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In terms of the overall industry analysis, there is a strong acknowledgement that the Middle East has an accelerating water-scarcity issue, driven by population growth and urbanisation. Both are mutually exclusive in terms of their impact on driving the requirements for water and wastewater; however, collectively these elements are providing opportunities for water and wastewater companies to redefine their offerings.

Septech has been identifying a number of market-entry strategies for all the Middle East, which has been more specifically attributed towards the decentralisation of water and wastewater assets versus the conventional centralised infrastructure. In countries like Saudi Arabia, the government has been faced with a number of challenges in terms of its water and wastewater infrastructure, along with more emerging economies in South Asia and North Africa, which are attempting to provide a large quantity of potable water to their populations.

What are your biggest opportunities and challenges at present?

Septech is confident that the products being introduced today are significantly more attractive than those which are available currently, for two specific reasons. Firstly, the shift towards packaged and mobile technologies has proved to be more suitable for both governments and contractors who have more temporary requirements whilst they are considering upgrading their brownfield sites or completing tenders for greenfield sites.

Septech’s offering in this vertical segment allows for either the capital investment into redeployable water and wastewater assets or a potential rental programme over a short period of time. Given the current state of the economy, the option to rent infrastructure assets is commercially more attractive.

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In most of the industry sectors that Septech has operated in, there have been significant signs of development projects coming offline or being slowed down for an indefinite period. In terms of government spending on critical infrastructure, which includes water and wastewater, there have been evident signs of larger investments being made.

The existing client base of Septech has remained intact in terms of clients that the group has been working for over the past five years. New market entrants have not been as exposed to the group.

Do you expect an upturn in business compared to last year? What is your view going forward?

Septech has made strong efforts to establish offices in neighboring GCC countries which are facing a number of water and wastewater scarcity issues. The UAE has been a strong base for the group over the past 14 years and will remain the headquarters for the foreseeable future. In light of the current economic climate, Septech believes that there are still a number of visible opportunities in the industry; however, a number of developments which may have formed a large pipeline of work no longer represent a viable commercial opportunity.

How does marine MEP fit into your broader portfolio?

The marine industry has flourished enormously over the past decade, and has provided a number of opportunities that Septech’s marine business has been able to turn into successful contract awards.

The business has now increased in terms of world-renowned product offerings, such as the Bellingham pontoon system, installation, MEP and commissioning, to also include the option of operating and maintaining marinas using in-house capabilities, based on the industry-recognised marina management systems developed by PacSoft.

You are also heavily involved in desalination?

The GCC represents about 29% of the global desalination market. With this large market share growing continually, the industry has a huge reliance on providing the latest developments/trends to ensure they can sell their products and services.

Septech and its team have strong alliances/relationships with leading global players, which allows us to access these products, both technical and commercial, before they are released to our clients, which has placed us at the forefront of innovation and fuelled our continual growth.