The annual list of the Middle East’s Top 60 most prominent contractors, real estate developers, consultants, facilities management companies features more than 11 new entries from across the region, putting in the spotlight the current improving outlook of the sector. These new entries have altered the entire corporate dynamics of the Power Hour 2019.
We reveal who got placed from Ranking 6 to 10 below:
6. Eng Fakher Al Shawaf, General Manager, Al Bawani Company
The name behind the success story is the director general of the Al Bawani Group and the general manager of Al Bawani Company, Eng Fakher Al Shawaf. Under his administration, Al Bawani has grown from strength to strength, focusing on the challenging projects to drive the company to new levels of achievement.
Al Bawani Co. is categorized “Class 1” Construction Company by Saudi classification agency and ISO 9001 : 2008 certified for Quality Management System for design, Engineering Works and Construction Management of Housing Complex, Industrial and Commercial Buildings, Hospitals, Educational Institutions, Governmental, Diplomat Missions, Air Base and Defense Facilities.
Al Bawani Co., with our head office located in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a 100% Saudi owned and managed company, meeting with international standards and applying modern technologies in the field of construction. Our company consists of dynamic and well-trained executives and staff with vast experiences in the field of construction qualified and ready to tackle the challenging field of construction industry.
The construction firm is capable of executing a turnkey project to the satisfaction of their clients. For now they are primarily concentrating with the Saudi Arabian market and in addition to this; but are selectively active within the Middle East in our strong fields and fields in which they can operate profitably.
Eng Fakher Al Shawaf told Construction Business News: “We strive to further the aims of the Kingdom for Vision 2030 in KSA, and to achieve this, we are open to partnering with market specialists in order to give the client the service that the project requires, whether through mergers, acquisitions, teaming agreements, or joint ventures.”
7. Gary Adams, President of Parsons Middle East Africa
Gary Adams is President of Parsons Middle East Africa (MEA), a regional unit of Virginia-based Parsons Corporation, a digitally enabled solutions provider in the defense, security, and infrastructure markets with annual revenues exceeding $3 billion. The MEA unit employs more than 4,500 people and provides services in land development, buildings, roads & bridges, airports, rail & transit systems, smart cities, and oil & gas infrastructure. Gary also provides regional leadership for Parsons’ security and defense offerings.
Prior to his role as President of MEA, Gary held positions with increasing levels of responsibility, most recently as Executive Vice President and Global Operations Director of Parsons Transportation Group (now known as Parsons Infrastructure). He has extensive experience in complex transportation projects, and his multidisciplinary background combines civil engineering, traffic engineering, highway design, and transportation planning. He is an accomplished project manager with experience directing numerous large and complex projects including several employing design-build delivery. He has continued to participate on selected mega- design-build and PPP heavy civil projects at the joint venture board level.
During his five-year tenure as head of Parsons’ Middle East, Gary’s leadership has been vital to shaping Parsons’ MEA market strategy, adopting new smart solutions technologies to address the region’s ever-evolving challenges. As a result of his leadership, Parsons is firmly positioned as a market leader in critical infrastructure, technical design and engineering services, and mobility solutions.
Parsons are set to be involved in some of the biggest projects in the UAE and GCC. These projects include Riyadh Metro, Expo 2020 Dubai (Infrastructure and EXPO Metro Extension), Abu Dhabi International Airport Expansion, and Dubai ITS2020 Project and Traffic Control Center.
In addition to that, in the past 12 months Parsons made two acquisitions has been a game changer for the company. The first was the acquisition of Polaris Alpha, an advanced, technology-focused provider of innovative mission solutions for complex defense, intelligence, and security customers, as well as other U.S. federal government customers. Parsons acquired Polaris Alpha from private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners, and was the latest in the company’s series of strategic investments focused on companies with technologies aligned to evolving threats in the land, sea, air, space, and cyber domains.
The second acquisition was OGSystems, an innovative solutions provider with advanced technologies in geospatial intelligence, big data analytics, and threat mitigation. OGSystems’ core defense and intelligence customers include the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Parson’s CEO Chuck Harrington expressed the importance of making these acquisitions: “Parsons’ strategy is focused on disruptive, differentiated technologies demanded in high-growth, mission-oriented programs in the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure sectors.”
“The actionable intelligence that geospatial imagery and data analytics brings to Parsons’ portfolio through OGSystems is a game changer. Whether informing our national security customers’ mission planning or designing tomorrow’s resilient smart city, Parsons now brings deeper intelligence expertise to the challenge.”
8. Hamed Zaghw, CEO of AECOM Middle East & Africa
Hamed Zaghw joined AECOM in November 2014 as the Chief Operating Officer and in January 2017, Hamed became Chief Executive Officer, AECOM Middle East and Africa. As the CEO, Middle East and Africa where his responsibility is to grow the business with an emphasis on quality and responsiveness to client needs.
Quality is what Hamed thrives on. He told Construction Business News: “Throughout my time at AECOM I have maintained a constant focus on quality. I have worked closely with our Quality and Delivery Excellence teams to improve our procedures and create tools that enable our people to deliver with excellence every time.”
In the past 12 months, AECOM has completed projects such as Warner Bros. World, Reem Central Park, Qasr Al Hosn, Al Maryah Central, and CMC Hospital, and projects in Bahrain such as Muharraq Central Market, Regency Intercontinental Refurbishment, and in Oman with Al Ansab Sewage Treatment Plant Phase 2 project.
AECOM MEA business has consistently delivered strong financial results under Hamed’s leadership.
“We reorganized the business within the region to be driven by end markets. This new structure is better aligned with our global organization and allows us to deploy the best resources wherever they may be needed in the region.”
Hamed further added: “A strong focus of mine is nurturing client relationships and becoming their partner in project delivery. I personally get involved in the delivery and follow-up of major programs and take accountability for their success. We have promoted a client-centric culture through our key Client Account Management (CAM) program and continuously seek client feedback through our Net Promoter Score (NPS) program.
We have also positioned AECOM as a leader in innovative digital solutions through our pioneering use of technologies such as 3D Printing, drones and Building Information Modelling (BIM).”
The company reported global revenue of $20.2 billion for FY18 (1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018).
Hamed concluded by telling us about their expansion plans: “We are rapidly growing our Saudi Arabia business to meet the resourcing requirements of recent strategic wins and upcoming opportunities. Such wins include key roles on the three giga cities being developed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as well as large Program Management Organizations (PMOs) for entities such as Saudi Customs and the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs (MOMRA). We are well positioned for other PMO assignments with various ministries. Our headcount in Saudi Arabia is currently 820 and we plan to grow this by another 1,000 people over the next 12 months.”
9. Abdulrahman Khansaheb, Managing Director, Khansaheb
The Construction Division is the largest of the Khansaheb Group’s operating units and has been established since 1935, making it the oldest construction company in the UAE. Today, Khansaheb has the expertise and resources to operate and deliver across all sectors, providing clients with a complete end-to-end self-delivery solution. Working together, with other in-house divisions, we can offer a breadth of services which maximise a client’s investment returns.
Over recent years we have successfully delivered a number of prestigious projects such as Mall of the Emirates for MAF Properties, Meraas – Head office, ‘The Beach’ development for Meraas Developments and the Ritz Carlton Hotel, both located at JBRWafi Raffles Hotel, and much more.
These, amongst many other projects completed, have established Khansaheb as both a major player and a professional main contractor with a reputation for meeting the highest quality standards and programme requirements.
A diversified portfolio of projects, a fully collaborative approach, strong relationships with key clients and consultants, and the commitment of our staff and workforce enables Khansaheb to continue to provide the UAE marketplace with a fully integrated construction and fit out service, providing clients with cost-saving proposals to meet budgetary requirements, whilst still achieving programme and quality parameters.
10. Dr Najib Khatib, Chairman and CEO of Khatib & Alami
As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Khatib & Alami, Dr Khatib is responsible for guiding the company forward, driving long-term growth and ensuring it is equipped with the skills and capabilities needed to support clients with their most challenging projects.
Having led K&A since 2011, he has been integral to the company’s ongoing growth and emergence as a global player, with headcount currently of 6,076 and more than 30 international offices. Dr Khatib led the change in jurisdiction of K&A’s Holding Company from Lebanon to Singapore, which means K&A is subject to the city-state’s rigorous legal and governance frameworks, while gaining access to international capital markets.
Major projects completed over the last 12 months were Haramain High-Speed Rail (Phase I) in Saudi Arabia, Saadiyat Rotana Hotel & Resort Complex, UAE and New Port and Dry Dock Complex at Duqm, Oman, and Al-Mahsama Water Reclamation/ Treatment Plant, Egypt.
Dr Khatib has also overseen K&A’s investment in deep technical expertise and technology – capitalizing in particular on the company’s world-class capabilities in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial systems integration as it supports clients with the design and development of smart cities. In March 2019, K&A developed smart navigation tools which were deployed to support the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
“Yes, we have a very clear strategy for market and geographic growth, which is taking us from being a multi-national player to a truly global organization.
We are already seeing growth outside our core region through projects such as Valetta Harbour in Malta (our first project in the European Union), the Salang Pass in Afghanistan and a major masterplanning project in Malaysia. We envisage strong opportunities for growth in Asia, which is part of the reason for our decision to place our holding company in Singapore,” Dr. Khatib said about the company’s expansion plans.