Face to Face: Ezzat Ragab, QPM

Ragab says the region lags in applying project management

The flagship Sudan Mushaireb project forms part of the $24.7bn global portfolio of Qatar Project Management (QPM).

It is evidence of the project management company’s keen intent to expand beyond Qatar and embrace opportunities in the wider MENA region. However, it states that there is sufficient scope of work in Qatar to keep it busy for the immediate future.

What has been QPM’s involvement in the Middle East to date?

Qatar Project Management (QPM) was established in 2008, when the market was at its peak. It started strong; we also had to adjust our compass during the downturn. The idea of establishing QPM was due to the huge developments taking place, changing the face of Qatar, which represented a solid business opportunity and the need to establish a Qatari project management company, in particular, to oversee projects within Qatar and regionally. Our mission is to provide world-class project management services in a variety of sectors, including commercial real estate, residential, leisure, rail and infrastructure projects. Highlighting this methodology is our vision to situate QPM among the world’s top five project management companies by 2020. At the moment we are managing a portfolio of over $24.7bn worldwide. QPM is active with 11 mega-projects locally and throughout MENA. Some of our projects sites are located in Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Qatar.

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Our initial focus was residential and mixed-use development, and now we are expanding to encompass infrastructure, for example. Our short-term strategy is to cover burgeoning regional sectors such as rail. Given the fact that the region itself is witnessing a shift in terms of the construction industry specifically and the economy generally, we are also focusing on the region. Our vision previously was to have a global reach, but we discovered that the region has enough work to keep us busy for the next ten to 15 years. Saudi Arabia has major contracts for infrastructure; Qatar will be extremely busy – the country is investing in infrastructure in particular – so we wanted to be aligned with the market trend.

And your own involvement with QPM?

I am now the Chief Operations Officer at QPM, bringing over 21 years’ experience in the construction and development industries. Working in the client side has helped me understand how to meet or exceed client expectations. Working on mega-projects and township planning exceeding 14 million square metres, from a project delivery perspective, has refined my capabilities in strategy development. I am very much hands on, from setting high-level strategy through to project delivery.

What are QPM’s main services?

QPM provides its clients with many services throughout the project lifecycle, including project management, design management and construction management. These services can be provided independently or concurrently at optimal points during a project’s development, and will always adhere to the highest international standards and best practices. QPM is active domestically and throughout the MENA region, which is considered its primary market for the time being, but it is always looking to provide project management for local and international developments.

You have diverse global experience. How do these markets differ from the Middle East?

These are very developed markets in general; they started ahead of us. The business practice is more mature, I would say. When you come here, the potential is massive, only you need to align yourself to best practice. I am Western-educated but have a foot in two cultures. This helps me a lot in leading diverse teams and working in diverse environments.

I have been working in the region for the past 11 years. I have seen it change. I was here at the beginning of the boom, particularly in Dubai, and have covered the whole region, which I know very well. I know the culture and how to conduct business in terms of QPM’s service offering.