Hill International in Egypt deal

International construction consulting firm, Hill International, yesterday announced its new joint venture in Egypt to provide project management services in the petroleum sector.

The new company, Hill International Petrol (Egypt) Ltd, is a 50-50 partnership between Hill International and two subsidiaries of the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum – the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co (Egas) and the Egyptian Natural Gas Co (Gasco). Hill had entered into an agreement with the two entities in December to form the joint venture to provide project management services primarily in oil and gas projects throughout the Middle East and Africa.

Of Hill's two Egyptian partners, Egas was established to create a gas reserves base, establish natural gas infrastructure, and expand local energy markets utilising natural gas.

Gasco is the operator of the natural gas transmission grid in Egypt, a 4,700km network of gas pipelines that connects producers and consumers of natural gas throughout Egypt.

Speaking to Emirates Business from Egypt yesterday, Walid Abdel Fattah, vice-president of Strategic Alliances at Hill International, said: "We have many new assignments in the region, particularly in the North African region."

This includes two projects in Libya, a mixed-use development and a shopping mall in Egypt. Last month, Hill International also formed a second joint venture with Egyptian residential and hotel developer – Talaat Moustafa Group Holding Co – to provide project and construction management services exclusively on Talaat's real estate projects in Egypt and elsewhere.

"Our expansion plans will allow us to explore new markets in East Europe and North Africa," said Fattah.

He added that one of the challenges facing the project management industry is finding the right resources.

"The market is hot but human resources are a big challenge. It is not always easy to find the right people and we do not wish to compromise on quality. But the positive revenue growth in this region reflects the efforts that we have invested into this area."