Bhatia Brothers to re-enter Iraq
Dubai-based Bhatia Brothers is looking to re-enter the Iraq market as business opportunities galore, a top company executive said.
“We are working on Iraq. Previously, we have done business with Iraq. There were a number of complexities that restricted business opportunities in Iraq in the past 10 years. Now, that businesses are being restructured in a different way and so we are cautiously entering the country once again. We will begin our foray through general trading and hopefully setup an office next year,” says Manish Bhatia, Director, Bhatia Brothers.
He believes that oil and gas projects, which are already in the pipeline across Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), will be executed, but will take a longer time for completion.
“This means the spending will basically get spread out… instead of finishing it within the set timeframe, it will now be completed in phases. Despite that I am certain there will be investment coming into the sector with all regional governments carrying on to invest for the long term.”
Bhatia Brothers, headquartered in Dubai, has offices and warehouses spread throughout the GCC and parts of the Middle East, India and UK. The company caters to various industries such as oil and gas, marine, construction and the infrastructure sector with focused divisions created to provide products and services to the targeted industry. Its engineering division currently employs over 1,000 people.
Asked if the global crisis affected the GCC‘s oil and gas industry, Bhatia says they have noticed a lot of activities taking place in Abu Dhabi as the emirate follows a planned execution policy, whether it be in the construction or the oil and gas sector. “Saudi Arabia will continue to invest billions of dollars over the coming years and pave the road to recovery. While I believe, Qatar will carry on pouring huge amounts of investments in the gas sector. We have been serving and operating in that market since the early 1980s and are quite optimistic of the future there.”
According to Bhatia, his company has already met the 2010 target despite the adverse economic climate prevailing across the globe. “However, in the past two years, we have done a lot of internal focusing due to the slowdown in the economy. It is a good opportunity for us to focus on our people and invest in them. We all are obviously going through quieter times… retaining and motivating people i