Business & Money | Wednesday 19 September, 2018 8:11 am |

On behalf of Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce and Investment, Eng. Majed bin Abdullah Al Bawardi, Vice Minister of Commerce and Investment, officially inaugurated the 1st International Contracting Conference and Exhibition (ICCE) on Sunday in Riyadh.

The two-day summit, hosted by the Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA), steers the course for the future of Saudi Arabia’s contracting sector, with sustainability aligned with global industry best-practice top of the agenda.

Held at the Riyadh International and Convention and Exhibition Centre, the ICCE is formed under the guidance of the Saudi Vision 2030, with the localization and qualification of contracting in Saudi’s construction sector, along with project management, quality and safety among the key sessions under discussion over the next two days.

Following the tour, Al Bawaradi considered that the steady increase of the size and number of the exhibitors reflects the importance of the contracting sector in running local and global economy in general.

The SCA is Saudi’s governmental authority responsible for regulating the Kingdom’s contractor industry and increasing mergers and acquisitions in Saudi Arabia’s construction industry.

On his speech, Eng. Osama Al Afaleq, Chairman of SCA, said: “ The SCA aims to be a pioneer in creating a well-rounded work environment within the contracting industry, to increase the capacity of already-owned resources and facilitate communication between industry stakeholders to support and strengthen the Saudi economy.”

The 1st ICCE is co-organized by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, and Saudi-based ACE Exhibitions. Key sponsors on-board for the inaugural showpiece include SCA Sponsors Al Bawani as Strategic Diamond Partner; Sliver Sponsors Nesma and Saudi Tumpane; and Pearl Sponsors AlKifah Ready-mix, Al-Rashid Trading & Contacting Company, Arail, MASCO, and Projacs International.

Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: “Ambitious economic diversification plans in-line with the Saudi Vision 2030 has injected added impetus in the Kingdom’s construction sector, which is currently estimated to value in the vicinity of US$1.4 trillion.

“New KSA construction contractor awards, comprising buildings, industrial, power & water, oil & gas, and infrastructure, is set to swell to US$44.1 billion in 2019. Comparing that to 2018’s value of US$26.3 billion in contractor awards, it’s clear that opportunities abound for contractors across the construction sector’s whole supply chain.”

“The challenge up to now has been creating an industry platform that not only fosters dialogue among key players across related sectors, but creates synergies that drive development as the market picks up pace.”

“Now in ICCE, Saudi has a new focal point dedicated to all aspects for the contracting industry; a platform that acts as the catalyst of the sector’s future development and long-term success,” Pauwels said.

Hadi Al-Harith, CEO of ACE Exhibitions, said: “The launch of ICCE is part of our objectives and continuous efforts to expand our platform for our visitors and exhibitors to open up more direct pathways to business, investment and networking opportunities in the contracting sector.”

He added that the event was originally meant to coincide with the Saudi's economic development and growth of contracting activities.