DUBLIN: Arabtec Construction does not see Dubai’s construction market returning to the heyday of the emirate’s property boom, giving impetus to its expansion abroad, its chief executive said on Friday.
The Dubai-based contractor, the United Arab Emirates’ largest by market value, has won contracts in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi so far this year as it ventured further afield to weather a property downturn in its home market.
“They talk about (the Dubai market) turning around, maybe by the middle of next year, but I don’t think it will ever achieve the scale and the heights that it was at before,” Arabtec Construction CEO Thomas Barry told Reuters on the sidelines of the Global Irish Economic Forum.
“We will always bid for projects in Dubai, whatever happens and however limited that may be, but our focus has shifted obviously to Abu Dhabi which has more oil money to use for development,” Barry said.
While Dubai still represents over half of Arabtec’s revenues, Barry expects this will change within years, with Saudi Arabia in particular becoming more significant given its vast oil wealth and significant development needs.
“Saudi Arabia could build out to what Dubai has been yielding for us, to be an at least billion dollar market for us annually if we develop our company there properly,” Barry said.
Arabtec was currently also tendering for projects in Algeria and Egypt, and is also planning expansions into Morocco, Libya, and Syria, he added.
The recent consolidation and restructuring among Dubai developers, which has seen government conglomerate Dubai World shift assets from property unit Nakheel, and Emaar soon merging with Sama Dubai, Dubai Properties and Tatweer, should also benefit construction companies, he said. “All of them have their individual projects, some of which have been shelved. Maybe these will be resurrected under one umbrella now, which will be beneficial to contractors generally,” Barry said.
