DOHA: Local construction major HKH is holding talks with a prominent Turkish company for a possible tie-up, a senior HKH official said yesterday.
John Lewis, HKH's quality control manager, said in remarks to The Peninsula yesterday that a number of foreign construction companies had entered the Qatari market having sought tie-ups with local firms.
These companies are from countries like Greece, Lebanon, Cyprus and Egypt, among others, and include globally reputable players like J&P and CCC.
Lewis said that following enquiries from some major foreign companies for a possible tie-up, HKH was currently holding negotiations with a major Turkish building industry player for a strategic alliance.
Lewis, who is based in Doha for the past 18 years, said that foreign construction companies were attracted to Qatar because of the boom and stable future outlook of the building industry. "They feel Qatar is a good market to enter," he commented.
A recent development has been a rising interest of construction firms from South East Asia, including Thailand, in the Qatari market. "We now hear that some Chinese companies are showing a keenness," remarked Lewis.
According to him, smaller construction companies in Qatar which are not able to seek partnership with foreign firms are left struggling in trying to compete with rivals with joint venture arrangements.
Talking of shortages of bulding materials like cement and gabbro that the Qatari construction sector was battling, Lewis said the shortfall was indeed posing unprecedented challenges, especially as the prices had gone up.
His own estimate was that the prices of building materials were going up by almost 15 per cent a year. Worldwide increase in the prices of materials like steel, copper and aluminium, for instance, had aggravated the problem, pointed out Lewis.
The prices of ordinary portland cement (OPC) had gone up from QR11 a bag earlier to QR17. Lewis was, however, very appreciative of the quality of local cement and steel and said they were of very high quality.
He said the cement shortage would considerably ease once Qatar National Cement Company's new plant comes on stream.
Tendering process for many mega private projects was currently on and his company was also quite busy doing several key projects, he said.
ISO 9001: 2000 certification
DOHA: HKH Company has recently been awarded the ISO 9001: 2000 certification for its Quality Management Systems. This certification marks the culmination of the effort of all its employees under the personal guidance of Nadim Rustom, general manager, Hisham Nasr, construction manager and John Lewis, the company's quality management representative.
The certification was awarded by Moody's International, and handed over to Nadim Rustom by Ian Porter, manager of Moody's International in Qatar.
HKH is also embarking on a programme for the development and implementation of an Environmental Management System to obtain ISO 14001 certification in the coming months. Solutions will be the consultants for that venture.
HKH provides construction expertise for QP, Qafco, Qasco, MIC, BED, Armed Forces, Doha International Airport, and various other government departments and to private clients.
© The Peninsula 2004
