View of Dubai from the Burj Tower – The world's tallest building
The one-day seminar briefed Enterprise Ireland clients on construction product and services opportunities in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Speakers at the event included Jim Mongey, Enterprise Ireland Regional Manager Middle East & North Africa; Sheikh Nasser Mohamad H Almutawa Alotaibi, chairman of Samama Group of Companies (5th largest company in Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council in terms of manpower) and Tom Barry, General Manager of Arabtec Construction (UAE's leading construction firm). There was also a presentation by the Saudi Binladen Group.
The seminar attracted representatives from a number of leading Irish contracting and construction materials firms.
At present the combined Gulf States have an estimated spend of $2 trillion on construction activities, with every new project out-scaling previous ones in ambition. The conference was told this level of activity was set to continue until at least 2030. From a jobs perspective, there is great interest in recruiting experienced construction professionals such as contracts and project managers, all engineers, architects and quantity surveyors to the region. But the list of required professions grows month on month. A quick browse through constructionjobs.ie Middle Eastern job opportunities will give an idea of the scope of construction professional job opportunities that exist.
Speakers at the conference encouraged Irish companies to visit the region to get a feel for the types of projects that are underway.
Constructionjobs.ie advises that construction professionals looking for construction job opportunities in the region should be researching European companies who have developed a presence in the Gulf region. A good place to start this research would be on constructionjobs.ie Middle East construction jobs page. From here you will be able to identify constructionjobs.ie contracting clients and construction jobs.ie recruitment agency clients that are already operating in the Gulf States.
For any contractor or materials supplier that wants to develop opportunities, visiting the market, accessing projects and building local credibility and contacts will be crucial to success as will building relationships and trust with local companies. Enterprise Ireland advises that above all, having a local presence on the ground will be essential to drive forward with potential projects in the future.
From an opportunities perspective the seminar presented a list of key services that could be filled by Irish companies. The list, as you see, is endless. But we have attempted to simplify it.
Key construction jobs opportunities in the Gulf States identified:
- Contracting
- Building supplies
- Consulting
- Project management
- Traded services
- Sustainability and Environment
- Energy conservation
- Water use and reuse - Desalination
- Health and Safety
For construction professionals considering a move to the Gulf region constructionjobs.ie advises one of the key criteria to being successful in applying for positions is to "Assess the scope of your own expertise and identify whether or not this expertise is available in the local market you are targeting." If not, great opportunities and premium salary packages may be on offer for the right job candidate.
