Friday, Jun 08, 2007
Gulf News
Dubai: Capital Industries and Investments (CII), a Dubai-based private equity firm that invests in companies in the construction industry, has teamed up with Construction Technology, a precast prefabricator based in Singapore.
Officials say the joint venture will see the entry of advanced construction technology - integrated precast systems - into the Gulf. This will lead to faster and more efficient project completion, they say.
Construction Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary company of one of Southeast Asia's largest construction companies, Sembawang Engineers and Constructors.
The partnership comes just over a month after the announcement of CII's establishment and the creation of a Dh200 million fund to finance mid-sized construction manufacturing businesses in the Gulf.
The new company will be known as Sembawang Precast Systems LLC. With a Dh22.8 million capital, the new entity is an equal partnership between its founders.
"We are hoping to make a significant change in the landscape of the Gulf construction industry," said Shaikh Sultan Bin Saud Al Qasimi, chairman of Capital Industries and Investments, and of the newly-formed Sembawang Precast Systems.
"Architects and contractors, whether working on buildings, tunnels or light-rail systems, can now take construction processes to a much more sophisticated level and, for the first time in the region, apply an integrated approach to the use of precast technology."
Precast systems work through the production of standard industry construction elements, such as columns, beams and walls, being manufactured offsite and then installed onsite.
Integrated precast systems create combinations of these 'building blocks', which are custom designed for particular projects and incorporated into the structure as one.
Al Qasimi said this technology is used in Asian countries such as Singapore for rapid project completion and to address a pressing demand for urban development.
He said precast technology enables faster project execution, with the ability to erect four-tier precast columns at a time instead of the current one-storey approach in the region.
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
