The Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi organised a workshop at Emirates Palace Hotel to discuss the classification systems of contractors and consultants and the registration of engineers in Abu Dhabi. More than 200 engineering offices, contractors and consultants participated.
Muhammad Omar Abdullah, Department Undersecretary, said the DED aims to apply best practices and experiences through the creation of a genuine partnership with stakeholders to achieve its strategy by applying international performance standards.
He pointed out that the classification systems of contractors and consultants and the registration of engineers and other systems, on which the emirate's economic and commercial activity is based, has to be up for discussion and research to have an integrated system that serves the economy of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. He referred to the importance of these systems as being linked to the real estate and construction sector which is one of the most important sectors for the emirate's economy.
He called on the participants to determine their key priorities, tendencies and requirements in accordance with the classification systems of contractors and consultants and the registration of engineers.
He expressed DED's keen interest to develop and activate all prevailing regulations and laws and to involve stakeholders, whether they are government or private sector, to achieve Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 of being among the top five governments in the world.
"More than 1,622 classified contracting companies and about 682 non-classified contracting offices were registered in Abu Dhabi until May. They have contributed significantly over the past year in enhancing the contribution of the construction and real estate sector to Abu Dhabi GDP," he added.
Khalid Al Hosani, Acting Director of Classification, made a presentation on the transition from the old classification system to the new ones, which were undertaken upon receiving proposals from surveys. He explained the different phases to move to the new systems by studying the current status and sending delegations to a number of countries such as Singapore, the UK, Qatar, Jordan and recently Canada to learn from their experiences and experiments, taking into consideration a summary of the proposed systems in the previous workshop in March last year.
Al Hosani said the DED has paid special attention to the proposals made by DED classified contractors, consultants and engineers.
"After conducting extensive studies and reviewing international experiences and submitted suggestions, the regulations included in the systems were reorganised in line with the requirements of all relevant stakeholders and with the goals set by DED's strategy to make sustainable development in the emirate.
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