| Kippreport.com

MEFMA to host Awareness Conference in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

October 2, 2012 3:42 by soulfood1982

Dubai: The Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) that was first inaugurated under the auspices of Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), is to host the inaugural MEFMA Awareness Conference in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to take place on 8^th October 2012 at the Rosewood Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh.

The Kingdom is experiencing huge growth in the construction and real estate industry, and is widely recognised as the biggest market in the GCC in terms of facilities and asset management due to the number of construction projects that are currently active and in the planning stage. The market is earmarked to continue its growth, with current research estimating the industry to break through the $100bn barrier within the next 25 years.

The conference aims at raising awareness of facilities management in the field of real estate and development in the Kingdom, not only within the profession and industry, but also among government and the general business community by discussing the importance of FM, the challenges and developments.

Speaking on the importance of FM in the Kingdom, Naif Al Rajhi, MEFMA Board Member in KSA and keynote speaker at the conference said, “We are continuing to see healthy growth of the Kingdom’s construction and real estate industry. It is therefore imperative to raise awareness of FM within the region as to the strategic importance of these services in the socio-economic development of our society. Education will have to play a key role, especially training our younger generation who will be leading our Kingdom into the future and to ensure the long-term growth of the industry”.

The conference will also provide MEFMA and its members an opportunity to discuss and debate industry trends, including a talk from Yasser Al Sharif, CEO & Board Member of Manafea Holding Company, on the outlook on residential real estate development in the Kingdom.

Speaking about the importance of FM in the kingdom, H.E. Marwan Bin Ghulaita, CEO of RERA Dubai, who will also be delivering a talk at the conference, said, “With the growth we are seeing in the real estate and construction sectors across the GCC, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is of great importance that best practices are shared in regards to facilities management. It is well documented how much of a pivotal role FM has on a buildings life-cycle through to ROI. This awareness conference goes a long way into being able to achieve and learn best practices from other nations that are further down the road in regards to FM implementation.”

ENDS

About MEFMA

Supported by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) as a non-profit association, MEFMA provides a dedicated platform for FM professionals, wider construction industry stakeholders and owner associations.

http://www.mefma.org/