FM Expo likely to highlight projected sector boom

Exhibitors are hoping to increase their clientele during this year's FM Expo.
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As momentum gathers for the fifth annual FM Expo later this month in Dubai, guest speakers and exhibitors discuss what their expectations are for the big event.

Opportunity isn’t a word many people would associate with the economic downturn. However, it seems that professionals in the facilities management industry have a promising future ahead of them, as the FM Expo 2010 is about to highlight.

The event, to be held from May 18-20, will give exhibitors a chance to showcase their services to delegates, but also to discuss ideas and the current trends in the market place with other businesses.

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One view that appears to be shared by expected attendees is that the roles of FM suppliers and providers are becoming increasingly important.

The financial crisis has certainly stopped many construction heavyweights in their tracks and, while the development of new projects has been slow over the last year or two, these industry players have had time to redress the way their existing buildings are maintained by outsourcing facilities management services to specialised companies.

In fact, the market earned revenues of over US $3.5 billion in 2008 and the overall facilities management sector in the GCC is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18% by 2013, according to a white paper prepared by Frost and Sullivan exclusively for this year’s FM Expo.

The report states that the "demand for facilities management services is growing strongly and moving in the right direction with the need for professional maintenance evidently increasing. Builders and facility owners in the region are becoming aware of the commercial and environmental advantages of involving a facilities management firm to address their maintenance needs".

“It’s an amazing market really,” adds David Wilson, product development director for DMG World Media, the organiser of the FM Expo.

“If you look at it from a GCC perspective, it gets an enormous amount of turnover and the industry is predicting that FM will overtake construction in terms of billions of dirham that will be spent.”

Wilson also predicts that facilities management companies will become more involved in a project, which is in the early stages of development.

“FM needs to be integrated right at the beginning of the development – even at the architectural stage – rather than coming in as a secondary service,” he says.

Another exciting addition to the exhibition and supporting conference will be the official launch of the Middle East Facilities Management Association (MEFMA) and its new agreement with RERA, which will ratify the industry body as an association recognised by the government.