud that we are well placed as leaders and pioneers in the field. Tenders for major petrochemical projects were launched this year. In addition, gas and LNG projects are taking a center stage in the midst of the energy crisis and the energy transition initiatives and we are very well placed to lead the construction of such projects. Of course, the above is in addition to the ongoing infrastructure and buildings tenders that are being released continuously for works across the Kingdom.
Elie Alexandros: We feel that we can be competitive and add value to medium-to-large size projects where specific skills and past experience are mandatory for successful delivery. It is true that the market became competitive after the pandemic, however, now we do see a correction in the pricing levels as more and more of the contractors reach their saturation level. Our bandwidth for expansion is very wide as we capitalize on group resources and our global outreach.
Elie Alexandros: We are finishing the year with a healthy backlog and our target for next year is to further increase this backlog by pursuing opportunities throughout the full spectrum in the industry. Our aim is also to promote partnership and collaboration models with our clients using a win-win approach that is fair to both parties. We have executed massive portfolios under such a strategy and the results were extremely satisfactory. We would also be looking at strategic alliances with other contractors that share our culture, work ethics, and values. This would also be another rewarding model through added value, diversified spread, and resource sharing.
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SAUDI ARABIA - Real Estate & Construction
Interview
CEO, First Avenue Real Estate Development, Saudi Arabia