MoPW: Construction Summit

The Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) organised The Leaders in Construction Summit 2011 which shined a spotlight on the construction sector's most inspiring leaders as they shared their strategies for growth.The industry professionals met at Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa, to share strategies, insights and plan the year ahead.The industry networking event was organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the ITP Projects under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works.The Summit underlines the Ministry's commitment to build and boost partnerships with the private sector to serve its strategic policies in sharing knowledge and information with the aim of sharpening its knowledge competitive edge.Sheikh Hamdan's patronage of the industry gathering demonstrates the support the leadership lends to efforts for opening up new partnerships and horizons with the construction industry leaders including consultants and contractors so as to discuss in details the current state of the sector and impact of external factors on the construction market growth rates as well as challenges facing companies from human resources laws and technologies to infrastructure legislations.Eng. Ibrahim Abdullah Al Wahhabi, Assistant Undersecretary for Works Affairs, Ministry of Public Works, gave an insightful presentation before an array of C-suite executives, managing directors and property developers of local and international contracting and consultancy companies on the Ministry's strategic vision and the most vital completed projects and under-planning infrastructure projects in road, dams, fisherman's wharf, and housing sectors.In his keynote address and presentation, Al Wahhabi reviewed the Ministry's projects and achievements, basis of project contracts, classification and evaluation of contractors, sources of funding. He also spoke about major challenges the local architectural industry is facing.Teams from the Department of Knowledge Management, and directors of technical departments at the Ministry held panel discussions with CEOs of the top local developers the likes of Sorouh Real Estate, Aldar Properties, and Al Jaber Group, along with a group of regional and international contracting, engineering and consulting companies.Discussions revolved around topics related to expansion on mature or emerging markets, winning public infrastructure contracts, and the road ahead - what's in store for 2012.