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If you are looking to set up shop in Saudi Arabia, are already present there or are simply looking to add to your contacts book, Construction Week suggests 10 industry bosses you may want to meet up with, for a coffee or two.
1- Abdulgader Amir
Role: Vice President – strategic planning
Company: Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company
Place: Jeddah
Amir is currently the vice president for the Jeddah Development Company. He assumed office in April 2007 as the vice mayor for Urban Planning for the Municipality of Jeddah, before which, he worked as its chief planner.
Amir also taught at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, KSA, for over 10 years where he headed two major departments – the city planning department and the Architecture department. Last week, he revealed a 20 year strategic plan for Jeddah.
“We have been given a unique opportunity to invest on behalf of the government in rebuilding the city of Jeddah and increasing the standard of living for its residents. In doing so there will be many opportunities for developers, both Saudi and international, to undertake projects as part of the strategic plan.”
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2- Abdulrahman Al Shaikh
Role: Deputy Minister for town planning
Company: Ministry for Municipalities and Rural Affairs
Place: Riyadh
Al Shaikh graduated as a civil engineer from King Saud University in Riyadh before undertaking his masters in engineering at Stanford University in California, US, and his PhD from the Imperial College of Science in London. Moving back to Saudi Arabia, Al Shaikh became a lecturer at King Saud University where he taught for 11 years and became the chairman of the civil engineering department.
Following this he joined the Ministry for Municipalities and Rural Affairs as the deputy mayor of Riyadh, a post which he occupied for six years. He then moved into his current role as deputy minister for town planning, a position he has occupied for the last four years.
“The atmosphere is very good for developers to come and look for such kind of opportunities here. There is ground for these projects in Saudi Arabia and the buying power is strong in the Kingdom. Statistically many of the buyers in Dubai are Saudi; if developers were to give them something in their own country then they will respond.”
3- Alaa Abdullah Saeed
Role: CEO
Company: Emaar Middle East
Place: Jeddah
Emaar Middle East is a joint venture between Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Saudi Arabia-based real estate company Al Oula Development.
The company currently has two main projects under construction, the US $1.6 billion (SAR6 billion) Jeddah Gate project and the $1.2 billion Al Khobar Lakes project.
“For our line of business Saudi Arabia is better shielded from the economic downturn. The population growth is also much stronger than in other areas of the world. If you look at the potential growth of demand in Saudi Arabia, it’s very attractive. Also, five years ago the market was really fragmented with the main players trading in land, now they are coming in and providing full turnkey solutions, which takes the market to a whole different level and the consumers are eating this up.
At the same time the progressive improvement of the government in freeing up and assisting in the things that we need have given us a boost in penetrating this market in such a short period of time. The private sector is always pushing for more but so far the government has accommodated a lot of the issues that we want. It’s not easy, but it’s positive.”
4- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud
Role: Chairman
Company: Kingdom Holding Company (KHC)
Place: Riyadh
Prince Alwaleed formed the Kingdom Holding Company in 1980, and today the company is one of the world’s largest and most diversified private investment companies, with holdings in a large number of Middle Eastern and international companies.
KHC’s domestic and international portfolio includes investments in a range of sectors, from iconic real estate landmarks and world-famous luxury hotels, to banking, media and information technology, retail business and healthcare, entertainment and tourism.
The Prince’s real estate is valued at around US $3.2 billion.
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i want to do training in any construction company in riyad.