The opening of the office in Abu Dhabi coincides with the signing of a US$500m (£307m) contract with Ma'aden in Saudi Arabia to build a sulphuric acid plant.
“With estimated GDP growth of over 5.6% per year until 2018, and with major projects in the infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and power sectors, the Middle East region offers significant development opportunities for SNC-Lavalin,” said group president Robert Card during his visit to the Abu Dhabi office. “This is a target region for the group’s activities, and the opening of this regional head office is an indication of our intention to expand our activities and make important contributions in this region.”
As of December 2013, the company had more than 3,000 employees across the Middle East and Africa.
“The opening of this regional head office will allow us to strengthen our client relationships, expand our commercial opportunities and have the best business platform to deliver projects according to clients’ expectations,” said Christian Jacqui, executive vice-president for global operations.
The new office will work closely with existing offices across the region, specifically in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
SNC-Lavalin is already present in the Middle East through major projects including the recent award of engineering, procurement and construction work for the Dubai subway cooling system project.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
