Carrier's GCC growth rate to continue at 25 per cent

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Carrier Corp a provider of high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide, says its GCC growth rate in 2009 would continue at 25 per cent.

Speaking to Emirates Business Aftab Khan, Managing Director, Building Systems and Services of Carrier Middle East, said the air-conditioning industry in the region is annually worth $2 billion (Dh7.3bn) of which Carrier has a market share of almost $800 million.

The company, according to him, has plans for aggressive expansion in the region especially in the field of sustainable energy management and rental cooling.

"Carrier is present in the Middle East for more than 50 years and in the UAE since 1942. Since 1983 it has been a joint venture with a local partner. The business has grown at an average of 20 to 25 per cent annually. During the last three years it has been phenomenal, given the boom in construction activity, which we are directly related to," said Khan.

"For the next six months the market will look good. In fact, in 2009 we are hoping to repeat the 25 per cent growth figure. The worry for us is 2010," he added.

Globally the revenue was $14.6bn in 2007.

The property sector, he said, can be broadly classified as projects already under construction and those which are on the design board. "For projects under construction, typically, HVAC business cycle lags construction activity by one or two years. As such, any impact of the property sector movements will be realized in HVAC only in the latter part of 2009, if not later. We expect the momentum of construction activity in the recent past, supported by a healthy backlog of orders to carry us well into 2009."

According to him, the fundamentals of the Gulf economies remain strong. "We believe there will be ample growth opportunities in the medium to long term. Also, the Gulf's huge fiscal reserves will continue to fuel growth in core commercial and industrial sectors - which are our main markets," said Khan.

The company has listed several new opportunities in the UAE such as technology transfers to its manufacturing facility; launch of environmentally sustainable HVAC solutions from the global product slate; re-entry into district cooling with environmentally responsible products; total systems solutions across the value chain starting with support to developers and consultants and including contractors and end users; new opportunities like rental cooling, system solutions with controls, energy management and sustainable construction.

"Given the present economic situation we will be reviewing our expansion plans but I am confident that the Middle East is a unique market with strong growth prospects. We have confidence in the Middle East markets delivering on their commitments," said Khan.

The company's fundamental focus is towards a re-entry into district cooling. The regional district cooling market he said has grown exponentially and has an installed capacity of more than 1.8 million tonnes of refrigeration, with an additional 6.5 million TR that will be built in the Gulf by 2015.

"Carrier was among the earliest participants in the Middle East's district cooling business. We scaled down our presence in Middle East about 10 years ago, as the market was limited then.

"The district-cooling segment has not only picked up in recent years, but is also moving towards environmentally responsible and energy efficient products - an area which is Carrier's forte. With our range of centrifugal machines, and extension to higher capacities with the new Evergreen® 19XRD, we expect to play a more prominent role in this segment going forward," he added.

By Joseph George

© Emirates Business 24/7 2008