Construction industry starts to see signs of recovery

The construction industry in the UAE is seeing some signs of recovery, according to industry players.

"Dubai has reached a stable position. We expect to see some growth signs and new opportunities by the end of the year. We have been through the storm… we have been working through it and we will stabilise soon," David Savage, Managing Director at the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, told Emirates Business.

Ziad Makhzoumi, Chief Financial Officer at Arabtec Holdings, said the UAE market is seeing a situation where "there seems to be some appetite to reconsider some projects that were earlier put on hold". The sentiment was echoed by Saleh Muradweij, Executive Director at GTCC and board member of Drake and Scull, who said he is seeing the sector "being more active".

Atif Naweed, Managing Partner of Axis-Markizz, a design and construction group, said "things are slowly coming back on track" according to his discussions with his peers.

Diversifying into the regional markets is the name of the game within the industry.

Naweed rued that banks are asking for 100 per cent bank guarantee and charging 3.5 per cent extra. "But in terms of payments, it is improving since May and the market is getting back the trust," he said.

Makhzoumi said: "There is demand for our quotations from the market and we are hoping that more projects will come on line."

The industry players said payments have become better of late. "From February onwards, the payments became better and we are still experiencing the same rate of collection. It is not as good as last year, but it is much better than it was at the beginning of 2009," Makhzoumi said.

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