ITP MEDIA GROUP / BUSINESS FEBRUARY 2023 • ISSUE 796 C&P’s co-founders and managing partners Faisal Bouzo and Tarek Al Ajlani on delivering prestigious projects that produce iconic landmarks in Saudi Arabia SETTING BENCHMARKSCONTENTS FEBRUARY 2023 • ISSUE 796 6 22 14 6 STAT OF THE MONTH The Arab Monetary Fund releases a comprehensive report detailing how the construction sector recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic 14 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF Svein Johan Stub, general manager at Jotun Paints Abu Dhabi, reveals a typical day in his life 30 Q&A In an exclusive Q&A, newly appointed regional director - construction management, Richard Cushnan, reveals Compass Project Consulting’s short-term and long-term plans 34 SPECIAL REPORT Analysing, discussing, and evaluating the possibilities of accelerating Dubai’s real estate and construction industry to ful ll the city’s economic agenda FEBRUARY 2023 3 30 34 COVER STORY Faisal Bouzo and Tarek Al Ajlani, the co-founders and managing partners of Construction & Planning Co., talk about delivering a proven track record of prestigious projects that are shaping Saudi Arabia’s skyline4 FEBRUARY 2023 After successfully wrapping up the 2022 event line-up, Construction Week Middle East is gearing up for more exciting events in 2023. As we step into the new year, we are excited to host once again industry leading events: from Leaders in Construction conference series across the UAE, KSA, Qatar, and Egypt to infrastructure summits and annual awardss. 2023 EVENTS CALENDAR 01 24 TBC 13 20 07 07 TBC 04 16 27 23 MAR MA Y MAR SEPT NO V MAR OC T MAR SEPT NO V Leaders in Construction Qatar Construction World Summit Leaders in Construction Turkey Digital Twins UAE Summit Leaders in Construction UAE Construction Week KSA Awards KSA Infrastructure Jeddah Summit KSA Infrastructure Riyadh Summit Leaders in Construction Egypt Construction Week Technology Summit Leaders in Construction KSA Construction Week Awards CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE AWARDS CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE AWARDS For more information on conferences, contact Parul Rana, Conference Producer (parul.rana@itp.com). For all award- related inquiries, please contact Anthony Chandran, Marketing and Events Manager (anthony.chandran@itp.com). If you want to be one of our partners and take advantage of our sponsorship opportunities, please contact Anup Nagpurkar, Commercial Director (anup.nagpurkar@itp.com) or Moutaz Gadelhak, Senior Sales Manager (moutaz.gadelhak@itp.com). *All dates are subject to change at the editorial team’s discretion.*FEBRUARY 2023 5 | EDITOR’S LETTER | Insight to behold Ranju Warrier Editor in Chief As we gear up for an eventful March, I’m excited to present to our readers the February edition of Construction Week Middle East, full of information to warm you up for our upcoming events (check p4 for more details). In this, my nal issue as the Editor-in-Chief of Construction Week, we have insight packed from cover to cover. We start the magazine, as always, with our Stat of the Month, delving into a report by the Arab Monetary Fund on the construction sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Our City Focus (page 10) takes us to The Sustainable City - Yas Island, which sold out in less than 24 hours, thanks to Aldar’s digitalisation drive. This month’s Day in the Life features Svein Johan Stub, general manager of Jotun Paints Abu Dhabi, who takes us along with him on a typical day from start to nish. Meanwhile, on page 32 we explore the future growth plans of U+A in an exclusive interview about its strategy to become a leading design consultancy for the region. Our cover story this month features the co-founders and managing partners of Construction & Planning Co., Faisal Bouzo and Tarek Al Ajlani, in an exclusive conversation about the company’s work to shape the Saudi Arabian skyline. Continue perusing the coming pages to learn more about everything from Dubai’s economic agenda (page 34) to the role of AI in real estate (page 40), how construction is empowering Saudi Arabia’s sustainability agenda (page 28), and so much more. This is Ranju Warrier, Editor in Chief of Construction Week Middle East & Construction Week Saudi, signing off. PO Box 500024, Dubai, United Arab Emirates TEL +971 4 444 3000 WEB: WWW.ITP.COM Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Riyadh & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Managing Director Alex Reeve Deputy Managing Director Nicky Dawson EDITORIAL Group Editor Carla Sertin carla.sertin@itp.com Editor in Chief Ranju Warrier ranju.warrier@itp.com Reporter Julianne Tolentino julianne.tolentino@itp.com Commercial Reporter Angitha Pradeep angitha.pradeep@itp.com ART Art Director Amjad Ayche amjad.ayche@itp.com Designer Tofiq Memon tofiq.memon@itp.com ADVERTISING Commercial Director Anup Nagpurkar +971 4 444 3573; anup.nagpurkar@itp.com Senior Sales Manager Moutaz Gadelhak +971 4 444 3177; moutaz.gadelhak@itp.com Commercial Manager Robert Cole +971 4 444 3417; robert.cole@itp.com PHOTOGRAPHY Videographers: Muhammad Kaleem Photographer: Marwan Elsayed Video Editor: Liju Cheruvathur ITP LIVE General Manager Ahmad Bashour +971 4 444 3549; ahmad.bashour@itp.com PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Production Manager Denny Kollannoor Production Coordinator Mahendra Pawar Senior Image Editor Emmalyn Robles CIRCULATION Distribution Coordinator Avinash Pereira Circulation Executive Rajesh Pillai MARKETING Director of Awards & Marketing Daniel Fewtrell Website www.constructionweekonline.com Subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions NOTICE: The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. 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ARAB CONSTRUCTION SECTOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE GDP IN 2020 $45.5BN % INCREASE IN TRANSACTIONS $178.3 BN $36.8BN UAE CONTRIBUTION OF EACH COUNTRY TO THE RESPECTIVE GDP IN 2021 SAUDI ARABIA UAE EGYPT $27.3BN QATAR $24.1BN $6.4BN OMAN Increase in the sector’s contribution from 2020 4.7% 6 FEBRUARY 2023 | STAT OF THE MONTH | ARAB CONSTRUCTION SECTOR CONTRIBUTED $186.8BN TO THE 2021 GDP The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) reported that the Arab construction sector has recovered from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, with its contribution to GDP in 2021 amounting to around $186.8 billion. The sector’s contribution increased by 4.7% up from $178.3 billion in 2020. The Saudi and UAE construction sectors contributed the most to their countries’ GDPs, with around $45.5 billion and $36.8 billion, respectively, AMF added in a recent report. According to the findings stated in the report, Egypt ranked third with around $27.3 billion, followed by Qatar with $24.1 billion, Algeria with $19.8 billion, Morocco with $7.7 billion, and Oman with $6.4 billion. The AMF report further indicated that construction output ranged from $1 to $6 billion in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Libya, and Jordan, while it contributed less than one billion dollars to the GDPs of other Arab countries. Moreover, the AMF report also highlighted the Fund’s efforts to support its member countries in 2021 by implementing simplified and rapid lending procedures to support economic, financial, and banking reform programs. The Fund’s activities were aimed at increasing levels of financial inclusion, supporting the efforts of regulatory authorities in Arab countries, and maximising the opportunities offered by financial technologies. Additionally, the report also noted that the 2021 figures are likely to be overshadowed by the sector’s more recent growth and relative boom throughout 2022, particularly in terms of the impact of the Saudi ‘gigaprojects’. The Arab Monetary Fund released a comprehensive report detailing how the construction sector recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic The construction output ranged from $1 to $6 billion.For Sponsorship EnquiriesFor Event Enquiries Anup Nagpurkar Commercial Director T: +971 4 444 3573 M: +971 52 895 0931 E: anup.nagpurkar@itp.com Parul Rana Conference Producer T: +971 4 444 3226 E: parul.rana@itp.com Analysing the landscape after the World Cup REGISTER INTEREST TO ATTEND CONSTRUCTIONWEEKLIVE.COM The Construction Week Leaders in Construction Qatar Summit, as the premier event for the construction industry, will discuss Qatar’s plans for the future use of its world cup facilities, the transformation and activation of infrastructure projects, the growing emphasis on sustainability, and the use of digital technologies in the planning, construction, and operation of smart city concepts. 01 Wednesday 1st March 2023 Radisson Blu Doha, Qatar Gold SponsorSilver SponsorSilver SponsorSilver SponsorBronze Sponsor“I BELIEVE ‘CONSOLIDATE AND CONSERVE’ WILL BE THE TWO BIGGEST THEMES THAT WILL DEFINE 2023.” PRABHU RAMACHANDRAN, CEO AT FACILIO 8 FEBRUARY 2023 | QUOTE OF THE MONTH | “PROPTECH WILL BE A STRATEGIC ANCHOR FOR ENTERPRISES IN 2023” Commercial real estate (CRE) is facing its watershed moment. Shrouded with uncertainty and revenue stagnation, increasing costs and ESG compliance are primary concerns. With a recession looming in the country, the pressure is increasing to stay relevant and profitable. In an exclusive interview with Construction Week Middle East, Prabhu Ramachandran, CEO at Facilio explains how proptech will become a strategic anchor for enterprises to thrive in today’s tough economies. He said: “I believe ‘consolidate and conserve’ will be the two biggest themes that will define 2023. “We can already see consolidation happening within the property ops space, and this will continue next year as well.” Ramachandran expressed his particular excitement about the feedback Facilio is getting during its interactions with leadership teams across commercial real estate firms. He continued: “The C-suite leaders have started viewing property operations technology as a strategic investment and want better visibility into how their portfolios are performing. “They want access to the data, see the critical parametres around portfolio performance so that they can make data-informed decisions that will directly impact the bottom line.” Additionally, the proptech market has evolved over the last few years. Current trends and evolving consumer behaviours indicate that there are huge opportunities for proptech firms that offer real value via operational efficiencies, cost optimisation, superior tenant/occupant experiences, and sustainability (energy management). Traditionally, commercial real estate owners have outsourced entire facility management operations and tech to multiple external vendors, with little control and visibility into how their portfolios are performing. All in all, Facilio’s plans remain clear. The company has recently opened a new HQ in the Middle East that will help them strengthen its enterprise sales teams across the globe. Facilio’s CEO, Prabhu Ramachandran, discusses the top trends that will drive property operations in 2023, including how proptech will anchor businesses in tough economies The proptech market has been evolving over the years.Next >