Industry Talk: Talent and green technology top industry’s 2021 wish-list
Riad Bsaibes, president and CEO of Amana Investments
“Amongst the major trends and themes for the industry in 2021 will be cash preservation and liquidity issues across the client and supply base. There are question marks about the appetite for banks to fund construction projects, while given the state of the overall market, there are also justifiable concerns about counter-party liquidity and creditworthiness.
This will be the major challenge facing the industry in the coming year – many general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers are facing liquidity issues, as well as overdue payments from clients.
In the UAE, the industry will also have to deal with the repercussions stemming from the exit of large players in the market over the last two years, and the impact this will have on current projects, supply chains and banks. As a result, companies may need to limit their revenue accordingly so as to minimise any future issues in collection.
We believe that off-site construction – AKA industrialised construction – will also receive a boost this year as companies will look become agile and flexible, while reducing costs and wastage. In the post-COVID work environment, especially on site, the questions companies will ask will be how to maintain safety measures – modular construction offers that security.
That is why we are launching DUPOD – our latest modular offering in the region and putting together a platform to create a seamless off-site construction offering for the region, which today include DUBOX and DUPOD.
As industrialised construction grows as a sector, there is also a growing need for talent coming in with a manufacturing skillset. We see the potential to hire local KSA talent with a manufacturing background, which is something we have a head start on.
Digitisation is another major theme for the industry in 2021, and that’s why we at Amana are going through an ERP system which will digitally enable our teams and allow remote working. We’re also in the early stages of engaging and incubating construction technology start-ups, while we’re keen to expand into research and academia to further strengthen these platforms.
Our focus for the year ahead, particularly in the Design and Build sector, includes data centres, e-commerce fulfilment centres, agritech, and cold storage facilities – food security and digitisation of our lifestyles, essentially. These are great opportunities in the post-COVID-19 world.
Finally, we hope that the prior discord between the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar will soon be water under the bridge, as this would allow UAE contractors and suppliers to better serve the market in Qatar.
