The Construction Week Social Infrastructure KSA conference saw 178 senior construction professionals and government representatives gather at the Radisson Blu in Riyadh. The main themes discussed were the large scale roll out of affordable housing, healthcare facilities and educational facilities across the Kingdom. The opening address was delivered by Dr. Eng. Yahya Koshak, Director General of the Architecture and Engineering Office of Jeddah, Makkah and Yanbu.
The morning sessions focused on affordable housing where the discussion centred on the housing needs of Saudi Arabia and the challenge this posed in terms of uniting the public and private sectors. Delivering the opening presentation entitled ‘Delivering the Housing Needs of An Expanding Population’, was Ernst & Young executive director Stephen Watson. He stressed the importance of ensuring local culture is taken into account and went on to advocate PPP schemes as a way forward.
Deepak Jain, head of affordable housing at Jones Lang LaSalle, followed the presentation with an overview of statistics where he offered a definition of affordable housing as “providing those needs that are not being met by the open market.” He went on to say that affordable housing needed various incentives on the part of government in order to increase its attractiveness to both investors and contractors.
As the morning continued, the conference shifted to healthcare with a presentation by Dr Shaibani, the CEO of King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Dammam. This was followed by a panel discussion on healthcare facilities moderated by Jarvis Hoult, the project executive director at King Khalid Medical City. Bringing together both government representatives in charge of hospital construction and major contractors currently involved in healthcare projects, a main point of discussion was how to achieve a closer collaboration for more precise project specifications to achieve savings in time and money.
The afternoon was dedicated to educational facilities where many of the leading contractors and designers were brought together with University deans and Government representatives to discuss the challenges involved in building modern primary schools and universities. Keynote presentations were delivered by the COO of El Seif and EC Harris’s head of public sector projects in the Middle East.
The impressive line-up of 17 speakers and panellists came from all over the Kingdom to share their knowledge and experience. The participants left on a very good note with reason for optimism that the many social infrastructure projects planned, and underway, will be delivered successfully in the decade to come.
DELEGATES
The 2011 Construction Week Social Infrastructure KSA Conference attracted more than 175 qualified
delegates, representing contractors, developers, consultants and senior representatives from
government funded projects related to Social Infrastructure. A breakdown of the delegates can be
found below:
178 conference participants comprising of
Former General Director of Water and sanitary for Western Region and Board Member of Saudi Council Of Engineer and president of Engineering Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Mekkah
Director General of Architecture and Engineering Office (Jeddah, Makkah and Yanbu)
KEY SPEAKERS
The speaker line-up for the inaugural Construction Week Social Infrastructure KSA conference comprised of an impressive mix of 17 representatives from government departments, developers, contractors, and real estate analysts. A list of the speakers who attended the conference can be found below:
Speakers and panellists included:
Excellent networking opportunities: Win new clients and develop business partnerships Engage in the debate: Panel discussions, split streams and audience discussions.
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