EME Outlook - Issue 23

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ISSUE 23

Williams Advanced Engineering’s track record in driving energy efficiencies is set to guide an increasing portfolio of clients into the next era of sustainability

BUSINESS TRAVEL GUIDE 26

Athens: Never Ending Stories

SOCIETE WALLONE DES EAUX (SWDE) 62

WATER-LINK 72 Preparing for the industry of the future

Ensuring top-class water quality through continuous monitoring

ALSO FEATURING: I N T E R N A T I O N A L W O M E N ’ S D A Y

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CBRE FAÇADE CONSULTANCY

88 Maximising the value of real estate

GULFOOD

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SILA GROUP

Business Travel Guides

A complete guide to EME’s leading business travel destinations

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espite the recent crisis witnessed in Greece, Athens has managed to remain a strong entity and is already making great strides ahead.

In many ways Athens is considered the birthplace of classical Greece, and in the modern day is rebuilding itself as a contemporary vibrant city that taps into its rich cultural heritage, emerging

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Athens is a city with a rich history on a mission for rebirth, adapting to a new strategy to create a true hub for business tourism Writer: Phoebe Calver Project Manager: Ryan Gray

as an excellent tourist destination and a business hub for the region.

As soon as you set foot in the city, you will notice the many cultural layers to be discovered, providing you with an intoxicating mixture of rich history and modern edginess that will give you a true sense of what Athens has to offer on your travels.

If you are looking to see the sights in your spare time, you will be spoilt

for choice with the Parthenon and Acropolis on your doorstep. You will quickly discover that the latter is visible from almost all parts of the city, a constant reminder of the history that makes Athens such a popular and inviting city.

Although the city has faced many difficulties since the economic crisis

FACTS & FIGURES

Languages: Greek, English Area: 2,929 square kilometres Population (2016): 665,000 Currency: Euro Time zone: UTC + 2

in 2009, it is beginning to return to its former glory with a new lease of life. Everywhere you turn you will notice the effervescent energy that bubbles through the city’s streets, into the many galleries, monuments, restaurants and bars.

Dialling code: +21 Highest recorded temperature: 48 degrees celsius Climate: Mediterranean

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26 See page

Our Business Travel section not only gives executives the complete guide to the world’s most popular and populous locations, but also gives said locations the perfect opportunity to showcase their own businesses, events, venues and services to a truly international audience and readership of more than 395,000 each month.

To share in this unrivalled exposure and to put your own offering on our map, then please contact our Sales Managers, Joe Palliser or Ryan Gray to find out more.

joe.palliser@outlookpublishing.com

+44 (0)1603 959 676

ryan.gray@outlookpublishing.com

+44 (0)1603 959 672

W E L C O M E Driving Innovation

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There are few more reputable names in global automotive circles than that of UK motorsport legend, Williams.

A respected and much-loved mainstay of the F1 world over the decades, the Company’s legacy as a humble, yet extremely successful, manufacturer and competitor is undoubted. And in recent years, the brand has leveraged such acclaim across its bespoke Advanced Williams Advanced Engineering’s track record in driving energy efficiencies is set to guide an increasing portfolio of clients into the next era of sustainability Engineering operations, which not only cater for F1 requirements but continue to apply groundbreaking engineering innovations across complementing areas of motorsport, automotive, aviation, defence, healthcare and much, much more.

It was my pleasure to meet Williams Advanced Engineering’s Managing Director, Craig Wilson for this month’s edition of EME Outlook, as he shared his own feelings on the Williams legacy, on the engineering division’s diversifying remit and portfolio, and on the key trend of efficiency that is driving recent innovations.

“The big drivers all revolve around sustainability and energy efficiency, so this includes areas of lightweighting, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, and battery development; more often than not incorporated into the EV (electric vehicle) sector,” Wilson explained in an hour-long interview at the Company’s headquarters in Oxfordshire, UK. “These capabilities are all borne out of our core business and are increasingly significant if you look at any area of transportation just now. It’s the way the industry is heading and I would say it gives us quite a good edge in the market.”

Efficiency is a key theme throughout our March edition, and we get right to the heart of the subject via an extensive focus on the utilities sector.

Our January publication was headed by Flanders-based facilitator, De Watergroep, and we hung around in the sector and indeed the region this month to gain further insight from water-link; before moving south to analyse Societe Wallone des Eaux (SWDE)’s mission to ensure top-class water provision in Belgium.

Rounding up the issue, CBRE Façade Consultancy maintains an Outlook Publishingwide emphasis on façade engineering at present; Phoebe Calver takes a stroll through the centuries in exploring Athens’ business travel acumen; and our front of book segment pays homage to Audrey-Laure Bergenthal, Chief Executive Officer of Euveka, and designer of the first French smart mannequin dummy, in recognition of Matthew Staff International Women’s Day. Editorial Director, Outlook Publishing Enjoy the issue!

ISSUE 23

BUSINESS TRAVEL GUIDE 00

Athens: Never Ending Stories

EME

SOCIETE WALLONE DES EAUX (SWDE) 00

WATER-LINK 00 Preparing for the industry of the future

Ensuring top-class water quality through continuous monitoring

ALSO FEATURING: I N T E R N A T I O N A L W O M E N ’ S D A Y

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CBRE FAÇADE

CONSULTANCY 00 Maximising the value of real estate

GULFOOD

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SILA GROUP

EDITORIAL

Editorial Director: Matthew Staff matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com Deputy Editor: Phoebe Calver phoebe.calver@outlookpublishing.com

PRODUCTION

Production Manager: Daniel George daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com Art Director: Stephen Giles steve.giles@outlookpublishing.com Advert Designer: Devon Collins devon.collins@outlookpublishing.com IMAGES: www.thinkstockphotos.co.uk

BUSINESS

Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Operations Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com PROJECT DIRECTORS Joshua Mann joshua.mann@outlookpublishing.com Tom Cullum tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com HEAD OF PROJECTS Kane Weller kane.weller@outlookpublishing.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com SALES MANAGERS Joe Palliser joe.palliser@outlookpublishing.com Ryan Gray ryan.gray@outlookpublishing.com PROJECT MANAGERS Callam Waller callam.waller@outlookpublishing.com Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Josh Hyland josh.hyland@outlookpublishing.com Lewis Bush lewis.bush@outlookpublishing.com Mauro Berini mauro.berini@outlookpublishing.com Richard Thomas richard.thomas@outlookpublishing.com Tom Arnold thomas.arnold@outlookpublishing.com

ADMINISTRATION

Finance Director: Suzanne Welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Office & Finance Manager: Sophia Curran sophia.curran@outlookpublishing.com DIGITAL & IT: Hamit Saka HELPDESK: James Le-May

OUTLOOK PUBLISHING

Managing Director: Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Chairman: Mark Weaver

CONTACT

Europe & Middle East Outlook Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 4AB, United Kingdom Sales: +44 (0) 1603 959 652 Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 959 655 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: +44 (0)1603 959 655 Email: matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com www.emeoutlookmag.com Follow us on Twitter - @EME_Outlook Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeoutlook

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In this issue...

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NEWS

All the latest top stories from Europe and the Middle East

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E S

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SPORT

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TRADE & INVESTMENTS

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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Standing Tall Five lessons learned from the 2018 6 Nations Dubai: A Global Hub The Emirate evolution continues

International Women’s Day 2018 Celebrating female ingenuity in business

S E C TO R

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F O C U S

FOOD & DRINK

The Weird and Wonderful Gulfood serves up a groundbreaking treat

BUSINESS TRAVEL GUIDE

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ATHENS

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SLOVENIA

Never Ending Stories

MALMÖ

Sweden’s Sustainable Success Story Open Arms to New MICE and Business Travel Opportunities

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SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES

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Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

MANUFACTURING

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Resilient and Responsible Here to stay

WILLIAMS ADVANCED ENGINEERING Driving Innovation Powering a new frontier in efficiency

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WATER-LINK

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HAYA WATER

Value in the Pipeline Preparing for the industry of the future Strategic Planning Realising Oman’s fertile future

E V E N T F O C U S

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THE BIG 5 HEAVY

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KUWAIT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT

The largest exhibition dedicated to the infrastructure and heavy construction industry in the Middle East

SILA GROUP

Geared for the Future: Developing CustomerSpecific Solutions Remaining true to a founding vision

CONSTRUCTION

88 ENERGY & UTILITIES

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VALUE ADDED OILFIELD SERVICES (VAOS)

SOCIETE WALLONE DES EAUX (SWDE)

International Cooperation Ensuring top-class water quality through continuous monitoring

Highlighting key business opportunities emerging in Kuwait’s alternative energy market

CBRE FAÇADE CONSULTANCY

A Niche within a Niche Maximising the value of real estate

T E C H N O L O G Y

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AXIOS SYSTEMS

Created by Experts, Delivered by Experts, Creating Experts Driving rapid IT system management growth

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FUTURE CITIES SHOW

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CWC LEBANON INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT FORUM

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Showcasing solutions for a smart sustainable future

Discover investment opportunities at Lebanon’s international forum

MEDITERRANEAN PETROLEUM SUMMIT

Mediterranean oil & gas leaders meet in Athens

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OIL & GAS

Oil Dips as Wall Street Dives with Tensions over Iran Supporting Crude Oil prices slipped recently as Wall Street slid more than one percent and energy market investors remained wary of growing crude supply, although tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran gave prices some support.

Brent crude futures dropped 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $66.05 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, to end at $62.06 a barrel.

“The equity markets are certainly a driving factor behind this slide today,” said Brian LaRose, Technical Analyst at United-ICAP in Jersey City. “Since the open, they have been hit pretty hard,” he said.

Wall Street’s main indexes fell more

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than 1.5 percent as investors worried about a potential trade war and as Facebook shares dragged down the tech sector. Oil prices have been increasingly moving in tandem with equities.

Strong demand, however, prevented oil from sliding further, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “We keep talking about all this shale oil production, but it’s not really showing up that much in global inventories; they continue to be tight,” Flynn said.

Still, last week’s rise in the US rig count remains a potential headwind for oil bulls. US drillers added four oil rigs last week, bringing the total count to 800, Baker Hughes said.

“At the current oil price level, drilling

activity - and thus output - in the US is likely to increase further,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.

US crude oil production has risen more than a fifth since mid-2016, to 10.38 million barrels a day (bpd).

Prices also climbed on Friday after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the Kingdom would develop nuclear weapons if arch-rival Iran did.

“This week there will be... a pricing of some geopolitical risk with the crown prince going on a visit to the United States which is likely to provide a lot of headlines against Iran and the (sanctions) deal,” Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said, referring to Iran’s pact that has removed sanctions on that country in return for limits on its nuclear programme.

President Donald Trump has criticised the deal frequently, raising the possibility that the United States could stop its sanctions relief.

Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh European Union sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles programme and its role in Syria’s war.

GO TO WWW.EMEOUTLOOKMAG.COM/NEWS FOR ALL OF THE LATEST NEWS FROM EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST

EME FINANCE

New Tata Steel UK Pension Scheme to be set up A new pension fund backed by Tata Steel UK, a unit of India’s Tata Steel, will be set up after meeting minimum size and funding criteria, paving the way for the firm’s merger with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp.

The trustee of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), a 124,000 member final salary scheme from previous owner British Steel, said in a statement the new BSPS would go ahead at the end of March as planned.

“This is very good news for the 83,000 members who wanted to receive their benefits from the New Scheme and chose to switch to it,” said Alan Johnston, who will now act as chairman to the trustee of the New BSPS. Britain’s pension’s regulator agreed a deal last year to allow Tata

Steel UK to cut scheme benefits and set up a new BSPS in return for a £550 million one-off payment to the scheme.

Tata Steel UK remains the formal backer of the New BSPS. Earlier this year, UK lawmakers said Britain’s markets watchdog was too slow to prevent “vulture” financial advisers from ripping off steelworkers faced with critical decisions over their £14 billion ($19.6 billion) pension scheme.

Some 25,000 scheme members

failed to opt to transfer into the new scheme, meaning they end up in a lifeboat known as the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) by default, potentially a worse outcome for them.

Alternatively, some of the 25,000 might have opted to transfer their pension into other investments, but many who took that option were encouraged by dubious financial advisers to sign up to risky, unsuitable investments.

Turkey’s tourism industry has suffered in recent years as travel companies and airlines switched their attention to Spain after militant attacks and a failed military coup affected demand for travel to Turkey.

The resulting competition put pressure on prices and was one of the reasons behind the demise of airlines

Air Berlin and Monarch in 2017.

However Europe’s largest travel group TUI said last month that bookings for Turkey had picked up, echoing rival Thomas Cook which also saw increased demand.

Hoteliers have predicted that tourism in Turkey will make a major comeback this summer as Germans and Russians flock back to its beaches.

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey was up 28 percent at 32.4 million in 2017 and is expected to rise further to more than 38 million this year.

Ryanair carried almost 130 million passengers last year, the vast majority on routes in the European Union, but it also flies to some non-EU countries, including Israel and Morocco.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Ryanair Pushes Ahead with Expansion with First Flights to Turkey Ryanair added Turkey to its list of destinations, continuing an expansion from its traditional European markets by dipping a toe into a large market where the tourism sector is showing signs of recovery.

Europe’s largest budget carrier, which recently began flying from Jordan for the first time, will operate two new routes weekly from Dublin and Bratislava to the south-western Turkish resort of Dalaman from June, 2018.

GO TO WWW.EMEOUTLOOKMAG.COM/NEWS FOR ALL OF THE LATEST NEWS FROM EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST

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TECHNOLOGY

Gaza Security Shuts Mobile Company’s Main Office in PM Bomb Probe Hamas-run security services in Gaza have shut down a cellular company’s headquarters over its alleged failure to cooperate in their investigation of a suspected attempt to assassinate the Palestinian prime minister, security officials said recently.

In addition to the closure of the Wataniya firm’s main office in Gaza, several employees of a second Palestinian mobile operator, Jawwal, were briefly detained as part of the probe into the recent bomb blast, the officials said.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who is based in the occupied West Bank, was unhurt when a roadside device exploded next to his motorcade shortly after it entered the Gaza Strip via Israel.

He has been spearheading efforts by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) to reconcile with Hamas, an Islamist group that won control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Despite a unity deal signed in October, differences remain between Hamas and the PA on sharing administrative and security responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.

POLITICS

Ahead of Contentious Vote, Egypt sets Sights on ‘Fake News’ Mostafa al-Asar’s lawyer said he had barely started work on a documentary critical of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi when police arrested him and charged him with publishing “fake news”.

The journalist was detained before he had even begun filming, his lawyer said.

The arrest on 4 February came ahead of a presidential election in March which Sisi is virtually guaranteed to win. All opposition

E N E R G Y & R E S O U R C E S

New European Sanctions Would Affect Nuclear Deal Any new European sanctions against Iran will have a direct effect on the nuclear deal struck between world powers and Tehran, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said recently, according to state media.

“In case some European countries are following steps to put non-nuclear sanctions against Iran in order to please the American president, they will be making a big mistake and they

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candidates except one have dropped out citing intimidation, while the remaining challenger has said he supports the President. The election commission says it has been receptive to any complaints and the vote will be fair and transparent.

As the March election nears, Egypt has turned its attention to news outlets and journalists it accuses of spreading lies, including some foreign media and even one pro-government commentator.

Authorities say curbing fictitious news is necessary for national security. They regularly accuse outlets of a lack of professionalism in covering Egypt and urge reporters to use only official outlets as sources. will see the direct result of that on the nuclear deal,” Abbas Araqchi said, according to state media.

“It’s better that European countries continue their current action to persuade America to keep its promises in the nuclear deal and for that country to effectively execute the deal in all its parts with good will and in a productive atmosphere.”

Araqchi’s comments were in reaction to a Reuters report that Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in Syria’s war to try to persuade Washington to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

GO TO WWW.EMEOUTLOOKMAG.COM/NEWS FOR ALL OF THE LATEST NEWS FROM EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST

EME E C O N O M Y

UK Inflation Slows in February as Brexit hit to Pound Fades British inflation was weaker than expected in February as the impact of the 2016 Brexit vote faded, easing some of the squeeze on households’ spending power but doing little to change bets on a Bank of England rate rise in May this year.

Official data showed consumer prices rose by an annual 2.7 percent last month, the weakest increase since July of last year and down from a rise of three percent in January.

The figure was slightly below the median forecast of 2.8 percent in a Reuters poll of economists.

British inflation is running at more than double the rate in Germany and

M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Majority of French Back Selling State Assets in Renault, Orange, PSA - poll A majority of French voters back selling all or some of the state’s assets in automakers Renault and Peugeot, airliner Air France and

France. It is also higher than in the United States, where the Federal Reserve looks set to continue its series of interest rate hikes this week.

“This fallback in inflation therefore provides little reason for the Bank of England to hold back from gradually raising interest rates,” said Andrew Sentance, a former BoE rate-setter who is now an economic adviser with accountancy firm PwC.

telecoms group Orange, an opinion poll showed recently.

France announced last year plans to sell some €10 billion (£8.78 billion) worth of stakes in state-owned companies in order to raise money for a new fund to finance innovation, an election pledge of President Emmanuel Macron.

State stakes in big groups have long had popular backing, and the OpinionWay poll showed two thirds of voters still back it in principle.

TECHNOLOGY

Germany Alarmed

by Facebook Data Abuse Reports Germany recently voiced alarm at reports that a political consultancy hired by Donald Trump improperly accessed information on 50 million Facebook users, and lawmakers demanded answers from the Company and the Government.

Germany’s data privacy commissioner Andrea Vosshoff said she had no independent information to verify the reports, but the incident underscored the need for stronger privacy regulations.

US and European authorities this week said they were investigating reports by the New York Times and Britain’s Observer newspaper.

E C O N O M Y

New German Finance Ministry Pushes Free Trade at G20 Meeting Germany’s new Finance Minister Olaf Scholz warned that protectionism could harm future economic prospects and said Germany would continue talks to dissuade the United States from imposing planned punitive steel and aluminium tariffs.

Scholz told reporters en route to his first meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors that he would underscore the importance of free trade for the global economy when he meets US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The world economy is growing together “and it should stay together” said Scholz, a member of the Social Democrats, junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government.

GO TO WWW.EMEOUTLOOKMAG.COM/NEWS FOR ALL OF THE LATEST NEWS FROM EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST

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Outlook Creative Services Complementing the production of Africa Outlook, Asia Outlook and Europe & Middle East Outlook magazines, Outlook Publishing’s award-winning in-house team is now utilising these same specialist production skills to offer a full and bespoke range of editorial, design and marketing services via its new Outlook Creative Services division.

For more information on how we can work with you in providing a plethora of completely flexible and customisable production services, please visit www.outlookpublishing.com/creative-services

CONTACT DESIGN: Stephen Giles +44 (0) 1603 959 656 steve.giles@outlookpublishing.com

E D I TO R I A L : Matthew Staff +44 (0) 1603 959 655 matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com

Devon Collins +44 (0) 1603 959 661 devon.collins@outlookpublishing.com

Phoebe Calver +44 (0) 1603 959 660 phoebe.calver@outlookpublishing.com

S T A N D I N G

T A L L

STANDING TALL

Ireland’s convincing 6 Nations triumph has sent shockwaves around world rugby, leaving Wales, England and Scotland with food for thought and New Zealand with a worthy adversary just 18 months away from the World Cup Writer: Matthew Staff 12

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Five Lessons Learned from the 2018 6 Nations 1. The pluck of the Irish

It would be remiss not to kick things off with a celebration of Ireland’s achievements in the 2018 Natwest 6 Nations. From the final kick of their first game in Paris, onwards, there was only one likely winner of a Championship that was similarly void of drama and intrigue from that point on too.

Jonathan Sexton’s last-minute dropgoal broke French hearts but also lifted a tangible pressure that seemed to be hanging over the boys in green during the first 79 minutes of their campaign.

That pluck was duly rewarded, and heroic consistency virtue of Jacob Stockdale, Rory Best, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and - well - most others who took to the field over the four subsequent games, ensured that the title and only their third ever grand slam was taken back across the Irish Sea. And to complete the rout on Saint Patrick’s Day at England’s ‘home of rugby’ made the accomplishment all the sweeter.

2. Scotland: Brave but not the best

Another false dawn for Scotland fans should come as no surprise, but there were signs that this golden - or at least silver - generation of stars may be on the right track leading into next year’s World Cup in Japan. Many onlookers’ dark horse for the 2018 6 Nations, an opening week defeat to Wales soon doused those flames, but if this young group can progress at the same accelerated pace as has been seen over the past 12 months, then there is still reason for realistic optimism moving forward.

Joe Schmidt coaching the Irish rugby union team

PHOTO: BIGLO

6 Nations and Triple Crown trophies from 2009

Perhaps next year’s campaign will provide a better indication of whether Gregor Townsend is turning his team from ‘Scotland the brave’ into ‘Scotland the best’.

3. England’s quantity over quality

A lot has been made of the strength in depth that Eddie Jones possesses as England coach, but this year’s 6 Nations suggests that the emphasis is far more on the latter depth, than the former strength. There may well be four or five competing players for each position, but if they’re all of a similar standard - a standard that is below that of Ireland’s - then alarm bells may well be ringing. Performances against Wales, Scotland, France and the tournament victors all fell way below expectations.

Resultantly finishing fifth for the first time in more than three decades, the only reason this season’s ‘setback’ isn’t a ‘disaster’ is the blind faith that English media and fans still just about have in Jones and the Australian’s long-term World Cup-focused master plan. If there aren’t drastic signs of improvement in the autumn and into next year’s 6 Nations though, those alarm bells may soon turn into an axe.

4. There’s room for Georgia

The only way to expand the influence of rugby on the global stage is to make its World Cup more competitive, and

EME this can only be achieved if some of the peripheral nations are exposed more regularly to top tier games.

Italy was given that chance and while they’re by no means encroaching on the upper echelons of the sport as a result, you can’t help but feel that its only national appeal and commercial attractiveness that differentiates them from the ever-improving Georgians.

Of course Georgia would suffer the same wooden spoon fate initially, but you only have to take a look at Rugby Sevens to see what expansion can be achieved when inclusivity rules the roost. And, who knows, Italy themselves may find a new exciting gear if they’re suddenly threatened with the prospect of ‘relegation’.

5. North v South - the gap is closing

With around 18 months to go until the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, there is an argument to be made that the northern hemisphere is bridging the gap to its southern counterparts; welcome news for those tired of South Africa, Australia and especially New Zealand’s domination. Ireland aside, this isn’t necessarily because 6 Nations sides are improving drastically however; more due to the southern giants enduring somewhat of a slump themselves too.

All of the leading nations seem to be going through a handover period in which old guards and legends are paving the way for the next crop of youngsters to stamp their authority on the sport. And if this year’s 6 Nations has taught us anything, it’s that Ireland’s budding superstars have laid the first glove in this two year battle royale.

It’s now time for Australia, South Africa and New Zealand to fight back, and for England, Scotland, Wales and France to land some punches of their own.

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D U B A I :

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G L O B A L

H U B

ubai’s heritage and history is one built around trade but over recent years the Emirate has diversified away from the ports which have helped it reach its renowned prosperous status to become a regional financial and business hub.

This is the analysis of renowned international estate agency, Knight Frank whose recent Hub Report continues to track the evolution of the city as an internationally significant hub.

The Report focuses on benchmarking Dubai against seven other key global cities: New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney across the four key sectors of manufacturing, logistics, business and financial services, and tourism.

The introduction of Free Zones - Jebel Ali Free Zone was the first of its kind in 1985 - initially allowed traditional trade barriers to be

eliminated and minimised bureaucratic regulations. Over time though, the number of Free Zones in Dubai has grown to 34 and they have evolved to symbolise strategic hubs for cooperation, learning and knowledge.

Operationally, companies within a Free Zone are not required to have a local Emirati partner and can therefore control 100 percent of their own business. This, combined with Dubai’s strategic location as a juncture

between east and west, has meant Dubai has grown to establish itself as a regional financial and business centre.

A recognised global financial centre

The domestic financial and business services sector has grown 55.6 percent over the past decade with only Shanghai (114.3 percent) outperforming Dubai.

Over this time period Dubai has also seen itself become a recognised global financial centre; with The Dubai International Financial Centre recently being ranked among the top 10 global financial centres in The Banker’s International Financial Centre rankings.

These achievements are underpinned by a zero tax environment/ low rate of tax for financial and oil companies. Currently it takes just eight days to start a business which is marginally longer than the United States (six days) and the UK (five days), although it is four times

DUBAI:

A GLOBAL HUB The UAE’s prevalence as a global FDI honeypot, a tourist destination, a financial centre and an export heavyweight is compounded by Knight Frank’s recent hub report on Dubai Writer: Matthew Staff

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Leasing & Agency, notes how these developments are encouraging global businesses to use Dubai and the UAE as a base for regional operations: ‘’As Dubai and the UAE drives changes in legislation and competitiveness on a global level, we are witnessing companies having a Middle Eastern presence.

THE HUB REPORT 2018 | RESEARCH

FINANCIAL & BUSINESS SERVICES FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES, GROSS VALUE ADDED, % CHANGE

FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES AS A PORTION OF TOTAL GROSS VALUE ADDED (%) Dubai

14.29%

Shanghai

DAYS REQUIRED TO START A BUSINESS, 2017

Sydney

days

2

days

Hong Kong

Singapore

New York

New York

25.21% 23.29% 17.75%

Paris

24% 30% 33%

29.35% 55.93%

34%

39%

39%

43%

48%

Singapore London

43.18%

55.53% 34.88%

London

Paris

days

5

days

6

days

8

23

United States

United Arab Emirates

China

62%

2

France

Singapore

48%

44% Singapore

16%

183.58% 114.30%

Shanghai Hong Kong

United Arab Emirates

Sources: Knight Frank Research, Oxford Economics

2007-2017

20%

17%

Singapore

23% China

31% United Kingdom

United States of America

5

6

7

Hong Kong

Australia

United States of America

14

United Kingdom

21

Australia United Arab Emirates

Note: A percentage of foreign banks and oil companies' income in the UAE is taxable, otherwise 0%.

Source: The World Bank

2017-2027 (Forecast)

days

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS RANKINGS, 2018

Hong Kong

97.50% 35.39%

4

days France

Sources: Knight Frank Research, World Bank

TOTAL BUSINESS TAX RATE (% OF COMMERCIAL PROFITS)

Sydney

45.03%

Hong Kong

Sources: Knight Frank Research, Oxford Economics

3

days Australia

United Kingdom

Dubai

37.31% 31.27%

3

31

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78

France China

Sources: Knight Frank Research, World Bank

OFFICE PROPERTY SECTOR PRIME RENTS, Q3 2017 (US$/SQ M/ANNUM)

PRIME VACANCY RATES, Q3 2017 12.3%

6.4%

5.8%

4.9%

4.7%

3.1%

14.0%

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New York

London (West End)

Data is latest available, currency conversion used is as the average of Q3 2017 period

Sydney

$757 $751 $532

Paris

$920 $843

Shanghai

$1,444

Paris Sydney Dubai Shanghai Source: Knight Frank Research

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Singapore

London

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$1,501

Singapore

INDICATIVE RENTS IN DUBAI, Q3 2017 (USD/SQ M/ANNUM)

4

20

7 15

Hong Kong

New York

$2,499

1.7%

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Hong Kong

1

18 2

22 9

8 3

6 16

5

23 10 21

19 12

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Dubai South 1

191

Dubai Investments Park 2

205

Marina 14 429

Barsha 3

274

Dubai Media City 15 432

Deira 4

282

Business Bay 5

282

Silicon Oasis 17 475

TECOM C 6

283

Downtown Jebel Ali 18 476

Bur Dubai 13 413

TECOM 16 457

Jumeirah Beach Road 7

312

DAFZA 19 501

Sheikh Zayed Road (West) 8

348

Sheikh Zayed Road (East) 20 521

The Greens 9

356

Dubai Design District 21 528

Trade Centre District 10 393

Dubai Internet City 22 557

JAFZA 11 410

Downtown Burj Khalifa 23 579

Dubai Healthcare City 12 412

DIFC 24 752

Note: Central Business District rate

more than Hong Kong’s figure.

Finally the UAE has a well-regarded ‘ease of doing business’ ranking, which has moved up from 26th to 21st out of 190 countries over the past

year. Continuing business legislation improvements and a maturing market mean that this score is likely to improve further in the future.

Matthew Dadd, Partner, Commercial

“With reforms including Dual Licensing being introduced, this is allowing companies to locate onshore and offshore businesses from the same physical location, thus streamlining operations. This is in addition to improving the overall lifestyle opportunities which the UAE presents to expatriates.’’

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International

WOMEN’S DAY 2018 ccording to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, now more than ever is the time to push forward for progress in gender parity, with a predicted 200 years to go before we see true equality.

During the past year in particular we have witnessed the united strength of women all over the world, from many varied walks of life through campaigns such as #MeToo, #TimesUp and now #PressforProgress for the 2018 International Women’s Day (IWD) movement.

On 8 March, 2018, IWD kicked off another year of campaigning, providing individuals, businesses and organisations all over the world with a unified direction for positive change.

It is important to recognise that IWD is not an organisation, but instead a day that belongs to everyone globally - an act to unite and celebrate.

Since the early 1900s when it was started by the Suffragettes, the event has been recognised and is growing in strength yearly, encouraging men and women to join the continued movement for empowerment and equality.

This year’s IWD celebration is all about pressing for progress in gender equality, discussing the important changes that need to be made to lessen the gap now and in the future Writer: Phoebe Calver

This year EME Outlook wanted to celebrate true female ingenuity in business, which we found in the effervescent Audrey-Laure Bergenthal, Chief Executive Officer of Euveka, and designer of the first French smart mannequin dummy.

Originally trained as an IP lawyer, Bergenthal’s multiple award-winning idea stemmed from a need to change the way garments were made for women.

“Every day in the law firm I worked for in Paris, I would notice the incredible innovation happening with engineering in a wide range of industries,” explains Bergenthal.

“When I began to put some research into my idea, I quickly discovered that

every garment was being designed on a wooden mannequin which I found to be very unrealistic for a real woman.

Subsequently I started to work on the automated doll idea and from that emerged the mannequin we see today.”

The Entrepreneur and CEO discusses the journey she has been on with the Company and her hopes for the future for both Euveka and women in business as a whole.

Europe & Middle East Outlook (EME): Can you introduce me to Euveka, providing a history of the Company and how it has evolved over the years?

Audrey-Laure Bergenthal (AB): After coming up with my initial idea and subsequent business plan, I went to study pattern making and fashion design in a fashion school. My parents were so mad at me because I wasn’t a lawyer anymore, but I still started all over again and I got my degree as a pattern maker.

For five years I worked as a pattern maker in haute couture and in the ready-to-wear industry with some big brands that have factories overseas, therefore I was able to see the whole process from design to retail.

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“I want to show that a woman in tech, starting from scratch, can make it.”

When you make single garments for made-to-measure projects or the readyto-wear industry and had to launch a million pieces of the same model, so I quickly realised that having access to a mannequin that could be quickly altered and connected to software would help to achieve this. I had a comprehensive knowledge of the market and the users, so I decided to start the Company and financed it on my own for four years while working full time.

I did everything I could and there was a lot of sacrifice, working seven days a week while trying to get all of the knowledge I needed in order to improve my skills. So I led some innovation missions for major groups until I felt confident and I had the patent and I had potential clients in France and I had a blueprint for a

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“It took me more time to convince my first investors than it did to raise my first million, and I’d imagine that was harder than it would have been for a man” robot that could really work, as well as confidence in my ability.

In 2015 I closed my first fundraising and a year-and-a-half later, we had the first industrial version of the mannequin. Following on from that, our first fashion show was amazing and many brands went crazy for our product, saying they needed it and

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wanted it now. I had initially thought we would design one mannequin and move slowly, but the pressure was really intense in Europe and also from the American and Asian markets, so I decided to really civilise the product and hire even more people so we would have the best service and could be close to the customers and help them utilise our innovations in serenity.

Now we have almost 30 people in the Company and I really like to do things right for them and the Company, I have a lawyer mind and when you are a lawyer, you protect your client and I wanted to do the same for the fashion industry and its major brands, protecting their interests.

EME: What have been the main struggles you have encountered in your role as CEO, and how have you overcome them?

AB: Over the years the main issues I had to face were with myself and the ability to trust in my judgement.

When you are a woman working in this industry and specifically the mechanics and engineering sector, it is really hard at first to trust yourself because I’m not an engineer and it took me years to be able to say I am going to do this and it is going to work and it is going to be a success.

It is hard at first to give others confidence, as they are not used to seeing a woman arrive in the mechanic sector and they would question if I was really able to do it. It took me more time to convince my first investors than it did to raise my first million, and I’d imagine that was harder than it would have been for a man. As every woman who has managed to do things right in business will know, it is because I have had to work double and I control every strategic decision we make.

Then we had to deal with the lack of money, due predominantly to the immediate expenditures we were required to make. We are still very diligent when it comes to the money we

EME are spending, as the developments we require cost a lot of money to achieve, as well as taking into account the fact that our product is a mixture between mechanic and electronic software.

EME: In the past six years, how would you say the business world has changed for females in leadership roles and how do you see it changing in the future?

AB: I think it has been about two years now since the vision of women in business has really changed, and now it is the subject of the moment with the various campaigns and I think it is great. Seven years ago I felt so lonely, and now I feel more connected to the other women who are striving to feed their own ambition.

It is traditionally easier for a man to empower themselves and when it comes to female empowerment, I feel that the past year in particular I have been surrounded by amazing business women and they are giving their time to me. Now things are changing for the better; I mean it couldn’t be worse anyway.

EME: On a general note, what would you say defines Euveka and differentiates it from others within the sector?

AB: We are proud of being the leader in our field. We have just one or two very small competitors in Asia, we want to make sure that we can do in Europe the best possible technology, and we are working with the most famous brands in the US. We want to be an international leader and I want to show that a woman in tech, starting from scratch can make it and I want the biggest brand ever! I love a challenge and we are very different in terms of our mentality and it is the perfect time for us, with women being welcomed into the industry.

Before it was a hindrance to be a woman, now it is an advantage. I want to grow and be a leader now.

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F O C U S

The Weird and the

Wonderful Gulfood never fails to impress, and 2018 was no different as the largest and oldest annual food and hospitality event hosted five of the most pivotal days on the Middle Eastern industry’s calendar Writer: Matthew Staff elebrating more than three decades of success since its inception back in 1987, Gulfood reaffirmed its position as the world’s largest annual food and hospitality event between 18-22 February, 2018, welcoming more than 90,000 trade visitors from as many as 150 countries through its doors over the course of the five days.

Marking a new era, its revolutionary change in layout, format and experience focused on aspects of accessibility and trading potential as well as the core range of foods & beverages that make up the globe’s primary commodity trading sectors: beverages, dairy, fats and oils, health, wellness and free-form, pulses, grains and cereals, meat and poultry, power brands and world food.

Taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the UAE, more than 5,000 participating companies shared their expertise and industry thoughts cross 120 national pavilions, thus

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formulating the complete who’s who of relevant regional and global sector protagonists.

Over the course of the five days, the event showcased its now traditional and awaited functions, as well as a host of newly introduced forums, to ultimately ensure the best edition of the expo to date.

Day one - welcome!

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, opened Gulfood 2018, the 23rd edition of the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade show at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

Spread across one million square feet of exhibition space, Gulfood’s status as the world’s first major food and beverage trade event of the year was respected as more than 90,000 food industry professionals and 120 exhibiting county pavilions took centre stage; consequently welcoming international heads of state, ministers, government officials and national trade associations.

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The Gulfood Awards also took place on the evening of this first, muchanticipated day.

“The F&B industry in the UAE and wider region is thriving, which provides a diverse range of business opportunities for local, regional and international companies alike,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice President, Exhibitions & Events, DWTC. “Gulfood continues to serve as the industry benchmark and is the ideal platform for industry professionals looking to network and explore new business avenues.”

Day two - Vive le France!

His Excellency Ludovic Pouille, the French Ambassador to the UAE, stole the show on a day which focused on the notion of innovation, as he praised Gulfood as a “strategic gateway” for French food and beverage producers exploring increased export potential across the rapidly emerging consumer markets of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

“This is my first Gulfood and I am very impressed with the show,” said Ambassador Pouille. “Gulfood is not only a UAE event, it is a worldwide event. We’re expecting almost 100,000 visitors from every corner of the globe with a focus on guests from the Middle East, India and Africa - hopefully most of these visitors pass through the four French pavilions. It’s very important for our companies to discover new markets and Gulfood is the place to achieve this. I am sure Gulfood will be a great success for us - we have 70-plus companies this year; next year we want to see more than 100.”

He continued: “The current total of French exports to the Middle East can only increase because when you speak about food, you speak about France.

We already have established export markets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE but there are huge opportunities in other countries, specifically Egypt, the largest country in the region in terms

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‘His Excellency Ludovic Pouille, the French Ambassador to the UAE, stole the show on a day which focused on the notion of innovation’

of population, as well as Pakistan and India. These are all big growth markets and we look forward to increasing our export presence in each of them.

“Gulfood is a key vehicle to boosting our export targets in 2018; the show is a strategic gateway into new markets and increasing our trade levels across a geographically diverse spread of nations where we see growing consumer spending power.”

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Day three - Innovation tops the menu

The word on everyone’s lips remained ‘innovation’ in the aftermath of day one’s awards and virtue of the Discover Zone’s growing popularity.

And with cutting-edge technologies and product evolutions topping the menu at this year’s Gulfood, two of the UAE’s leading food producers claimed three notable accolades at the Gulfood Innovation Awards.

On day one, the UAE’s Global Food Industries more than held its own against an international field of food innovators to claim gongs for Best Halal Food Innovation and Best Meat & Poultry Innovation, while Hunter Foods Ltd. FZCO took home the award for Best Organic Innovation. The two firms’ trio of gongs ensured the UAE’s top ranking on the night, notching more category wins than any other country.

This regional success was still reverberating around the expo two days later as local pride and international innovation continued to spark intrigue among the thousands in attendance.

Mark Napier, Gulfood show director, stated: “The UAE companies’ wins reflect the maturing food production landscape both domestically and across the wider region.

It’s no secret that Arab Gulf

EME states are working extremely hard to reduce their over-reliance on food imports and these wins show that when the right ingredients are in place, homegrown companies can more than compete on the international arena.”

Day four - Weird and wonderful

As the curtain readied itself to descend on the 23rd edition of Gulfood, industry professionals from all over the world embarked on a frantic penultimate day of product sourcing, networking and business generation meetings across 120,000 square metres - or 17 football pitches - of exhibition space.

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“People are interested and want to know about Saudi products. There’s not even time for ‘Hello’, it’s just straight down to business” And while more than 5,000 exhibiting companies’ products at this year’s Gulfood were conveniently split into eight sectors dedicated to core food stuffs and commodities, trawling the expansive halls and temporary structures to mine the latest innovative and on-trend health snacks, juices, meats, dairy goods, rice, grains and much, much more required careful planning.

Gulfood naturally obliged in listing

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the 10 weirdest and most wonderful pavilions to attend: Indigenously Rice; Lollypop Tree; Spreading Good; Brewer’s Best; Hydration to Lift Your Spirits; Meating Expectations; Guiltfree Ice Cream; Spicy Ice; A Root to Remember; and Pro Colombia.

Day five - Roaring interest

As the Ibrik Championship winners from the past five days were announced, the fallout and reviews

from the event were already being expressed, and one immediate beneficiary came immediately to light in the form of Saudi Arabia.

As the country presses ahead with multi-industry economic diversification, a key pillar of its National Vision 2030, the head of the Saudi Exports Development Authority (Saudi Exports) revealed an ambitious target of non-oil products contributing 50 percent of the country’s exports by 2030.

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EME With the Kingdom continuing to generate global headlines for a series of high profile socio-economic reforms being ushered in by its progressive, forward-thinking Government, the Gulf region’s largest economy is spearheading a plethora of industrial drives to decrease a longstanding over-reliance on oil revenues and Gulfood emerged as a crucial enabler in increasing food trade exports, “This year we have about 50 companies at the Saudi national pavilion and another 65 outside in other sectors. That’s more than 100 companies, exhibiting more than 200 products. People are interested and want to know about Saudi products.

There’s not even time for ‘Hello’, it’s just straight down to business,” enthused Faisal A. Alhammad, Manager, Export Promotion Department, Saudi Exports. “Gulfood is very important to us, and this is our fifth time with a Saudi pavilion. We have more than 100 companies and I hope in the future we can have 100 more. This is a great platform for us to increase our exports across the GCC, Middle East, Africa and Europe. That includes food and the whole range of industries.”

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A T H E N S

AT H E espite the recent crisis witnessed in Greece, Athens has managed to remain a strong entity and is already making great strides ahead.

In many ways Athens is considered the birthplace of classical Greece, and in the modern day is rebuilding itself as a contemporary vibrant city that taps into its rich cultural heritage, emerging

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Athens is a city with a rich history on a mission for rebirth, adapting to a new strategy to create a true hub for business tourism Writer: Phoebe Calver Project Manager: Ryan Gray

as an excellent tourist destination and a business hub for the region.

As soon as you set foot in the city, you will notice the many cultural layers to be discovered, providing you with an intoxicating mixture of rich history and modern edginess that will give you a true sense of what Athens has to offer on your travels.

If you are looking to see the sights in your spare time, you will be spoilt

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ENS for choice with the Parthenon and Acropolis on your doorstep. You will quickly discover that the latter is visible from almost all parts of the city, a constant reminder of the history that makes Athens such a popular and inviting city.

Although the city has faced many difficulties since the economic crisis

in 2009, it is beginning to return to its former glory with a new lease of life. Everywhere you turn you will notice the effervescent energy that bubbles through the city’s streets, into the many galleries, monuments, restaurants and bars.

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FACTS & FIGURES

Languages: Greek, English Area: 2,929 square kilometres Population (2016): 665,000 Currency: Euro Time zone: UTC + 2 Dialling code: +21 Highest recorded temperature: 48 degrees celsius Climate: Mediterranean

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The Business End IN RECENT YEARS Athens has well and truly been put on the map as one of the most exciting cities in Europe to visit, with thanks to the strategy put in place by the City of Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Alexis Galinos, Managing Director at Athens Development and Destination Management Agency explains: “Our strategy to actively promote the local conference infrastructure, our competitive conference infrastructure, facilities and the hospitality sector boom have all aided our city in its development.”

During the past year, Athens has created a far more dynamic strategy to enable itself to bid for new conferences that better showcase its competitive Alexis infrastructure and economic perspective, Galinos subsequently enabling the city to promote its many advantages.

Galinos adds: “We have been working on a series of collaborations and partnerships with large tourism stakeholders such as ASTA in order to ensure we are

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consistently building our international standing.”

More recently Athens has become firmly established as the top meeting destination in Greece, while also climbing into ICCA’s top 25 most popular meeting destinations worldwide. This rise can largely be attributed to the city’s highly qualified professionals working in the various fields of the tourism industry, and in particular business.

For the past five years, the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau has organised the signature annual trade event for the City of Athens, Travel Trade Athens in cooperation with the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA). This event has provided the region with a unique opportunity to develop firsthand business relationships with leading tourism suppliers in Athens, enabling them to discover new products and experiences.

It is through events such as these that Athens is becoming such a recognisable hub of activity for networking, while also offering an authentic city experience like no other.

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The Athens Concert Hall Organization Founded in 1981, the Athens Concert Hall Organization is a non-profit-making organization administered by an eleven-member board of trustees, the majority of whom are appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Finance, and whereas three of them are appointed by the Friends of Music – also a non-profit-making charitable association. - www.megaron.gr

Meet your “Event Maker” in Greece!

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Tel / Fax: +30 2109357170, +30 2109357144 130, Syngrou Avenue Athens 11745 Greece mpapadaki@eventmakers-dmc.gr

IMAGE: © KARAMANIAN

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Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau A HARSH REALITY for the tourism industry in Athens is that it was left without an official convention bureau for too long, despite that fact it has attracted a satisfactory MICE business volume.

The lack of an official institution that would coordinate promotion and bidding efforts, aid the destination’s market share growth, represent the city in international events and act as a point of reference for foreign MICE professionals or clients was becoming a pressing issue.

It was during 2007 that a critically important decision was made to proceed with all necessary steps towards establishing the first official City of Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau. After several months of thorough research into the best international practices, the Athens CVB was launched in early 2008.

Alexis Galinos, Managing Director at Athens Development and Destination Management Agency discusses the development of the Bureau over the years and its plans for the future.

its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across?

Alexis Galinos (AG): The ACVB has undergone many changes, in terms of corporate structure, business planning, marketing and promotion objectives, but one thing remains constant throughout. The aim is to always improve, becoming flexible so as to better follow the collective and joint efforts of its stakeholders and to achieve an ever better level of services. Since 2012, for example, it has been restructured and expanded - we actually leveraged and integrated the ’V’ in the ’Athens CB’ - while at the same time, it has been under constant evaluation and resourceful human capital management.

Europe & Middle East Outlook (EME): Since inception, how has Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau developed and progressed in terms of

Apart from its fundamental mission to promote Athens as an ideal and safe - safety and security, as you understand, has proven to

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be one of the most critical factors for destinations in Europe, during the past few years - destination for meetings, conferences and all about the MICE sector. The ACVB has managed to evolve successfully by enhancing its presence in the main and new source markets and as well as strengthening its institutional role. We have also pursued a more active and creative participation in international organisations and forums, like ICCA and of course we have raised the level of the City’s representation overseas, by upgrading our presence in trade shows and exhibitions and by organising targeted road shows in selected markets.

EME: Taking a more general industry stance, how would you evaluate the tourism sector in Athens now compared to its condition when the Visitors Bureau began?

AG: Most importantly, the City of Athens has been active in creating alliances to promote the standing of our city. Together with Aegean Airlines and the Athens International Airport, the City of Athens has formed the Athens Tourism Partnership.

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now consistently making the list of ICCA’s top conference destinations in Europe, confirming what we have accomplished these past few years in the area of business tourism. It is no exaggeration to say Athens is experiencing a “tourism spring”.

This landmark alliance brings together key players from the private and public sectors for the first time, to promote Athens as an ideal, contemporary year long city-break destination. Upon its foundation, the ATP, in collaboration with Marketing Greece, has launched a campaign called “One City. Never Ending Stories” that promotes the multitude of authentic experiences, on offer in Athens. A city that boasts more than 3,000 hours of sunlight a year, only 20 minutes from the renowned Athens Riviera, with countless sights, attractions, monuments, museums, neighbourhoods, shops, restaurants, colourful markets and bazaars.

Overall we have been reaping the rewards, with a record year for arrivals in Athens. An all time record of five million visitors, in 2017, not only boosted the local economy but also attracted investment by major hotel groups. Moreover, Athens is

EME: What is in store for Athens over the course of 2018 and beyond to continue the good work already commenced and to enhance its reputation as a tourism and business travel hub further in the future?

AG: Our immediate plans include the expansion and further development of our signature Travel Trade Athens event. So far we have been attracting professionals from more than 25 countries around the world but we are looking to attract an even more diverse crowd.

We are also planning to enrich our outward activities to attract associations and showcase our potential as a conference destination with targeted campaigns and events, in an effort to reposition the City of Athens in the MICE industry and to promote the Greek capital as a world-class meeting and convention destination.

and development would you hope and expect to be able to report back, both in regards to the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau as an entity, and in regards to the business travel industry in Athens as a whole?

AG: Athens is a great city to visit all year round and it is only fair that is has started to rise as an exciting southern Europe city trip destination. We know culture and the arts, history and heritage are significant reasons visitors come to Athens. We also recognise this unique combination is what makes Athens stand out. But the city is much more than this and our main goal is to highlight the long list of experiences on offer both for leisure and business visitors. I am confident that the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau will continue to work towards repositioning and promoting Athens as a world-class meeting and convention destination through activities that will establish Athens as one of the most competitive conference destinations revealing its potential and unique advantages.

EME: Finally, looking forward, if we were to speak again in three-five years time, what progress

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Out & About can offer for business tourists through a number of initiatives undertaken within the Athens Tourism Partnership.�

AEGEAN and the Athens International Airport have proven to be great team players for the Bureau, and have provided a real push to get more of the Athens tourism stakeholders involved in an effort to truly showcase the city for all its possibilities.

IN ORDER TO truly accomplish the new repositioning it is trying to achieve as a business travel destination, Athens is focusing on projects that will showcase the destination at its best. This includes demonstrating its extrovert personality and networking dynamics, while also promoting the city for its professionalism in event organisation, as well as its economic potential.

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Tourism in the city is massively evolving at present comprising activities such as Exclusive Athens Roadshows, a comprehensive bidding strategy, establishing a solid presence in exhibitions and B2B events and exploring the possibilities of business tourism.

Galinos explains: “We are looking to evolve our leisure tourist product for visitors, as well as what we

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Even before the exciting changes we are seeing in the city at present, Athens has always had a draw for tourism thanks to its rich history and endless culture to explore. If you have some spare time to explore between meetings, you will find that the city is best discovered on foot with the vast majority having been pedestrianised.

Depending on your personal preference for how to spend your downtime, there is something for everyone.

Perhaps you would like to take in the sights while relaxing in a street cafe, or alternatively taking in one of the many excellent museums that is full to the brim with history and culture, then ending your day in one of the many comfortable hotels available to offer you a home away from home experience.

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Outlook Recommends “With equal measures of grunge and grace, Athens is a heady mix of history and edginess.

Cultural and social life plays out amid, around and in ancient landmarks.” - Lonely Planet

MUSEUMS Benaki Museum

RETAIL

HOTELS Electra Palace Athens Hotel Athens Gate Hotel Boutique Hotel Athens

Moetary Museum Athens

Attica Athens Heart Mall The Mall Athens SIGHTSEEING

RESTAURANTS

Acropolis Museum Aleria Restaurant Oineas Restaurant Balcony Restaurant and Bar 34

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Temple of Olympian Zeus Odeon of Herodes Atticus Theatre of Dionysos

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Transport Links DURING THE PAST few years in particular, Athens’ infrastructural developments have evolved significantly, owing both to regional developments as well as strategic efforts to promote the city as an idea destination for business tourism.

One important part of the reason Athens has risen up as one of Southern Europe’s most exciting cities is its excellent location, only a few hours away from most of the main European

capitals. Athens is perfectly situated at the crossroads between East and West and has been growing in popularity as a regional hub.

“Since it opened in 2001, the Athens International Airport has become one of the fastest-growing airports globally, enriching its network with new carriers and destinations at regular intervals,” adds Galinos. “At the same time we have an expanding state-of-the-art transport network

that includes Metro, bus, tram, train, Trolleybus and a modern highway; all of which are at a very low cost.”

There are many quick and efficient forms of transport when you need to make your way around the city in a hurry, and as well as the aforementioned modes of transport, you can also easily catch one of the brightly coloured taxis that are a reasonably priced way to navigate the city.

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Landmark Attractions

Parthenon

“More than any other monument, the Parthenon epitomises the glory of Ancient Greece. Meaning ‘virgin’s apartment’, it’s dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the goddess embodying the power and prestige of the city.

The largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, and the only one built completely of white Pentelic marble (apart from its wooden roof), it took 15 years to complete. It was designed by Iktinos and Kallicrates and completed in time for the Great Panathenaic Festival of 438 BC.” - Lonely Planet

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Benaki Museum

“Antonis Benakis, a politician’s son born in Alexandria, Egypt, in the late 19th century, endowed what is perhaps the finest museum in Greece. Its three floors showcase impeccable treasures from the Bronze Age up to WWII. Especially gorgeous are the Byzantine icons and the extensive collection of Greek regional costumes, as well as complete sitting rooms from Macedonian mansions, intricately carved and painted.” - Lonely Planet

Acropolis

“The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed

by Greek Antiquity to the world…

The Acropolis of Athens is the most striking and complete ancient Greek monumental complex still existing in our times. It is situated on a hill of average height (156m) that rises in the basin of Athens. Its overall dimensions are approximately 170 by 350m. The hill is rocky and steep on all sides except for the western side, and has an extensive, nearly flat top.” - whc.unesco.org

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Temple of Olympian Zeus

“The building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus actually began in the 6th Century by Peisistratos but work was stopped either because of a lack of money or because Pisistratus’s son, Hippias, was overthrown in 510 BC. The temple was not finished until the Emperor Hadrian completed in 131 AD, seven hundred years later… Though only a few columns remain of the Temple of Olympia Zeus it does not take much imagination to realize that this was one monster of a building.” - athensguide.com

Byzantine & Christian Museum “The Byzantine and Christian Museum, which is based in Athens, is one of Greece’s national museums. Its areas of competency are centred on – but not limited to – religious artefacts of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval, post-Byzantine and later periods which it exhibits, but also acquires, receives, preserves, conserves, records, documents, researches, studies, publishes and raises awareness of.”

- byzantinemuseum.gr

IMAGE: ©G.DALLORTO

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

“One of the legendary sites that sits beneath the slopes of the Acropolis on the southwest side, is the stunning open-air theatre, Odeon of Herodes Atticus. When Pausanias visited Athens during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, he described the theatre as “the finest building of its type”.”

- whyathens.com

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MALMÖ n 2017, Malmö Turism became the first Swedish tourism organisation to achieve ISO certification 20121; an accreditation that not only affirms the entity’s credentials but that affirm the wider city’s ongoing and unwavering dedication to sustainability.

As part of the city’s goal, Malmö Turism has been systematically working with the notion of sustainability for a number of years leading up to the early-2017

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achievement; proving consistently that it is looking to improve the region in a socially and environmentally responsible way, while similarly encouraging partners to do the same.

A key driving force within this strategy was Malmö Convention Bureau. Incepting in 1999, it is the city’s official and public tourism organisation focusing on leisure travel, business travel, meetings, conferences, congresses and events. And few bodies have been instrumental in facilitating Malmö’s sustainable

growth in recent times.

“Malmö Convention Bureau acts as a neutral partner during the arrangement and hosting of a congress or event in Malmö,” introduces Project Manager, Camilla Ekberg. “We open doors on your behalf and our expertise, contacts and services are free of charge. This all ensures that you get a successful event in Malmö.”

Malmö Convention Bureau works closely with industry partners to promote Malmö and “it is together with them that we best can show

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Sustainable and Successful • Malmö comprises 33 hotels and more than 4,800 hotel rooms.

92 percent of these hotels are sustainable/eco-certified • Malmö was Sweden’s first fair trade city!

• Malmö Convention Bureau was Sweden´s first ISO 20121 certified local tourism organisation • A total of three restaurants in Malmö have been honoured with Michelin stars • Malmö is a compact cyclingfriendly city with more than 500 kilometres of cycle paths within the city • Malmö is ranked ninth in the GDS (Global Destination Sustainability)-index • The 2016 European Commission awarded Malmö with the “Best Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award”

Since the unveiling of Öresund Bridge in 2000, Malmö has leveraged its improved accessibility by making the city a sustainable and attractiveproposition to business and leisure travellers alike Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Ryan Grey Malmö’s possibilities”, Ekberg continues. “Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden and the home to more than 320,000 people with roots in more 174 countries, speaking 150 different languages.

“To all, we in Malmö want to offer a cosy and vibrant atmosphere with world-class, modern and unique venues, arenas and facilities.”

EME Outlook (EME): Since inception, how has the Malmö Convention Bureau developed and

progressed in terms of its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across?

Camilla Ekberg (CE): Our focus is more on the international market now then it was in the beginning, while internally we have also grown significantly in terms of employee numbers. We now have a stronger focus on institutions like Malmö University and Lund University to generate a strong focus on scientific congresses especially.

Above all though, our strongest

focus remains on sustainability, both in terms of acquiring meetings along this theme, but also through practical things like eliminating giveaways and printed materials, and making public transportation more efficient. This all contributed to Malmö Turism receiving ISO 20121certification in 2017.

EME: To this end, how would you say Malmö has developed in recent years as a business travel hub and what are the key reasons behind its growing appeal?

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“To all, we in Malmö want to offer a cosy and vibrant atmosphere with world-class, modern and unique venues, arenas and facilities.”

CE: Malmö has transformed from an industrial city into a young, vibrant, dynamic and knowledge-based city.

The population now has an average age of less than 35 years. Important factors to this transformation include the Öresund Bridge which connects Sweden with Denmark, and the opening of Malmö University. Having Copenhagen airport just 12 minutes away on the train makes Malmö easy to reach from all around the world.

Infrastructure has also been a key factor through projects like Hyllie, and various meetings and events hosted at

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Malmö Arena, Malmömässan Exhibition & Congress Centre, and two hotels.

The opening of Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö Live - both located right in the city centre - have also contributed to the growing international meeting industry of Malmö and during the course of three years we have increased overall hotel capacity by 25 percent.

EME: Taking a more general industry stance, how would you evaluate the tourism sector in Malmö now compared to its condition when

the Convention Bureau began?

CE: Since The Öresund Bridge opened (in 2000) tourism to Malmö has increased a lot, both when it comes to overnight stays and day visitors. The tourism turnover has developed in a positive way for Malmö.

Since 2000, several new venues, arenas, congress hall and hotels have opened in Malmö.

We have noticed a higher demand for city tourism and have seen a higher number of international meetings and congresses, visitors, tourists and events grace the city.

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“Since The Öresund Bridge opened (in 2000) tourism to Malmö has increased a lot, both when it comes to overnight stays and day visitors.”

“Having Copenhagen airport just 12 minutes away on the train makes Malmö easy to reach from all around the world.”

“Malmö has transformed from an industrial city into a young, vibrant, dynamic and knowledge-based city.”

The tourism industry in general offers more sustainable products and services and several of our partners are working within the confines of CSR as we know that sustainability is becoming an important factor in the choice of locations for conventions and international corporate meetings.

CE: 2017 events included Nordic Game, Nordea Masters, World Wind Energy Conference, 8th European Symposium on Plant Lipids, 6th FFN Global Congress 2017, DreamHack Masters, Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2017, Nordic Life Science Days, European Society of Neuroradiology, Urban EME: What is in store for Malmö Green Infrastructure – Connecting over the course of 2018 and People, and Nature for Sustainable beyond to continue the good work Cities. Meanwhile, in 2018, upcoming already commenced and to enhance its events include Parabere Forum reputation as a tourism and business 2018, Clean Energy Ministerial 2018 travel hub further in the future?

Malmø/Copenhagen, 36th Annual

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EME Meeting – ESPID, Fehmarnbelt Days 2018, European Cities Marketing International Conference & General Assembly 2018, International Congress of Group Psychotherapy, and The European Sport Management Conference 2018.

In terms of new facilities, the new quality hotel, The Mill will open in 2019, as will StayAt. Meanwhile, Malmö Arena Hotel is building a new conference centre and adding 100 hotel rooms.

Business-wise IKEA will open their own hotel in Malmö -Hyllie, where IKEA´s head office, IKANO Bank and IKANO real estate is located.

And finally, from a tourism perspective, Malmö now offers a number of Infopoints that provide basic tourist information for visitors in the form of brochures, maps and other information. We use social media to communicate with our visitors and tourists having closed down the tourist information centre in 2017.

EME: Finally, looking forward, what progress and development do you hope and expect to see, both in regards to the Malmö Convention Bureau as an entity, and in regards to the business travel industry in Malmö as a whole?

CE: In the coming years, the Convention Bureau will have hopefully grown in employee numbers; we will be higher up the ICCA and GDS-index rankings; we will have even higher hotel occupancy in the city; we will enjoy even stronger collaboration and connectivity with Copenhagen; and most importantly, Malmö will have become even more sustainable and attractive as a destination for meetings, events and tourism.

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SLOVENIA The expansion of Slovenia’s National Convention Bureau alludes to a general trend of business attraction occurring in the country at present, as will be showcased in the next edition of EME Outlook via an exclusive interview with the Slovenian Tourist Board Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Joe Palliser

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he Slovenian Tourist Board has strengthened its convention bureau offering, making it easier than ever for MICE organisers to establish events in the country. The convention bureau’s team has expanded, allowing greater levels of planning and administration for new MICE and business partners.

Slovenia is already an ideal choice for MICE and business meetings. Situated at the crossroads of Europe, it can be accessed from every direction by air, road and rail while its compact size allows meeting planners to create a fully diversified programme all within a single destination. Slovenia is also one of Europe’s greenest countries, offering outdoor activities that range from hiking and biking to golf and watersports.

The National Convention Bureau has created a series of MICE/business packages, focusing on the ‘Four Faces of Slovenia’. These four areas showcase Slovenia’s diverse landscape and outdoor activity offering, making it an ideal location for team building exercises and professional trips.

The expanded National Convention Bureau team will offer a suite of new services including the preparation of tailor-made bid documents and presentation materials, assistance finding and booking suitable venues, and suggestions for social programmes.

Other services include tailor-made site inspections for international meeting planners, assistance with public engagements, suggested partners for professional cooperation and creation of picture, video and other promotional materials.

The expansion of the department has already seen significant success with the introduction of events such as the ‘First Ever Ironman Event’ to be held in the country this September along with the International Golf Travel Market in October, 2018.

The four focus areas are: • Meetings in cities - From the vibrant and historical capital Ljubljana, with two congress centres and a number of special venues, to former European Capital of Culture, Maribor offering convention hotels and excellent wine routes.

• Meetings in the Alps - A variety of locations including Lakes Bled and Bohinj, Kranjska Gora and the Soca River Valley. Events for up to 500 delegates and a wealth of outdoor activities as well as golf courses with unrivalled Alpine views.

• Meetings on the coast and Karst - From the Mediterranean flair of coastal towns such as Portorož and Piran, with events for up to 1,100 delegates, to the underground world of Slovenia’s enigmatic Karst region.

• Meetings at Thermal Spas Combine your meetings and events with luxury spas offering traditional thalassotherapy therapies using Slovenia’s healthgiving natural ingredients such as saltpan mud and brine.

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Driving

INNOVATION

Williams Advanced Engineering’s track record at the heart of the UK’s drive for energy efficient performance is set to guide an ever-increasing portfolio of clients into the next era of sustainability Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

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EME or more than 40 years, the name ‘Williams’ has been synonymous with engineering excellence in the UK and indeed around the world. And since 2010, the renowned motorsport heavyweight’s devoted Advanced Engineering arm has managed to translate tradition and legacy into one of the most forwardthinking and innovative propositions in the industry.

Initially set up to partner with Jaguar on its C-X75 hypercar project, the division - operating simultaneously and in alignment with its neighbouring Williams F1 operations - has diversified and expanded in such a way as to offer some of the most pertinent and challenging solutions to an-ever changing domain.

Now serving not just the automotive and motorsport space, but additionally areas of aerospace, defence, sports science, energy, marine and much, much more; the Company exists currently as a technology and innovation-driven solutions provider across engineering disciplines, rather than a sector-focused provider of tailored components.

Such acumen has inevitably attracted numerous high-end clients to the front door of Williams Advanced Engineering’s Oxfordshire-based headquarters in the UK. But, as Managing Director, Craig Wilson emphasises in an exclusive interview with EME Outlook, the overriding trends at present remain familiar and consistent from a solutions perspective.

“The big drivers all revolve around sustainability and energy efficiency, so this includes areas of lightweighting, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, and battery development; more often than not incorporated into the EV (electric vehicle) sector,” he says. “These capabilities are all borne out of our core business and are increasingly significant if you look at any area of transportation just now. It’s the way the industry is heading and I would say it gives us quite a good edge in the market.”

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Upon entering the Company’s facilities at Grove, the spotlight on electric vehicles is hardly a secret; its FW-EVX concept platform dominating the lobby, and serving as an immediate indication of where the Company’s attentions and indeed strengths lie in this rapidly intensifying segment of global engineering.

“We are very proud of the FW-EVX for the components and elements it showcases; which we will look to improve-upon and exploit across other solutions in the future,” Wilson continues. “For instance, it highlights battery development manufacturing which is a key area for us alongside lightweight composites and materials. As well as the battery management system, the EVX also incorporates innovations across aerodynamics and thermodynamics as further ways to improve efficiencies and safety for this platform.

“It’s the efficiency of the platform but also the weight and the structure which revolves around the arrangement of composites, thermal performance and generally a more holistic approach to the concept.”

Of course, the art of efficiency is no new weapon on the automotive battlefield but as more and more Tier 1 manufacturers look to gain an advantage in the EV arena, the onus then transfers to the likes of Williams Advanced Engineering to facilitate the trend’s ongoing evolution.

Wilson says: “Vehicle efficiency has always been important for the internal combustion engine but nothing like the challenge with EVs which has taken the approach to efficiency to a new level for manufacturers and their products.

And as more companies introduce more products, the challenge then becomes: “what’s the USP?” “If it’s now the market staple, the differentiator for a vehicle isn’t going to be whether you have a V12 or a V6, but it’s going to be aspects of range, weight, aerodynamics, drag and battery life as the key indicators of performance.”

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Craig Wilson (left), Managing Director of Williams Advanced Engineering briefs Greg Clark, the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The independence, assets and know-how were all here to be exploited and expanded upon but it did all start after being approached by Jaguar regarding the undertaking of the C-X75. Back then, Williams Advanced Engineering was a project. Now, it’s a business

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Wilson notes: “The independence, assets and know-how were all here to be exploited and expanded upon but it did all start after being approached

by Jaguar regarding the undertaking of the C-X75. Back then, Williams Advanced Engineering was a project.

Now, it’s a business.”

It wasn’t as if the newly tailored arm was launching from a standing start of course; its industry experience and reputation in the Formula 1 space already presenting perfect foundations for these kinds of innovations to be applied elsewhere.

But in harnessing advanced aerodynamics, thermodynamics, lightweighting, electric propulsion, innovative chassis dynamics, simulation capabilities and overall vehicle integration under one car roof, the C-X75 proved to be a real eye opener as to what an arm like this could achieve on a more expansive basis.

“Although the C-X75 programme did not progress, we did produce five prototypes that could demonstrate performance that was quite spectacular at that time,” Wilson enthuses. “The high level targets

EME were that this car could out-accelerate a Bugatti Veyron, would have the fuel emissions of a Toyota Prius, and would have an electrical range that could match a Chevrolet Volt. And all packaged into this beautiful exotic car.

“Our five prototypes demonstrated these high level targets and while it was a shame that the programme didn’t proceed, it did represent the modern start of Williams Advanced Engineering, and we’ve since taken a lot of what we learnt during that project and deployed it to a multitude of different projects.”

Subsequently combining four decades-worth of F1 expertise with this unparalleled exploration into a soonto-be critical automotive trend, the consequential portfolio of capabilities now serves as a one-stop shop to prospective customers. To this end, as many as 40-50 projects for between 20 and 30 customers are being undertaken at any one time in the present day: the ultimate illustration of the C-X75’s initial significance, and the potential of more widespread engineering services that were always bubbling under the surface.

High level targets

In 2018, Williams Advanced Engineering is unique in what it is able to achieve, with no other dedicated operator blessed with the same inhouse breadth of scope, resources, affiliations and capabilities. However, upon the department’s inception back in 2010, the focus wasn’t necessarily on fostering an autonomous, turnkey, industry-leading function; rather it was wholly directed towards its genesis: the Jaguar C-X75 programme.

The Jaguar C-X75 prototype

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Williams has two worldclass wind tunnels on site with support specialists in aerodynamics, which are available to customers as well as being used by the F1 team

The future of technologies

The best way to then optimise such potential is to expand influence and reach, and Williams Advanced Engineering has succeeded on this front, not necessarily via a concerted push into new sectors, but rather through an unwavering commitment to engineering progression that naturally facilitates solutions on a more multi-sector basis.

Cross-pollinating a whole host of developments across efficiency, structure, aerodynamics, battery systems and composites; the resultant expertise not only means an organic expansion of the Company’s client

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base, but a business-savvy spreading of risk from an income perspective.

“It has been a concerted effort not to have all our eggs in one basket and to not place undue risk on any one sector that we work within,” Wilson affirms. “That being said, we are also in a position where we can capitalise on the element of opportunistic growth when certain opportunities come along and when we have the capabilities in-house to meet their challenges.

“However, over the past couple of years we have started to become more strategic with what projects we’re targeting from a business perspective, focusing more on alignments from a

technology point of view.”

Ensuring that every project is being completed to stringent market-leading standards as opposed to trying to be “all things to all men”, Wilson recalls a time immediately after the C-X75’s dissolution where momentum and developing a project portfolio was of the essence. But now that a track record has been cemented, a snowball effect has duly taken place.

“Back in those early days we were delivering on or commercialising what we knew and what we had around us, and while that continues to be the case today, we can now also turn attentions towards investing in the future of

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technologies,” the MD adds. “We’ve gone from offering simply what is best practice currently to now look at what technologies are going to keep us at the forefront in certain areas for the future as well. We can then come back to customers’ proposals with an even better technical offering, to deliver either as a single application or part of a bigger project.

“Through this approach, we are able to target our R&D and solutions towards applications that solve common problems across numerous sectors, rather than towards each sector individually.”

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of being a Williams entity, but the business’s drive to up-skill young talent in the UK represents a much more allencompassing ethos.

A large placement programme for university graduates has been in place to this end across both Williams Advanced Engineering and Williams F1, but running parallel are a host of investments and affiliations in place to fund PhD students through their own engineering journeys; to help

EME accelerate research topics and to explore the possibility of moving them forward if successful.

“We weren’t doing this kind of thing at all in 2010 but we do much more of it now as part of our willingness to promote young engineers in the UK,” Wilson states. “We are a proud engineering company so we want to encourage the next generation of engineers, and to give them opportunities and careers.”

Fresh impetus

R&D optimisation requires a bridging of the gap between proof of concept and the ultimate commercial routes for each project to be applied to respective sectors. And with this in mind, Williams Advanced Engineering collaborates with universities on an ongoing basis to form a mutually beneficial merger of technical facilitation, and skills enrichment.

Being an employer of choice naturally comes with the territory

We weren’t doing this kind of thing at all in 2010 but we do much more of it now as part of our willingness to promote young engineers in the UK

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Operating alongside this business, the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund was set up to “support disruptive technology through high performance engineering and proven investing”, targeting startup investors’ nascent projects and giving them a platform and direction to plot a route to commercialisation.

Wilson further details: “In our first couple of years we had a lot of people coming to us wondering if we could assist, but back then we didn’t have the means to invest in their business as well

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as our own. But a lot of these ideas were really great and from a UK perspective we knew it would be great to see these ideas succeeding. So now that we have the means, through this Fund, we can look to help these small businesses for the benefit of the industry in the UK generally.”

He continues: “It also keeps you sharp. It’s easy to get caught in your own bubble, but by integrating and communicating with these new ideas, it brings fresh impetus into what else is going on in the world for us and our partners.”

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A more sustainable UK

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Wilson goes on to note that such affiliations and involvement in embryonic, exciting start-up-generated ideas reinstalls a certain ‘new company buzz’ that many presentday employees missed out on when Williams Advanced Engineering began back in 2010.

A comparable way to bring such emotions to the fore then becomes diversification, and the ability to continually reinvent the business; albeit in line with pre-existing, established, recognised attributes.

One such change of tack will see the Company branch out into the manufacture and supply domain in the coming years, once again capitalising on capabilities that are already present within the business.

“It’s not like we want to be a threat to Tier 1s from this perspective, but if we see a gap then we would certainly like to be in it,” Wilson confirms.

EME “Simultaneously though, we are also working in collaboration with some Global Systems Suppliers in this space, supporting them with their own roadmaps.

“Ultimately, we just want to see the UK be more successful, and with an engineering capacity that’s not finite, we are willing to explore gaps in the supply market should they arise, all the while helping operators already in that space to improve their offering as well.

Our role is to help produce a more sustainable UK.” Diversification is no mean feat for many operators of Williams’ ilk and size, with flexibility and agility not the usual attributes of a large-scale provider. In this case though, the balance of a large enterprise influence with small company entrepreneurship is still alive and well.

As the Company grows and continues its success, it both returns money to the parent company and invests in itself to sustain that growth.

Williams is based in Grove in Oxfordshire, UK with the Formula One team and the Williams Advanced Engineering business all on one single campus

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An example of technology transfer is Babypod, taking the protective principles of an F1 cockpit and applying it to the transportation of critically ill infants

This ensures that the ultimate emphasis always stems back to continuous improvement; an advantage in rapidity that is all the more pivotal in the current climate, representing an investment into a nascent business leading the way into a fledgling new area of development for humanity.

“It’s a really exciting time we live in even though there are a lot of threats, because there’s so much development going on,” Wilson says.

“It has been said that there’s going to be more development going on in the automotive space in the next 10 years than there’s been in the last 50, and it’s quite true.

“But at the same time it could be a volatile period as well. You have to have your eyes wide open and know exactly what’s going on because quite quickly you can get it wrong and be out of touch. If someone gets ahead

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The Williams Advanced Engineering battery, which currently powers all the cars on the Formula E grid

of the pack in coming up with next best thing in battery technology - for example - it will then be a gamechanger for everybody else.”

Voyage of discovery

Williams has never been one to shy away from breaking new ground. Its

recent Advanced Engineering developments are merely the latest in more than four decades of headline-making successes deriving from the Company’s glorious history in motorsport.

And even if one strand of the sporting assortment is performing slightly below expectations, Williams Advanced Engineering’s more widespread contributions ensure that there is always something positive to shout about; none more so in recent times than - aptly - its involvement in Formula E. “Formula E is a great learning platform for us because I remember when the series was first launched and we were providing batteries, it was all a bit of a voyage of discovery,” Wilson says. “We had a restricted timeframe and did as much testing as possible, and our teams really began to push the boundaries of how to almost push the

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batteries to the limit and extract the most performance from them.

“In turn, it provided us with an accelerated platform to learn from and then apply to other aspects of the engineering business too.”

Testing is one thing, but the proof of success has come from an incredible track record that includes only two battery-related stoppages in three-anda-half years of racing; both of which emanated from loose connectors on bumpy tracks and all the more impressive given that each driver has two cars per race.

Williams Advanced Engineering’s technical partnership with the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team in Formula E mirrors the spread of success that has largely driven the Company’s evolution over the past seven years, and is further epitomised by a similar partnership with Porsche and its Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) programme.

Wilson adds: “Porsche had three backto-back Le Mans wins and many of our people who work in F1 typically, were able to revel in that success by virtue of their helping Porsche in our wind tunnel facilities. So, from a human satisfaction perspective, the same people that would love to see Williams F1 return to former glories, are still cheering on involvement elsewhere. Whether it’s

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the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E team, three championships in a hugely competitive world endurance championship or in Formula E, where all the cars are powered by batteries made by our team that have not had an on-track failure in 24 consecutive races, our people are still delivering racing successes.”

So much affection

Essentially, as it has always done, achievement comes down to facing challenges head-on and in leveraging an intrinsic will to solve the biggest challenges in contemporary engineering. It’s a differentiator that not only maintains Williams’ status as a

EME leading operator, but that continues to endear the business to UK as a whole.

Wilson concludes: “Williams has a great name, and a lot of integrity and ‘can-do’ that comes with it. It amazes me that to this day, after more than 40 years in business, not a bad word is said about the name no matter what is happening on the track at any particular time.

“It’s been a hugely successful company over the years but never in an arrogant way. Always hard-fought, and that’s why there is still so much affection for Williams across all levels.

And for us, it’s about instilling this tradition into the innovative solutions with which we continue to attract customers.

Inside a Williams wind tunnel

“Our approach facilitates longstanding relationships, while our commitment to engineering is encapsulated in wanting to solve the biggest challenges out there, in a good, efficient, robust way. And that’s what we’ll continue to strive towards in the future.

“We’re never where we want to be, because that would mean stopping. We’re doing well, but we’ll never believe that we’ve reached our destination. There’s still more to do, in our fields there always will be.

That’s what makes our business so fascinating.”

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FUTURE Developing Customer Specific Solutions

ila Group has expanded significantly in both size and scope since its establishment in 1943, initially operating as a small, family owned, Italian metal components company in Turin.

With a gradual shift during the following 30-40 years, Sila moved from being a small metal component manufacturer to become a fullyfledged, Tier 1 automotive components manufacturer and a local Italian supplier for Fiat. In the early 80s, Sila became one of the first suppliers to develop and produce manual shifting systems that connected the gear shifter to the gearbox using push-pull cables, providing the automotive customers it worked alongside with some great advantages; including vehicle layout flexibility, vibration reduction and significant gear- change noise reduction. This technology changed and very quickly became the standard for most manual shifters.

“With thanks - in part - to that initial extensive development work with Fiat, during the 1990s Sila was able to focus on international expansion,”

Sila Group, with an established reputation to rival competitors across the globe, is developing innovative automotive shifting systems that make it an ideal business development partner globally

and then consolidated its footprint to seven separate manufacturing operations in six countries and three global regions. With its headquarters and technology centre still based on the outskirts of Turin, Sila Group has wholly owned manufacturing operations in Italy (two), Poland, China, Brazil, Argentina, plus a majority owned joint venture in India.

Today, Sila remains privately owned by the same Brero /Pavesio families who started the business 75 years ago.

Writer: Phoebe Calver Project Manager: Thomas Arnold explains Chris Dixon, Sila Group’s Chief Executive Officer. “Sila had expanded to create manufacturing operations in Poland, France, Brazil, Turkey, Argentina and Morocco. By the beginning of the new millennium, Sila had grown to be a truly international automotive components supplier.”

During the following years Sila Group’s development continued to the point it has now reached in the present day, having expanded

Edoardo Pavesio, President

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Shareholders are part of the top management team and Edoardo Pavesio is the President of the Sila Group.

Dixon continues: “While a significant proportion of Sila’s global business is still supplied to the wider FCA Group including Fiat, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Sevel, in recent years we have significantly grown our sales and widened our customer portfolio to include many important vehicle programmes with Mercedes Benz, BMW, Mini, Toyota, General Motors, Maruti, Suzuki, PSA, Geely, Great Wall, Iveco, Volvo Truck, and many more.”

Adapting technology

With such a longstanding history, the Company has remained true to its vision throughout and works tirelessly to be recognised as the customers’

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preferred automotive gear shifting supplier.

“The vast majority of our work is not simply taking the customers’ design and manufacturing the final component or assembly. In many cases, we co-design alongside the customer and bring both wellestablished and innovative solutions to their attention,” affirms Dixon. “This means that we are able to take the detailed performance requirements of each customer, and translate this into a detailed shifting system solution that will both guarantee shifter performance and offer a cost effective solution.”

“Leading on from the importance of co-design, it is very important to be able to offer the customer innovative new solutions to meet the rapidly changing market needs,”

Chris Dixon, Sila Group Chief Executive Officer

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TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

now utilising its extensive production skills to offer a full and bespoke range of editorial, design and marketing services

Production technology: Thermoplastic injection moulding

via its new Outlook Creative Services division.

Equipments: 14 Injection Molding machines (from 70 Tons to 1100 Tons); Automated Feeding Station

Main Services: Product Design, Design and Construction Mould, Design and Development Processes, Tests

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N V I S I T:

Plasticform srl - zona industriale S. Nicola 85025 Melfi - PZ - ITALY Email: info@plasticform.it | Ph. +39 0972 762012 | Fax: +39 0972 762344

www.outlookpublishing.com/creative-services

explains Pavesio. “We are clear that future growth will not be achieved simply by doing more of the same, which is where our innovative spirit as a company comes into its own; for such reasons in the past few years we created a specific team fully dedicated to innovation.”

The industry itself and automotive shifting product requirements are both changing much faster than in the past and Sila therefore needs to operate in a more innovative manner to facilitate these advancements. Sila is now strongly focused on the design and introduction of new high-performance technology with a range of electronic, by-wire, shifter products as well as many value-added features for current manual and automatic shifters.

“The market trends which will impact Sila are pretty clear and include autonomous driving, cockpit space optimisation and ergonomics, a gradual shift from manual to electronic shifters, more ambitious aesthetic

www.plasticform.it

designs, etc. It is therefore essential that we continue our development of, and focus upon the introduction of electronic shifters which now fit well into our product portfolio.”

Leading on from the importance of co-design, it is very important to be able to offer the customer innovative new solutions to meet the rapidly changing market needs

Strength in partnerships

These changes in market requirements mean that Sila and its partners have also had to adapt rapidly, including an extension of manufacturing and technology skills – moving from mechanical excellence, through mechatronics to electronics, software and hardware development. The way Sila does business and the way it produces and designs its product has also had to evolve. While Sila is nurturing many of these new skills inhouse within the Group globally, it has also recently partnered with external technology and design experts to accelerate its response to these market changes.

“We have drawn up these partnerships with companies including

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The Institute of European Design (IED) and Politecnico di Torino amongst others,” adds Pavesio. “Utilising one of these partnerships, Sila was present at the recent 2018 Geneva Motor Show as part of a joint project with IED. In Geneva, we were able to showcase our innovative shifter ideas with a functioning and novel design prototype shifter, as part of an offroad concept vehicle (Kite) which was designed by IED on behalf of Hyundai.”

In parallel, Sila’s new products and designs are also directed towards the needs of younger drivers globally who have been brought up in the computer and computer games age and who may have less need for direct vehicle ownership. Sila’s new products are also therefore directed at this group including safety and security features that can be advantageous for car sharing.

“In the past couple of years, we have had to shift our design and product engineering focus towards these new trends, recruit and develop new people & skills, and ensure our people are knowledgeable in these areas

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moving forward,” explains Dixon. “We have an excellent core team around us locally, as well as globally; however, we have had to ensure we source the right people to meet the changing industry needs. Although we may be smaller than some of our global competitors, we have the advantage of flexibility in the face of the rapid changes we are witnessing in the market today.”

World-class products

When it comes to competitive advantages within the industry, Sila’s global footprint, history and strong customer base continues to make it a force to be reckoned with.

Dixon continues: “Our customers know that they are going to receive world-class products and that is a defining factor for us. We are also increasing our focus on innovation within these products. We recognise the importance of maintaining our strong competitive position to stay ahead of the industry in terms of growth.”

Sila can demonstrate an example of a recent success from this approach with the award of new business from VW Group which will go into production at the beginning of 2020. Sila is also working closely on potential additional programmes with the same customer.

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Manual gearshifter

Characterisation bench at Sila headquarters, Italy

Dixon and Pavesio conclude: “In order to ensure that we are properly equipped to handle these new opportunities and the modern market demands, we must also look closely at maintaining and strengthening the core foundations of the business. To that end, Sila is introducing new ERP and financial consolidation software and hardware, initially in Europe in 2018 to be followed by a global roll-out in the future. In 2018 Sila will become one of the first automotive Tier 1 suppliers to introduce the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system, running completely on

cloud. While this is a major step for Sila, we are confident that this will increase operational efficiency and effectiveness throughout our business.

“Over the next three-five years, we confidently look forward to seeing the fruits of today’s efforts and of the work that we are doing today regarding innovation. While we expect our historical product base will continue to go from strength to strength, these new technological advancements are becoming firmly ingrained in the Sila DNA and will become a core element of Sila’s global business in the 2020s.”

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International COOPERATION SWDE is ironing out the details in operational performance, ensuring its customers receive the best possible service through creating strategies for excellence Writer: Phoebe Calver | Project Manager: Richard Thomas

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WATER TREATMENT meets this need for both residential and industrial uses.

For more than 15 years we have developed innovative products to allow for clean water.

Our company, Dr. Nähring Water Treatment GmbH, was started by Dr. Jens Nähring in the year 2002 in Stuttgart, Germany. Since then we have increased in quantity of products, services and personnel.

“Clean water is a basic need“ – this has been our motto over the past years and our motivation to develope products that are compatible with enviromental requirements.

Working hand in hand with authorities we keep optimizing our products.

Dr. Jens Nähring, Schönbergstr. 35, 73760 Ostfildern-Kemnat T: +49 711 914 58 471-73 | F: +49 711 914 584 75 | E: marcy.naehring@dr-naehring.de

Currently our product range covers more than 30 cleaners and antiscalants each.

Additionally we offer flocculants and biocides as well.

Our customers mainly plant manufacturers, end customers and distributors operate worldwide.

Distributors as partners in different European countries reselling our products, plant manufacturers building facilities to gain clean drinking water or to recycle process water. Most of our end customers are local authorities and muncipalitues who want to make drinking water accessible for their region.

Our research and development sector is running studies to improve the performance of our products more in small membrane systems and with varios testing methods. Furthermore, we offer membrane autopsies and analyses of scalings or foulings in our laboratory.

We want to use our expertise to proceed the access of drinking water for everyone.

This can either mean to assist in laying out and planning plants or cleaning water with products that do not harm the enviroment or any human.

Any way to obtain clean water and enlargen accessibility of clean water is our goal!

WWW.DR-NAEHRING.DE

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Strategic planning

In its present day state the Company employs around 1,340 people, with a strategic plan in place to downsize its work force to 1,200 people by 2022.

This will represent an effort of around 20 percent of the global FTE over a 10year period of time.

“We put a strategic plan in place five years ago, with two very specific targets in mind,” continues Smit.

“Initially the two targets seemed to be in contradiction of each other, however, they have come together over the years as part of the bigger picture for our Company.

“The first objective was about investing heavily in both people and facilities, with the average age of our pipe-network currently at around 56 years old. We saw the need to invest in the renewal of our facilities and production/distribution networks.”

The Company has set fixed targets of approximately 100 million per year for its investment pipeline and facilities ocated in the southern region of Belgium, Societe Wallone des Eaux (SWDE) has a rich history in the area that has led it to become a recognised industry leader, with a reputation for excellence.

The Company serves a large territory and has been doing so since it was formed as a National Company in the 80s, when it was known as the Belgium Water National Company. Shortly after SWDE was in need of rejuvenation, and this gave life to its new name and new outlook on conducting business in the region.

SWDE was formed under strict regulations that would ensure it best served the people of the region, and due to this its present day state sees the Company supply one million drinking water connections through to approximately 2.3 million people.

“It is important to note that we are

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Committed to fixed targets

working solely within the drinking water sector,” explains Eric Smit, Board Member of the Executive Committee. “Everything related to the sanitation of water and wastewater is something that we do not involve ourselves in, although it is important to what we do and the way we are able to run our day-to-day operations.”

allowing it to carry out the required work to a high standard.

Smit adds: “Our second objective for the strategy involves finding ways to keep our water bills at a sustainably affordable price for our customers, which has always been our aim. We have set our target on achieving an average of 0.5 percent of a household budget to be spent on drinking water.”

CLEAN WATER – The Liquid Force of our Lives • Clean and safe water is vital for everyday life • Every living being requires water to grow and to reproduce • Water is a primordial necessity for health, hygiene, and the productivity of our community Approximately 50 years ago, the common perception was that water was a limitless resource, but this perception did not take into consideration the fast growth of our population and our changing eating habits.

On the contrary, only three percent of all the earth’s water is fresh water and 97 percent is inconsumable salt water. Roughly more than two-thirds of this fresh water is contained in our frozen glaciers and polar ice caps. The approximately remaining third of unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction of this being present above ground.

Freshwater is a renewable resource, yet the world’s supply of groundwater is steadily decreasing.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights has established a foundation of “5 core attributes for water security and sustainability”. They have declared: “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use.” This sounds great; however, the reality is very different!

More than three million people die annually due to clean water scarcity!

What can we do to enforce this declaration?

The statement that “there is enough water

for everyone” is difficult to stomach when you know the hard facts! More than three million people die every year in developing countries, mainly children under five years of age, due to water pollution and water scarcity.

What can we say to a mother who has no clean water and has to helplessly watch her children die: “It is government’s fault?!” Pointing fingers will not be the solution!

Being a part of the solution!

How can we, as the Dr. Nähring Water Treatment GmbH, be a part of the solution of this ever-increasing and urgent problem? We desire to assist developing countries as well as all other countries to secure the sustainability of their clean drinking water. We will have to: • Achieve primary wastewater treatment • Carefully analyse wastewater outfall with the purpose of decreasing its impact on our drinking water and ecosystems • Share our knowledge and technology; our knowledge of cost-effective wastewater and water treatment systems • Reduce our water consumption, especially in developed countries • Increase protection of ecosystems, especially wetlands and riparian zones God has given us a wonderful blue planet!

Let’s collaborate and team up to preserve it for our future generations!

Marcy Nähring Dr Nähring Water Treatment GmbH

T +49 711 914 58 471-73 F +49 711 914 584 75 E marcy.naehring@dr-naehring.de

www.dr-naehring.de

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Keeping water costs reasonable, via innovation and investment

This aim is a part of the management agreement that links the Company to the Walloon Region in which it operates, with the main obligations based on keeping annual expenses at a reasonable level.

Smit states: “In summary, our operational strategy for the future of the Company is based on two conditions; keeping the cost of water at a reasonable level, while also guaranteeing a significant level of investment and renewal of our networks within the region. That will be achieved through a substantial driving down of our overall running costs by around 15 percent over a 10-year period of time.”

In the past SWDE has achieved success with thanks to the close monitoring of its operational strategies.

For example, leading up to 2016 the Company worked on the simplification of its management structure through the reorganisation of its production and distribution activities and making room for lean management.

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“This allowed the management team and key players in the field to work closely together using our new management model,” Smit describes.

“We were able to redefine the operational processes, which gave us more flexibility in other areas of the business to reconsider how we were organising our activities.”

When the Company decided to approach the subject of its strategic plan for 2022, opinions were very positive about the targets being set thanks to past experiences in this area.

Smit continues: “Our aims are always reasonable but ambitious and what better proof of our success than winning a prize for the Organisation Publique de l’Année (Public Organisation of the Year) in 2016.”

Key philosophies

In order to meet with the aforementioned strategic plan, SWDE created seven core priority projects to aid it during this time.

Eric van Nispen

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onderware is an industrial software editor, inventor in 1987 of the first Windows-based industrial supervisory system, and delivering nowadays a complete portfolio of open, scalable, easy-to-use, secure and versatile industrial software solutions empowering people to connect, control, understand, and optimise their operations. Wonderware Benelux B.V. is the exclusive distributor and certified training and support centre of Wonderware in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, acting since 1996 with an experienced team of support engineers and a certified network of system integrators.

Water production facilities generally suffer from a lack of homogeneity in their automation design and supervision. They are so made complex to manage, maintain and troubleshoot and the management team does not always have total control. The risks of incidents are therefore important and the resolution time of these increased.

In this context, SWDE has defined standards (hardware and software) for its production facilities in its R&D programmes, from the sensor or the equipment to the supervision and integration systems to drastically reduce development costs, error risks of, and to control the entire automation pyramid.

SWDE aims to harmonise its facilities (four dam reservoirs, seven production centers, 1,000-plus production water pumping sites) and to supervise them via a new centralised system installed in two central dispatches.

This project is carried out as part of the replacement of facilities whose technology is ageing, or outdated, but also with the aim of reducing maintenance and investment costs while allowing the appropriation of the management and maintenance of these facilities by the operating staff.

A methodology and different tools have been developed by SWDE to achieve a high level of control of both hardware and software installations.

In 2010, SWDE launched a European open tendering for the replacement of its global supervision system of its production and transport facilities.

At the end of a rigorous selection marathon which took almost two years, Wonderware was finally selected as the sole and global partner among seven bidders. Wonderware’s references in industrial and infrastructure applications have demonstrated the real capabilities of the solution.

Over the years, Wonderware has become a key partner for SWDE to achieve its goals.

SWDE indeed needs an object-oriented system, allowing the implementation of standardisation at all levels. Since investments are made for many years, sustainability, flexibility and scalability are essential. Wonderware does not limit the size of developments and allows to adapt to the organisational vision of SWDE while allowing to link strategic enterprise applications (Wonderware, SAP, GIS, Unilab).

Key benefits are: • Harmonisation at all levels • Effective, reliable, resource-efficient application base • Fast and easy integration and maintenance

by SWDE teams • Architecture integration with other applications • Cost reduction

T +32 (0) 3 328 07 40 (Belgium) T +31 (0) 76 579 41 00 (The Netherlands)

www.wonderware-benelux.com

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AVK BELGIUM NV

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VK Belgium NV is a supplier for the main utility companies and contractors in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The Company is part of the AVK Group, a worldwide renowned producer of high quality valves, hydrants, and accessories for the water and gas distribution network, sewage treatment, fire protection and industrial applications.

The Company’s products are designed to the major international standards and are ISO, OHSAS and GSK certified.

A shared vision, individual commitment, and collective discipline

Read more on:

www.avkvalves.eu

The first of these projects involved the lean reorganisation of both its activities and management team, becoming one of the key philosophies of the Company and a great contributor to its recent success in the industry. This required a large-scale cultural change within SWDE, which so far has been incredibly successful due to the efforts of each member of staff involved.

“Linking in nicely with our lean management restructuring process, we have also worked on becoming more agile in terms of our HR management,” explains Smit. “We have come from a dominantly top-down culture of management, which we have had to change quite dramatically.”

Moving on from the management structure within the Company, it has also placed a focus on technical projects and securing water supply for the territory in terms of both quantity and quality.

Smit states: “We had to question how we would be able to reinforce water supply across the territory, while

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also safeguarding the supplies for both the customer and industry.

“We have also had to look into getting more efficiency in other areas of our business; including our telemetry and telemanagement information systems. As in all industries, this is becoming increasingly important to both the safety and efficiency of our business, which has also aided us in our fifth philosophy to improve our network performance in terms of monitoring losses.”

The sixth philosophy in the SWDE’s strategic plan involves the improvement of knowledge in asset management, which is incredibly important to its investment prospects.

Smit adds: “We realised that if you spend money in the wrong place at the wrong time, it will be to no avail and therefore asset management is a key issue for us to prioritise our investments renewals.”

Lastly the importance of interactivity with the customer and providing a

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more customer-centric service has been brought to the fore, starting with a push for a reshape of its website.

“We have realised that it is easier for our customers to get in touch with us on a website, and recent interactivity studies have found that more than a third of our customers have created an account and are connected to us via either the website or social media channels,” explains Smit. “This is having a direct impact on our outgoings, with thanks to the reduction of calls and costs relating to mailing and paperwork.”

Individual commitment and collective discipline

In its recent history SWDE’s operation management was divided between its various independent branches, which was done to align with the direct legacy of the Company’s former regional offices. From that point onwards it was able to move from a regionally-based structure to an organisation built upon the

We are proud of the developments we are seeing at present, making positive changes and delivering on our planned results such as reducing the water losses previously seen on the networks

varying skills and occupations such as distribution, sales and production.

“As the years have passed our operational strategy has become increasingly transversal,” continues Smit. “With thanks to our new organisational framework, our facilities located across Wallonia all share unified aims, employ the same resources and applying the same working methods.”

All of the developments made by the Company in recent years have been carried out in a relatively calm social climate, enabling SWDE to successfully carry out projects to a set time scale.

“We are proud of the developments we are seeing at present, making positive changes and delivering on our planned results such as reducing the water losses previously seen on the networks,” concludes Smit. “This confidence has allowed us to be more creative, innovative and subsequently more successful, taking our shared vision, individual commitment and collective discipline to the next level.”

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VALUE in the Pipeline Water-link is close to completing its evolution from commodity supplier to service provider, as the Flanders based entity looks to diversify its water operations, its client demographic and its technological solutions Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Richard Thomas

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EME espite a history that can be traced back to 1881, it is very much the future that formulates water-link’s philosophy, outlook and operations, as Flanders’ primary producer of drinking water strives to stay ahead of the industry curve.

Servicing both the Port of Antwerp and indeed the rest of Belgium, its overriding reputation and focus revolves around the former in being the sole drinking water provider in the city and its surrounding region. And while more than 100 years of evolution is important to the company you see today, the change of name to waterlink in the early 2000s has laid a more recent platform for a forward-thinking entity to thrive amid fluctuating conditions.

Diversification has been more of a necessity than a wish, as the Company looks to spread its business risk and apply its industry knowledge on a broader scale.

“Today the Company’s activities are divided into three markets: the delivery of drinking water to the public, the delivery of drinking water to other Flemish water companies, and the delivery of products and services to the industrial market,” introduces Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Franky Cosaert.

“In the residential market we provide drinking water to both residential and professional clients but this initial core activity shows a trend of water consumption going down, even taking into account the population increase.

“Further, prices have risen strongly since 2008 due to the introduction of a uniform rate for drinking water, sewage services and wastewater treatment which is based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle.”

A recent Flemish Government decree has subsequently ensured that a new ‘comfort rate’ will bring about uniformity but at an even higher rate, with the business now concerned

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AVK BELGIUM NV

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ater is a scarce resource that we need to secure for the next generations and a growing population.

Reducing water leakages is an important task to avoid non-revenue water, water that has been produced by the water companies but never reaches the customer.

Therefore, AVK offers solutions to reduce water loss. Together with water-link we contribute to optimised water supply management.

Choosing AVK products means high quality, durability and low long-term costs.

Read more on www.avkvalves.eu

Clean water for all!

about further market declines and heavy burdens on fixed costs ahead.

Franky Cosaert continues: “Waterlink is in a challenging process of building renewed partnerships with the other three big water companies in Flanders that are now clients for the delivery of drinking water, including a new sewage service being operated in partnership with Aquafin.

“These partnerships combine our infrastructure for production and transport and result in new, long-term agreements for the delivery of drinking water and shared infrastructure.

“As of 2019, water-link shall be responsible for producing and transporting more than 40 percent of Flanders’ drinking water.”

Operational excellence

The Port of Antwerp has been an indispensible facilitator of world trade throughout history, and still today can boast the second largest concentration of chemical industry

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in the world. As such, water-link has once again showcased its ability to be flexible to industry climates and budding opportunities, by becoming the supplier of process water and demineralised water for industrial customers and partners.

Demonstrating turnkey services to take the pressure off clients, the Company’s eight local production sites and 26 kilometres of demineralised water pipelines - complemented by an ever-growing treatment plant capacity - epitomises water-link’s approach to project astuteness in all dedicated areas.

“Last year we took a new drinking water production plant into service in our Production Centre South, in Rumst to meet the growing demands of the other water companies, Farys and De Watergroep,” Franky Cosaert offers as a further example. “This fully automated unit with a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day is one of the biggest in Benelux at a cost of €40

TRILATIONS

T

rilations is a management consulting firm with a strong focus on the utilities industry.

Trilations provides its clients the benefits of professional and independent advice from strategic insight through implementation, based on processes, organisation and data, across the value chain. Water utilities face pressure to increase efficiency, improve customer service, deliver security of supply and offer new valuable services.

In a major operational excellence programme at water-link, the trilations teams were responsible for optimising customer invoice and maintenance/ supply chain processes. This resulted in detailed processes, related working instructions and new ways of working for the organisation.

T +32 3 877 64 00 E welcome@trilations.com

www.trilations.com

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Applying expertise to an increasingly broad range of applications

million. The project is now the example of operational excellence we want to introduce across the other three production lines.”

A similarly pertinent project has seen the business deploy smart metering across a pilot 1,000 customers initially; bringing water-link, its loyal clients, and indeed the region as a whole into the digital era.

Franky Cosaert adds: “We are now finalising the evaluation of the pilot and will be rolling it out to all our customers in the next three years, making water-link one of the first companies in the world with a full digital water metering service.”

Smart solutions

Remaining entrepreneurial and flexible enough to not only foresee trends, but to quickly enact processes and structures in order to negotiate them, is a trait that has served water-link well over the years, and especially in recent times.

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Franky Cosaert openly admits that the Company is vulnerable to changes in water consumption, especially in the residential segment, but by adding an industrial string to the company bow, business risk has been spread, and its positive reputation has expanded.

“These trends have driven us to become the service provider for the industry and in starting the new activity of sewage services for the municipalities as well,” the CEO notes. “We notice that our clients are searching for smart solutions to make their lives easier and to reduce their costs, and we are therefore able to leverage solutions from one area of our business, to these new ones.”

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a prime example to this end, initially working in the industrial arena, but now also allowing residential customers to become smarter.

“We also notice the desire to introduce circular water use as a way of coping with environmental stress

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YOUR PARTNERS FOR FORD COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

Denayer

Bisschoppenhoflaan 515-517 2100 ANTWERPEN 03 360 50 80

Van de Ven Starrenhoflaan 1 2950 KAPELLEN 03 664 04 90

3,7-8,8 L/100KM.

Permeke

Jan Van Rijswijcklaan 298 2020 ANTWERPEN 03 827 79 10

De Kort

Kapelsesteenweg 76 2930 BRASSCHAAT 03 641 98 00

Hergon Leuven Brusselsesteenweg 57 3020 LEUVEN 016 31 05 10

Deprince

Mechelsesteenweg 258 2500 LIER 03 4 881 881

Gonthier

Antwerpsesteenweg 273 2800 MECHELEN 015 55 60 71

Hergon Zaventem Mechelsesteenweg 297 1933 ZAVENTEM 02 785 02 40

WWW.FORD-ANTWERPEN.BE WWW.HERGON.BE

96-231 G/KM. (NEDC)

Verbruik en uitstoot geldig voor de uitvoering met banden zoals beschreven in de standaarduitrusting. Optionele banden kunnen een andere CO2-uitstoot en verbruik tot gevolg hebben. Contacteer ons voor meer informatie.

Milieu-informatie [KB 19/03/2004]: www.nl.ford.be/milieu. ford.be

Aven Ackers 14 9130 Verrebroek Tel. : +32 3/735 03 70 Fax.: +32 3/735 03 79 www.SOGA-NV.be Soga nv has 3 departments: 1. Sewage Maintenance and street infrastructure maintenance: Our firm has many years of experience, with a selection of projects including: - Road maintenance on the regional roads and motorway roads all over Flanders - Sewage maintenance for Aquafin, Waterlink, Infrax and De Watergroep. This includes a 24/7 alarm system, where we can send a team on an intervention within 2 hours. Flexibility is the Company’s strong point.

2. Road - Infrastructure Construction of many big projects, with a strong emphasis on diversity 3. Landscaping, development and maintenance of public and private green spaces Green maintenance on the regional and motorway roads in districts

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and to reduce the water footprint,” Franky Cosaert adds.

To stay at the forefront of such enhancements, the CEO attributes three core strategic pillars which help to foster an internal framework that can offset all prospective challenges.

The first revolves around continuous innovation, as epitomised by the aforementioned digital water meters and adoption of concepts like IoT and circular treatment. The second then takes into account “smart partnerships” as seen through the recent partnership with Aquafin on the sewage side, and also with Pidpa, to cement both companies’ marketleading positions in the province of Antwerp.

The final pillar may be the most significant though, as Franky Cosaert details: “It’s all about building a team for the future, as none of the above mentioned goals can be reached without the full support of our personnel.

“So we are putting in place a new HR approach which places a lot of emphasis on personal growth and training, supported by a coaching style of leadership.”

Capacity continues to increase in order to meet clients’ needs

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A proven track record

Not only is each member of staff trained to best-in-class standards but an additional advantage comes from the sense of pride and loyalty that emanates from a workforce that derives mostly from the local area.

Interventions that help the wider community and save customers from the local region both money and time are objectives embedded into the motives of each employee, making water-link an extremely attractive, locally-enriching, employer.

Internal refinements are also evident on an ongoing basis from an investment perspective, as the Company makes sure that it keeps up with its own growth and the needs of the region.

“For the industry in Antwerp were are in the process of enhancing our capacity of delivering demineralised water to the chemical cluster on the right river bank, doubling it by the end of this year,” Franky Cosaert says.

“We continue to deliver to our clients excellent water quality, compliant with the requirements of the newest generation of cogen installations.

“In Ghent the cluster is also in the process of upgrading to meet clients’ requirements. We are staying true to our commitment of delivering what we have promised via the careful selection of market-leading technological solutions with a proven track record of performance and sustainability.”

All new inceptions’ integration into the business are aided by a round-theclock, manned control centre in Rumst, and this is recently being developed into an “intelligent control centre” where all dispatch and planning activities will be concentrated; once again leveraging leading technologies

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We have a dream to convince people to use the real force of water and we will do this by being the difference between the reality of today and the potential of the future

through the use of remote sensoring and predictive modelling across drinking water networks and sewage systems.

“This will allow us to evolve from a curative to a preventive approach of our asset management, and highlight our unique awareness of how to create value for our stakeholders in the market,” Franky Cosaert concludes in alluding to water-link’s ultimate differentiators. “We can leverage our historically solid reputation in the market as a trustworthy and reliable supplier, while making the switch to being more than just a commodity supplier; rather a provider of services, innovations and smart partnerships.

“We are inspired by the expectations of our clients, are not afraid to invest

in new approaches, and now have the ambition to be the water company in Flanders that everyone wants to be part of.

“We have a dream to convince people to use the real force of water and we will do this by being the difference between the reality of today and the potential of the future.”

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Strategic

Planning

aya Water, a registered trademark of Oman Wastewater Services Company S.A.O.C, was established in December, 2002 as an Omani closed joint-stock Company, wholly-owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. Haya Water has been awarded the concession to develop, design, implement, operate and maintain the wastewater facilities in Muscat Governorate under the Royal Decree No. 69/2005.

Haya Water is steadily advancing

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Haya Water, under the stewardship of the Government of Oman, continues to innovate and adapt en route to its goal of facilitating a world-class water system in the country’s capital Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Richard Thomas

to implement one of the largest engineering projects in the field of reuse of treated wastewater and is looking forward to accomplishing its primary objective of making Oman a better country by promoting higher health standards for all. This is achieved by reducing pollution caused by conventional wastewater systems, preventing the spread of diseases, epidemics and protecting groundwater resources from contamination, as well as maintaining the water reservoir for future generations.

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Haya Water seeks to achieve its objectives of the water reuse project in accordance with the masterplan schedule, taking into account the construction boom and population growth witnessed by the Governorate of Muscat in order to deliver the wastewater services to the Williyats of Muscat Governorate as per the approved plan.

In view of the great achievements of Haya Water in the areas of planning, execution and management of wastewater projects in the Governorate of Muscat, the Government has assigned, in 2014, Haya Water the responsibility of the development, execution and management of wastewater facilities in all governorates (except Dhofar) where Haya Water took over the wastewater assets of 57 sewage treatment plants at 44 different wilayats.

Haya Water diligently works towards achieving its goals and mission through a structured wastewater project system and a clear vision of making

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Services include: STPs & pumping stations (collection, conveyance and treatment of raw sewage); water reuse (distribution of treated effluent); a fully-accredited central laboratory facility; kala compost; and tanker services.

Across all strands the mission statement remains to serve society by converting wastewater into environment-friendly products.

Associated with life and greenery,

EME

the word ‘Haya’ itself means water or fertility; a poignant indicator of the entity’s core objectives.

To achieve the mission statement set out in the concession agreement, a Muscat Masterplan to develop the city’s infrastructure was conceived and the sewerage network infrastructure projects in Muscat were put in place accordingly. To date, Haya Water has grown its infrastructure to 902 Million Omani Rials.

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3RD LIGHT MEDIA

3

rd Light Media produces and manages project documentation, asset management and site support services for a wide range of clients and industries, both in the UK and Internationally.

We worked closely with Haya Water to verify and tag assets at Al’Seeb STP. Following initial site surveys, laseretched tags complete with unique QR codes were produced and all equipment tagged to meet the client’s deadline.

The unique QR Code, when linked into our QR-ADD app, provides direct access to asset and site documentation directly on a smartphone or tablet.

T +44 (0)1296 393001 E sales@3rdlightmedia.com

www.3rdlightmedia.com The installation of the sewage networks was a massive undertaking as major parts of the city had to be excavated to depths of up to 15 metres to allow for the pipework to be installed. The infrastructure projects were then hampered by a super cyclone named Gonu in June, 2007 which devastated Muscat City.

However, despite the project setbacks, the majority of sewage networks are now in place in Muscat.

MAZOUN ELECTROMECHANICAL CO.

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ince our inception, Mazoun ElectroMechanical Co. (MEMCO) has been driven to provide professional engineering services for the water industry within the Sultanate of Oman. Our experience in electromechanical engineering has been varied and now encompasses: water & wastewater treatment stations, desalination plants, instrumentation & control systems (SCADA), leak detection, and various industrial applications as a main EPC (turnkey basis) provider.

Planning strategies

The collection and conveyance of sewage to the sewerage treatment plants has grown in accordance with the Connectivity Plan, while the development of green field sites for sewage treatment facilities has grown in line with the Muscat Master Plan, which is directly trended towards population growth.

Gaining momentum over the past five years in particular, a decision was made in 2013 to realign Haya Water’s

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Muscat Masterplan towards the rapid growth of Muscat. The expansion of the existing sites and new sites are identified in the Implementation Roadmap as part of the revised 2013 Masterplan.

Currently, 10 percent of the Regional Governorate population are connected to a sewerage network, so the current strategy is to have Public

The key to our present level of success is illustrated by our team’s ability and commitment to provide an exceptional level of service to our clients and to maintain this ability will be one of the critical success factors in our Company’s philosophy.

During the course of past few years, MEMCO has managed to establish an excellent working partnership with worldwide leading companies such ABB, Flowserve, eWON, Indusoft, and GE.

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Project Documentation, Operations and Maintenance Manuals, Asset Management and much more...

3rd Light Media Ltd The Pumping Station, London Road West, Amersham, Bucks HP7 0EZ United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1296 393001 Email: sales@3rdlightmedia.com

For more information on the complete range of services we offer, please visit our website.

www.3rdlightmedia.com

3rd Light Haya Advert.indd 1

12/03/2018 09:58:51

MEMCO has a reputation for professional excellence and reliability, built up through more than 12 successful years of operation in the Sultanate of Oman. We provide every stage of electrical works, mechanical works, and control systems works from design, and system installation, to maintenance and repair works. Our dedicated team of multi-disciplined, highly qualified engineers, office-based technical staff, and administrative personnel means we provide exceptional project management and top quality workmanship. We complete projects on time and within budget, and provide full after sales support.

This professional excellence combined with our personal approach has won us a consistently high level of repeat business over the past decade, with a continually expanding client base of prestigious local and national organisations that includes Public Authority for Electricity and Water, Haya Water and many more.

Al-Wutayyah, Al-Rumaylah Str, Rumaila 106 Building, Gate 326, 3rd floor Muscat, P.O.Box 545, Postal Code 118, Sultanate of Oman |

T: +968 24560844 | F: +968 24560843 | E: info-memco@mazoun.com | www.mazoun.com

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KHIMJI RAMDAS

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eadquartered in Muscat, The Khimji Ramdas Group (KR) is an established business conglomerate in the Sultanate of Oman.

Trusted and respected for more than a century, KR has consistently maintained its leadership position in the consumer, infrastructure and industrial arenas.

The Company has diversified businesses in four strategic groups: • Consumer products • Infrastructure • Lifestyle • Projects & logistics The Engineering Products & Services (EPS) is a business division of Infrastructure Group offering Products and Services to Haya Water and has consistently strived to create new benchmarks to maintain its leadership position, built on three core values: trust, care and commitment.

T 22336969/80075000 E eps@kr.om

www.eps.kr.om Private Partnerships (PPP) to develop the infrastructure in the Regional Governorates. In order to meet the sewage treatment requirements in the Regional Governorates the Regional Governorate Masterplan has been created and is now under review.

From this, Haya Water’s main improvement strategies are now to optimise the cost of treating sewerage to break even on revenue generated.

Inevitably, in developing such a track record and internal stability, Haya Water is in better stead to attain goods, works and services through open tenders and, of course, to ultimately realise its two masterplans.

Infrastructure development

Tangible examples of Haya Water’s journey towards masterplan fulfilment are numerable, and chief among them at present is the new facility at Darsait which is set for completion in 2018 to then serve the greater Mutrah area in the south of Muscat.

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Enterprises L.L.C • Waste Management System • Waste Reduction • Management & Disposal Service • Waste Treatment & Clinical Waste Treatment

Abu Sultan in collaboration with Haya Serve Society by converting waste water into environmental friendly products Bldg. No 4, Way No 244/42, Al Ghobra North Next to Al Maha Petrol Station

T: 24490968/24496894 F: 24493650/24496894 E: as4acswm@omantel.net.om

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Haya Water currently is executing fourteen projects; four projects in A’ Seeb, four in Al Amirat, three in Baushar and three will be established in Muttrah.

Currently the Muscat Masterplan’s infrastructure development plan is reported to be between 35-38 percent complete and the current budget is estimated to be 2.2 billion Omani Rials.

The Regional Governorate Masterplan involves multiple new sewage treatment plants and sewage collection networks throughout Oman.

It is initiatives such as these which will not only innovate the rationale behind the ultimate masterplans on a national level, but will help Haya Water achieve ‘operation breakeven’ by 2022 on a more insular note.

To this end, Haya Water has recently invested millions of Rials in upgrading the facilities at Al Ansab. The substantial capital investment into the new plant has meant that the Al Ansab treatment facility can now treat double

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Haya Water has been truly seeking to develop effective and carefully considered Omanisation plans and programmes for high-ranking technical and administrative positions

the flow on the same site.

Equipment-wise, Haya Water now has a substantial fleet of the latest Jet Vac machines. This investment now ensures that the Company can maintain its sewerage networks to prevent any unwanted blockages. Haya Water intends to expand the fleet of Jet Vac machines in the Regional Governorates.

Haya Water’s latest Integrated Unified Solution (IUS) ERP system is also under development. Phase 1 of the IUS system is expected to go live in April, 2018 which is directly linked to the maintenance of assets. Phase 2 of the IUS system will roll on directly after Phase 1 is completed.

Operational efficiency

Despite all aforementioned physical enhancements, Haya Water maintains that its most important and valuable asset is its people, and to this end looks to attract and maintain the best talents possible to take forward its masterplans.

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Oman Chlorine Chlor Alkali plant established in Year 1997, at Sohar Industrial Area – Sultanate of Oman.

Awarded His Majesty Cup for the best factories in 2007 & 2008 Major supplier of Chemicals to Oil & Gas sector, RO Water Plant, Waste Water Plant & Detergent Manufacturer.

Excellent HSE track record, ISO 9001:2001, OHSAS 18001:1999 and ISO 14001:2004

Products • Hydrochloric Acid 32% • Caustic Soda Lye 49% • Sodium Hypochlorite 15%

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Calcium Chloride 94% Caustic Soda Flakes 98.4%

CONTACT US Oman Chlorine S.A.O.G PO Box 193, PC 134, Jawharat Al Shati - Sultanate of Oman Tel +968 24 695839 | Fax +968 24 695768 Email: sales@omanchlorine.com www.omanchlorine.com

Wherever there is innovative and intuitive staff, the production of the Company will increase and accelerate as required. Haya Water, therefore, pays great attention to the ‘Omanisation’ process, and the Company’s Board of Directors and the Executive Management strongly believes that Omani people are capable of carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to them.

Haya Water has been truly seeking to develop effective and carefully

revolving around procurement spend percentage, open tender balance, training provided to SMEs via in-house consultants, and the registration of at least 20 SMEs each year.

Overall, the registration, selection and qualifying process of vendors and SMEs is done carefully through a systematic approach to ensure it will not affect operational efficiency in the long run.

And long-term efficiency is indeed the general key to everything that considered Omanisation plans and Haya Water aims to achieve in the programmes for high-ranking technical years to come. Oman differs from and administrative positions. This has other GCC countries in that Haya become a necessity, especially with the Water’s model is commercially-driven; expansion of projects and business, but it also differs from Europe from which requires qualified and skilled a more operational point of view – manpower. making efficient, adaptable strategies Haya Water’s approach to supply a necessity. chain management similarly falls under In conclusion Haya Water’s the Company’s Omanisation efforts, masterplans and breakeven goal look focusing when possible on utilising and to not only harness such differentiators enriching local SMEs as part of its SME but to leverage them in its journey Development Programme; its KPIs towards a more sustainable Oman.

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C O N S U LTA N C Y

A Ni c he within a Niche

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CBRE Façade Consultancy is thriving as a unique and industry leading service provider under the guidance of an equally prominent market heavyweight; subsequently adhering itself to numerous high profile projects, both in the UK and abroad Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Tom Cullum

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EME s a globally-renowned real estate company comprising more than 75,000 employees around the world, it would seem that, on the face of it, CBRE has cemented its position among the industry elite; but for a multidisciplined specialist that places continuous improvement at the heart of its structure, the job is never done.

CBRE Façade Consultancy is one of several specialist service lines operating within the UK building consultancy, headed by EMEA Executive, David Hitchcock, and it comprises a turnkey offering that entails aspects of environmental consultancy, mechanical and electrical services, vertical transportation, geomatics and 3D, and planning.

“CBRE is the only real estate consultancy to have its own in-house but independent Façade Consultancy.

This provides a ‘one-stop’ service wherein all other services are fullyintegrated; the client being the ultimate winner,” introduces Facade Consultancy Director, Diego Alves.

“Overall, the Company provides comprehensive valuation, advisory and consulting services for real estate owners, investors and lenders, combining specialised expertise and premier technologies to deliver industry-leading advice.

“We offer our clients unique perspectives and access to the largest valuation database and the most valuable proprietary data in the industry. This is done with one key objective in mind: enabling our clients to make confident, informed business decisions.”

CBRE Ltd is among Fortune’s list of the top 500 largest US-based public companies, but closer to home in EMEA, a host of value-add offerings help to add further strings to the company bow.

These include advisory and transaction services, capital markets, industrial and logistics, sustainability, asset services

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The ability to act flexibly and quickly as an autonomous strand of a giant organisation has proved to be a key advantage for each CBRE subsidiary, and especially for its Façade Consultancy division. And it has also facilitated concerted diversification of service lines as a consequence.

“We have evolved to respond to client-driven requests for façaderelated services including health & safety aspects, and one example has seen CBRE implement overhead glazing inspections as standard in own-managed properties, but also as a standalone independent service for external clients,” Alves explains.

“Other new skills are related to project management or heritage to name a few, which complement core services which include expert witness in legal cases, to preparation of planned preventive maintenance inspections, and schedules to façade reports for acquisition or disposal of properties.

The façade team has worked on and monitored a variety of iconic properties across London “Across the board we have embraced and responded to each and Alves’ aforementioned niche, far as 200 years ago, initially as Richard client’s demands.”

Facade Consultancy.

Ellis before being incorporated by US A more poignant recent instance has “In the UK we have further company, Coldwell Banker to become followed on from the tragic Grenfell specialisms including valuation and House Fire in London, whereby CBRE CB Richard Ellis. advisory services, global workplace Later transforming into today’s has subsequently responded to solutions and investment properties,” guise, the journey has been remarkable Government’s and property owners’ he continues. “And ultimately, across and CBRE now stands as a truly global calls for assistance in finding more these parameters, the aspiration of entity with façade consultancy services appropriate solutions to safeguard the Company is to be a market leader, against fire risks; a notion that that emanate from as far afield as globally, and particularly in regard to the Mumbai, Johannesburg, and numerous showcases CBRE’s reputation in the quality and breadth of commercial and European hubs. market and region, and its expertise technical advice we provide to our clients.

“This can change day-to-day as well, across critical domains.

“This has made clients very depending on the source of enquiry,” Alves adds: “CBRE is heavily involved successful in their individual Alves notes. “The Façade Consultancy with a considerable number of high endeavours and we expect that that services clients within CBRE but also profile clients and their properties, trust will continue unabated in the those who approach us directly, particularly with our involvement in years to come. I have no doubt that in appreciating our wide range of acquisitions or disposal of prime real the following years, that goal will be technical and commercial experience estate in EMEA. We have been involved achieved and hopefully surpassed.” and knowledge base. in some of the largest transactions in “We therefore, regularly, cover the UK, including the largest London Quality and professionalism portfolio work across EMEA and one property transaction in UK history.

CBRE Ltd as it is known today is a of our strengths is the quick response “The quality and professionalism business heavyweight and a renowned and turnaround of such instructions, of all our service lines is compounded name in industry circles, but its road by our vast experience and expert whether they require actual on-site to prominence can be traced back as presence or information review.” knowledge of the real estate industry.”

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London Architectural Glazing Ltd is a specialised glazing subcontractor and has been working closely with Diego Alves at CBRE for over a decade. We specialise in supply and installtion of new aluminium windows & doors, new glazing (Including rooflights) and curtain walling systems as well as small unitised projects. We also offer consultancy on glazing and façades of buildings worldwide and maintenance of old glazing systems. If you are thinking of replacing failed double glazing units or want to achieve a new look to your building resulting in improved thermal performance and reduced energy costs, we can offer the best advice to achieve a costeffective solution in this sector.

T: +44 (0) 20 8558 4547 F: +44 (0)20 8711 3527 E: Info@lagl.co.uk www.lagl.co.uk

Increased complexity

The façade team has worked on and monitored a variety of iconic properties both in London and abroad across design and construction operations; offering advice and consultancy expertise on design issues, long-term performance, cost effectiveness, general efficiencies and legal expert witness.

And Alves sheds light on why such a seemingly staple contributor carries so much importance: “A quality façade represents about 20-35 percent of the capital cost of a project. The increased complexity and architectural articulation of the façade imposes a huge burden in the design, specification and delivery of a façade, so that it will provide the performance characteristics demanded of it.

“At CBRE we go beyond these stages and also advise clients on the façade performance during its service life or upgrade/replacement options.”

Facilitating such scope in a

complex space is a series of internal improvements courtesy of the wider CBRE group, including a host of yearon-year technological advancements, software improvements - including e-filing - and cloud platforms to ensure the Company’s internal infrastructure can keep ahead of the business’s own extensive growth.

A niche within a niche

Perhaps understandably though, the key internal asset is attributed as the Company’s workforce and driving HR team which ensures the success of optimum hiring, training and retention strategies.

Alves enthuses: “CBRE has many longstanding employees because the Company has created an excellent working environment, focusing on proactive management style, extramural activities and diversity. It is part of CBRE’s CSR policy to actively engage employees in activities with a social aspect.

“This has been a very successful approach, demonstrated by our threeyear partnership programme with Shelter, a UK charity, where we have raised more than £1M.” Alves goes on to note that the unique skill-sets and the diverse, multilingual make-up of the staff compliment is what keeps CBRE in an enviable market position, as it facilitates being able to cover the full spectrum of client requirements, industry demographics and geographic regions.

“The Façade Consultancy team at CBRE has a real advantage in that we are the only real estate advisors to provide such a range and quality of services,” he concludes. “It is said that façade engineering is a niche profession and this may be true.

“However the Façade Consultancy team at CBRE is a niche within a niche: we are façade experts in the real estate industry, thus offering clients a completely different approach to their asset or investment opportunity.”

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Created by Experts, Delivered by Experts,

Creating EXPERTS

Axios Systems is changing how ITSM is viewed in the Middle East, providing a unique and flexible service for its customers Writer: Phoebe Calver | Project Manager: Jamie Sutherland

ormed in 1988 by the co-founders Ailsa and Tasos Symeonides – the latter an initial contributor to the foundation of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) - Axios Systems has consistently remained at the forefront of service management technology.

In the present day it is predominantly recognised by many analysts as one of the leading vendors, including a top ranking from Info-Tech, and has been included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for the past 15 years.

“One of our first customers in the region was a major Oil & Gas organisation, which proved to be a very large project and provided a foundation to access the potential of the market space in the Middle East,” begins Glyn Yates, Regional

Director for Middle East at Axios Systems. “From there we were able to truly open up our corporation in the region and our customer base has been growing year-on-year, which is a wonderfully positive validation of what we are trying to achieve.”

Enhanced coverage and capabilities

The Company’s success in the region can be demonstrated by its evergrowing market share, building new customer relationships gained from both legacy and emerging players within the Middle East due to its innovative approach.

“We are still relatively young in this market and therefore are continuing to enhance our coverage and capabilities,” explains Yates. “At present the Company is still on a strong growth plan and trajectory and we hope to remain this way for many years to come.”

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TAMKEEN TECHNOLOGIES

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amkeen Technologies is a Saudi Government Company with the vision to be the “Preferred IT Service Provider for Government Sectors”. Our aim is to enable and enhance Saudi Government digital businesses. The Company provides the following products and services: • Business automation • Business applications • Infrastructure services • Information security services • Consultancy services • Project Implementation services • Sustainable PPP Solutions • Open Source Technologies • Data management

Axios Systems’ introduction to assyst

For Axios, technology is only half of the proposition that it provides to customers and it strives to maintain this innovative approach within the market.

“It took some time for the market to adopt this new kind of industry method as they aren’t used to companies coming in and saying we won’t show you anything first,” continues Yates. “Instead we choose to get an in-depth understanding of customers’ business requirements and how we can build a solution package around that.

“We could have come into the market and delivered the standard functionality demonstrations, but instead we decided to try and mature both the market and our customers to more of a business and outcome discussion first.”

In order to achieve this change, the Company has optimised its people

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and technology to be able to handle the demands placed upon them.

This approach to the market and its company ethos has enabled Axios to work with entities such as Dubai Police, aiding them in their duty to remain at the forefront of citizen services.

“Dubai Police are incredibly forward thinking and we are now heavily involved with the Department of Artificial Intelligence,” affirms Yates.

“Using this approach, many of the partnerships being forged in Dubai are in support of this thinking, be that in their approach to technology or ethos and thinking.”

Industry leader

Axios is ahead of the curve in terms of its vision for the future of IT service management and is gaining momentum and support with each passing day; however, it is still encountering hesitancy as some customers are not ready for such a change in thinking.

Tamkeen Technologies is committed to establishing, developing and maturing clients’ IT operations in line with service management best practices and industrial standards such as ITIL and ISO 20000. The service covers the setup, enhancement and transformation of ITSM from the dimensions of processes, people and technology. The aim is to enable our clients to realise direct benefits to their businesses through highly efficient and effective IT services.

Our relationship with Axios goes back to 2015 and we have gone through multiple successful implementations, where we are seeing increased demand for ITSM services in the KSA market.

As part of the 2030 vision and the NTP2020, Government institutions are Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx required to transform their services and increase their efficiency. Investing in ITSM setups and increasing maturity levels of current services is necessary for clients to run their IT services in an organised manner to attain high performance.

Tamkeen Technologies is investing in this strategic partnership with Axios and is working jointly to address market demand. Tamkeen Technologies considers this relationship with Axios as a solid part of its overall investment in ITSM services in KSA.

www.tamkeentech.sa Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

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SAMPLE PRODUCTS WE HAVE DEVELOPED FOR OUR CLIENTS

Unit No 26, Riyadh 12244, 2392 7235, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia T: +966 9200 23600 | F: +966 112 896582 E: info@tamkeentech.sa www.tamkeentech.sa

To Enable and Enhance Saudi Government Digital Businesses

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Axios is regarded as one of the leading vendors currently operating in the service management space, and this is predominantly due to its incredible ability to form these strong partnerships with customers to both educate them and ultimately help them achieve their vision.

“An example of this is through the deployment of a customer success programme, which provides a constant engagement between Axios and our customers in the pursuit of their strategy achievement,” explains Yates.

“We also allow our customer input to help us enhance the assyst solution. A

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recent example is the ability to provide local language services, which is important for a global solution that can be utilised in multilingual regions.

“Then of course there is our key differentiator. As a principle vendor we scope, design, optimise, support and manage any deployment. One point of contact across the entire engagement.”

The Company uses its industry experience to really understand what an organisation is trying to achieve, and the needs that they require. Axios aims to map out how its technology can enable customers and advance

Our One Solution approach, assyst, is designed & built to transform IT departments

technology-focused into business-focused customer service teams Axios Systems’from One Solution approach D igit al HR M

IT

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Contract Management

Supplier Management

SVC Portfolio & Design Policy Governance Audit & Compliance

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Request Management

Financial Management

k pla c e

Resource Planning

Optimized Support Asset Lifecycle Management

CMDB

SLM

Knowledge Management

License Metering & Cost Controls

Workflow

Asset Management

Release

Service Modeling

Software Management

Service Catalog

Change

Monit

Problem Alert Service Mapping

Incident

Event Management

Power Management

Security Operations Orchestration & Automation

Capacity & Availability

Configuration & Patch Management

Axios Systems’ One Solution approach, ‘assyst’, is designed and built to transform IT departments from technology-focused into business-focused customer service teams

EME companies forward to a greater IT maturity level.

Organic growth

To this day the business still remains 100 percent family owned, providing the various sections of the Company with great flexibility in strategy and innovation investment.

Yates adds: “This has enabled us over the years to take more of a holistic approach in terms of the way in which we present ourselves in a market, and the way in which we are able to support our customers moving forward. “assyst has been under continual development for the past 30 years and has adapted to the many challenges of the industry in that time,” Yates describes in reference to one such solution. “We haven’t had to go out and acquire technology, nor have we had to bolt anything on to our platform. Instead we listened to our customers and implemented new features as required. Throughout this upgrade cycle, assyst has always maintained stability and compatibility across the solution.”

Alongside the organic growth of its portfolio, the Company has expanded the capabilities of its ITAM (IT Asset Management) which has been integrated with both operations and service management in a move to match the natural progression of the market.

“We have a fully developed our delivery model with both an OnPremise and SAAS offering to ensure that when our customers are ready for migration, we will be able to meet any of their unique requirements,” concludes Yates. “At present in this region there is still a little scepticism about moving to cloud - predominantly for data sovereignty reasons - and we are working tirelessly to offer the capabilities that mean we can support our clients as and when they are ready.”

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VA LU E

A D D E D

O I L F I E L D

S E R V I C E S

( VA O S )

Resilient and

RESPONSIBLE Facing challenges with determination and tenacity, VAOS’s growth in spite of trying conditions is paying off in the form of a portfolio diversification, international expansion and improved client satisfaction Writer: Matthew Staff | Project Manager: Josh Hyland

stablished 35 years ago to provide comprehensive construction and maintenance services to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in Libya, Value Added Oilfield Services (VAOS) has adapted to regional, cultural, political and industrial requirements in order to remain at the forefront of innovation and continuous improvement.

Now operating as a privately-owned entity from its head office in Malta following a 1997 management buyout and relocation, the resultant provider still also enjoys Libya – as well as Austria - as two of its core presence points, and from these three bases is looking to expand its impressive remit around the world.

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“Although our core competence can be found in the revamping and building of storage tanks, our project references clearly portray a wide range of completed jobs covering a wide range of disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and environmental engineering, piping, insulation, coating, fire fighting systems, plant maintenance, hot tapping works, intelligent pigging, drilling for water wells, and cathodic protection,” introduces Managing Director, Christian Wintersteiger.

“VAOS’s aim is to be a one-stop shop for its customers in Libya, servicing the mid and downstream infrastructures.

“All-told, our footprint currently runs across Libya, Nigeria and Kuwait; the last two being new markets for us with a strong focus on nonman-entry tank cleaning and other environmental services such as oily pit cleaning and soil remediation. From these current markets we are planning to expand into neighbouring countries in that region to establish our organisation’s reach across North Africa, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa over the next five-10 years.”

This proactive approach is indicative not just of the Company’s footprint ambitions, but also VAOS’s ability to diversify its remit accordingly, and to then implement new and improved processes to facilitate such developments.

Wintersteiger offers as examples: “As a consequence of unsatisfactory, historically messy and unhealthy manual tank cleaning jobs, mostly forming part of tank revamping projects, VAOS had invested into a BLABO® system to carry out tank cleaning jobs in a safe, fast and environmentally friendly way; and has become a partner of ORECO A/S for the automated recovery of hydrocarbons from sludge and nonman-entry cleaning of storage tanks.

“VAOS is the only service provider in the field of ‘Automated Hydrocarbon Recovery and Tank Cleaning (AHRTC)’ in the Libyan market with a proven track record of successfully completed projects and an average recovery rate of 99 percent of hydrocarbons from crude oil sludge since 2003.”

Determination and tenacity

A track record such as this, complemented by unparalleled scales – including its drilling division’s ability

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V A L U E

A D D E D

O I L F I E L D

S E R V I C E S

( V A O S )

PLANIT TRAVEL SERVICES

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stablished in Malta in 1996, Planit Travel Services builds on 40 years of experience delivering travel services to corporate clients.

We have the pleasure to work closely with VAOS during the past few years, providing a comprehensive travel service that includes flights, charter flights to Libya, accommodation, car rental and private transfers.

Planit Travel Services employs a team of experienced and dedicated travel consultants who offer continuous support, also in difficult instances, such as delays, missed connections, evacuations and other emergencies, ensuring the safety and comfort of passengers at all times.

T +356 2133 1010 E info@planit247.eu

www.planit247.eu to drill water wells to depths of 2,300 metres – offers flexibility to move into new sectors as has been witnessed through VAOS’s recent environmental services work.

But such diversifications also allow the business to remain agile in what has been a trying climate over the past decade.

Wintersteiger elaborates: “Resilience has been our main differentiator and is the adjective that defines us best! Over the past seven years, since the beginning of the so called ‘Arab Spring’ we have been put to the test many times. We have gone through two major campaigns of evacuating a large majority of our workforce, and we have seen huge fluctuations in terms of revenue and a severe shortage of local currency in Libya; but we have weathered these storms and faced the challenges with determination and tenacity.

“We have continuously serviced our clients in Libya during the times of the

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uprising and the following political instability as one of the very few European Contractors (at times the only one) in this country. This has not only hardened us as an organisation, but has strengthened our reputation and standing within the industry as a reliable service partner that is here to stay.”

An exciting future

While the wider Group’s headquarters can now be found in Malta, VAOS still has an operational head office in Tripoli, complemented by seven permanent service bases around Eastern Libya. And from these two core national hubs - and now, additionally, Kuwait and Nigeria

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- Chartered & Scheduled Flights - Deluxe Accommodation - Standard & VIP Transfers - Concierge Services - Conferences & Events

187, Triq Nazju Ellul, Gzira, GZR 1629, Malta www.planit247.eu | info@planit247.eu | Tel: +356 2133 1010

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A D D E D

O I L F I E L D

S E R V I C E S

( V A O S )

following successful joint ventures the Company is on a prime strategic and geographic footing to progress.

Its primary aim from this position of strength is to promote AHRTC services (non-man-entry tank cleaning) across each territory but doing so in a sustainable, efficient and responsible way.

“Our first and foremost policy is to serve our clients in the best possible manner by delivering quality jobs, on time and within budget,” Wintersteiger explains. “We have always maintained a very close relationship with our clients, listening to their needs and requirements in order to try and find solutions to their problems. Sometimes this leads to searching for innovative ideas and new technologies, such as the non-manentry tank cleaning solution.

“The longstanding, good reputation as a reliable service partner and trusted relationship-builder since 1983 remains key in attaining contracts in this market today.”

Of course, regardless of how personalised a service is, any company is only as good as the ultimate service it provides, and VAOS certainly ticks this box too having completed

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY “Trends we are noticing within the oil & gas industry in many countries in the Middle East and Africa is a higher consciousness in terms of protecting the environment and cleaning up environmental sins that have been committed in the past. Industrialised countries, particularly Europe are leading the way in this regard and it is important for humanity in general, with an ever-growing population, to keep our environment clean. The oil & gas industry committed many sins in terms of exploitation of indigenous peoples and polluting their lands in the past. This is changing!”

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numerous high profile, challenging projects over the decades.

“One such example comprised the installation of a cathodic protection system to the enormous pipe network of the Great Man Made River Authority in Libya. This job entailed the drilling of more than 80,000 holes with a depth of 10 metres each, then placing sacrificial anodes, backfilling and connecting the anodes to the electrical system. The challenge here was mostly due to the logistics involved given the sheer number of holes to be drilled over distances in-excess of 400 kilometres across desert and coastal environments,” Wintersteiger details.

Similarly notable projects include the drilling of three deep water wells in Southern Libya in preparation for oil well drilling, the construction of a propane/butane gas storage tank, the installation of HP and LP gas turbines, Sahara-based pipeline constructions, and the many AHRTC works that have occurred in recent times, just to name a few.

“Now, following our successful market entry into Nigeria, we have our first few projects lined up there this year, while we are also witnessing a recovery in Libya whereby downstream investments will be necessary to increase production outputs and exports moving forward,” the MD continues. “Such projects would include the building of new, and refurbishment of existing, storage tanks; pipeline replacements; and other important equipment installations.

“We are looking ahead for an exciting future with rapid market growth!”

A greener, cleaner world

Having been affected by the political uprising in its main market of Libya, VAOS has sensibly made up for any project shortfalls in the country by focusing on internal improvements instead, ensuring that the Company’s

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S E R V I C E S

( V A O S )

“Over the coming years we wish to see ourselves as market leaders in non-manentry tank cleaning in our current markets while expanding into two more countries with this important activity.”

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“Although our core competence can be found in the revamping and building of storage tanks, our project references clearly portray a wide range of completed jobs covering a wide range of disciplines...”

“Our first and foremost policy is to serve our clients in the best possible manner by delivering quality jobs, on time and within budget.”

EME facilities and procedures are primed for a domestic recovery.

Spreading the risk through international expansion has been a similarly successful strategy to this end, and the combination of the two has now laid the foundations for exciting growth to come.

Importantly though, despite company-wide broadening, there remains an intrinsically wholesome and localised ethos.

“We have always had a very large staff compliment of local employees and we actually wish to increase this segment,” Wintersteiger emphasises.

“Some countries however are making it rather difficult for companies to actually source skilled workers in the local market due to the absence of apprenticeships or technical training institutes, but it’s about establishing the right balance between local employment and reaching sustainable levels of staff in terms of productivity.

“From a supply chain management perspective, localisation plays into our hands as sourcing materials within a specific timeframe aids project speeds, but where there is a lack of availability we once again look to source internationally instead.”

The same philosophy will be applied to Kuwait, Nigeria and forthcoming presence points as VAOS looks to create win-win, mutually beneficial networks across the organisation, ultimately gearing the Company up for an exciting, responsible future.

Wintersteiger concludes: “Over the coming years we wish to see ourselves as market leaders in non-man-entry tank cleaning in our current markets while expanding into two more countries with this important activity.

“Our mission is to contribute towards a greener, cleaner world within the oil & gas industry and we strongly believe in the massive benefits non-man-entry tank cleaning provides for our clients and the industry at large.”

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THE

BIG

5

HEAVY

E V E N T

F O C U S

The largest exhibition dedicated to the infrastructure and heavy construction industry in the Middle East

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Event Details WHEN: 26-28 March WHERE: Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE WEBSITE: www.thebig5heavy.com

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THE BIG 5 Heavy is the largest exhibition dedicated to the infrastructure and heavy construction industry in the Middle East. Running from 26-28 March, 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the event will host hundreds of local and international companies showcasing innovative solutions and products clustered into five sectors: Middle East Concrete, PMV Live, Foundations & Geotechnical, Mining & Quarrying, and Road Construction.

The Big 5 Heavy will also feature a broad educational agenda with CPD-certified talks, a live demo area, the brand new innovation trail, the scaffolding climbing challenge, the inspiring infrastructure award and The Big 5 Heavy product award.

Organised by dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa, the event is the re-launch of the former Middle East Concrete and PMV Live shows, part of The Big 5 portfolio of events, and will give you direct access to thousands of architects, interior designers, engineers, contractors and real estate developers actively seeking new and innovative heavy machinery and construction products.

For more information, visit the website: www.thebig5heavy.com

26 - 28 MARCH 2018 DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE www.thebig5heavy.com

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT FOR THE

REGION´S HEAVY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

INCLUDES FIVE DEDICATED AND FOCUSED EVENTS UNDER ONE WORLD CLASS BRAND!

SECURE NEW CLIENTS AND PROJECTS

BY EXHIBITING AT THE BIG 5 HEAVY. For enquiries, contact: Richard Pavitt, Event Director +971 4 445 3682 +971 50 6545595

RichardPavitt@dmgeventsme.com

KUWAIT

SUSTAINABLE

ENERGY

E V E N T

IN RECENT YEARS, renewable energy has moved onto the developmental agenda in Kuwait, amid a need for a diversification of energy resources, climate change concerns and greater public awareness. Green energy development in Kuwait has also received impetus through the widespread availability of solar and wind resources and tumbling costs of alternative energy systems.

With increased potential in the renewable energy sector, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) along with the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) has launched a strategic sustainability initiative that seeks to generate

Event Details WHEN: 3-4 April WHERE: Jumeirah Messilah Beach Resort Hotel & Spa, Kuwait WEBSITE: www.wpsummits.com

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AND

TECHNOLOGY

SUMMIT

F O C U S

Highlighting key business opportunities emerging in Kuwait’s alternative energy market 2,000MW of renewable energy by 2030. Kuwait recently also announced a plan to produce 15 percent of its total energy needs from renewable energy in the next 15 years, as part of a national strategy that will support its ongoing economic development initiatives.

In the light of these developments, White Paper Summits is proud to host the Kuwait Sustainable Energy and Technology Summit, with a focus on discussing current market trends, technological advancements and future challenges in renewable energy and sustainable development. Bringing together more than 100 leading industry experts along with senior representatives from government authorities and research institutes, the programme will provide valuable insights on Renewable Energy Policies and Regulations, Alternative Energy Systems, Prospects for Renewable Power, Solar and Wind Energy Technologies, Energy Storage Technologies, Economics and Payback of Renewable Power Projects, and RE

Technologies Development.

The summit will combine insightful panels led by key regional and international experts representing organisations such as the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE), the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the GCC Interconnection Authority, the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Saudi Aramco, and Kuwait Oil Company. The programme will feature visionary keynotes, case studies, panel discussions and technology solutions from key players in the renewables domain.

Kuwait Sustainable Energy and Technology Summit to be held 3-4 April, 2018 at the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Resort Hotel & Spa in Kuwait will see participation from government authorities, research institutions and industry specialists involved in the elevation of alternative energy initiatives in the Middle East.

www.wpsummits.com

@SETSKuwait

Regulations, Frameworks, Project Financing and Upcoming RE Technologies

Why you should attend? review the current policies and regulations regarding renewable energy projects and electricity generation.

evaluate strategies which can used to optimize the utilization for power generation.

address the potential and current challenges faced in bringing renewables to the energy mix of Kuwait.

study the upcoming renewable energy and energy storage technologies development.

explore the viability of proven and emerging solar and wind energy technologies in Kuwait’s climate. evaluate local funding instruments and opportunities for solar and energy storage projects.

learn from different case studies presented on financing and business models. find partners/business matchmaking and local investment opportunities.

Join regional dignitaries from ministries, research institutions and leaders from the renewables industry across the MENA region for two days of learning, deal-making and unparalleled networking.

SupporTEd by M i d d l e E a s t & N o r t h A f r i c a ‫ﺍﻟﺸــــــــــــــــــــﺮﻕ ﺍﻷﻭﺳــــــــــــــــــــﻂ ﻭﺷﻤـــــــــــــــــــﺎﻝ ﺍﻓﺮﻳﻘﻴـــــــــــــــــــﺎ‬

Speak to Salil on how to grow your business Salil Anoop Kanwar | E: salil@wpsummits.com | T: +968 24788476

FUTURE

CITIES

SHOW

E V E N T

F O C U S

Showcasing solutions for a smart sustainable future

Event Details WHEN: 9-11 April WHERE: Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE WEBSITE: www.futurecitiesshow.com

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THE SECOND EDITION of the Future Cities Show is set to take place from 9-11 April, 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The show will highlight the latest and the most innovative technologies, which are set to change the Future.

This show is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which were set by the United Nations and were adopted by 193 countries in September, 2015. The show also incorporates the 10X Dubai directives, which were set by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. This is a radical programme that seeks to establish “X Labs� in every government entity and position Dubai 10 years ahead of the

rest of the world.

The Future Cities Show is going to be a great platform for local and international institutions from various industries to showcase their latest technologies which are going to redefine the way we live. The show will focus on three pillars which are sustainability, innovation, and happiness.

FCS 2018 aims to bring together environmentalists, sustainability leaders, innovators, solution providers, healthcare practitioners, security vendors, energy consultants, manufacturers, bankers, builders, urban developers, architects, investors, mayors, mobility players and students under one roof to interact, discuss and showcase solutions for a smart sustainable future.

CWC

LEBANON

INTERNATIONAL

E V E N T

INVESTMENT

FORUM

F O C U S

Discover investment opportunities at Lebanon’s international forum HELD UNDER THE patronage of the President of the Council of Ministers, H.E. Mr. Saad Hariri, the CWC Lebanon International Investment Forum is the official meeting place driving forward economic development in Lebanon.

The summit is the dedicated platform for industry executives to meet with Ministry delegations to identify investment and new project opportunities in the oil & gas, infrastructure and power sectors; a unique opportunity to get ahead of your competitors, build new partnerships, do deals and hear about the future plans for the expansion of the Lebanese economy.

Join us at the summit in Beirut from 10-11 April, 2018 and grasp the real potential for investment in Lebanon.

Event Details WHEN: 10-11 April WHERE: Hilton Habtoor, Beirut, Lebanon CONTACT: Lebanon@thecwcgroup.com WEBSITE: cwclebanoninvest.com

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Distinguished speakers include:

• H.E. Mr. Jamal El Jarrah, Minister of Telecommunication, Republic of Lebanon • H.E. Mr. Youssef Fenianos, Minister of Public Works and Transports, Republic of Lebanon • H.E. Mr. Raed Khoury, Minister of Economy and Trade, Republic of Lebanon • Mr. Mohamed Choucair, Chairman, Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, of Beirut and Mount Lebanon • Mr. Nabil El Jisr, President, Council Development Reconstruction • Mr. Ziad Hayek, Secretary General, High Council for Privatization and PPP • Dr. Walid Safi, Government Representative, Council Development Reconstruction • Mr. Walid Nasr, Chairman of the Board, Lebanese Petroleum Administration • Mr. Marwan Kobrosly, Director of Operations, Dar Al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) • Mr. Jean Riachi, Chairman and CEO, FFA Private Bank • Mr. Peyman Kargar, Senior Vice President and Chairman of Management Committee for Africa, Middle East, and India, Nissan Motor Co • Ms. Janet Heckman, Managing Director for the Southern & Eastern Mediterranean, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development • Mr. Eduardo Antonello, CEO, Golar Power

Key topics to be covered include:

• The Government’s Strategy and Vision for Future Investment Opportunities in Lebanon • Lebanon as a Top Investment Destination • Oil and Gas – A New Economic Pillar for Lebanon • Era of Reconstruction: Plans and Projects for Infrastructure and Transportation • LNG: FSRUs Plans, Projects and Impacts • How to enter the Lebanese Market: Reviewing Legal and Regulatory Frameworks & PPPs • Unlocking the Full Potential of Lebanon’s Power Sector

MEDITERRANEAN

PETROLEUM

SUMMIT

E V E N T

F O C U S

Mediterranean oil & gas leaders meet in Athens UNDER THE AUSPICES of the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management Company (HHRM), the Official Med Petroleum Summit will be held in Athens on 7-8 May, hosted by In-VR Oil & Gas, London.

Event Details WHEN: 7-8 May WHERE: Athens, Greece WEBSITE: www.med-petroleum.com

Who will be there?

• Amina Benkhadra, General Manager of ONHYM, Morocco’s National Oil Company • Abed Ezz El Regal El Mallahy, CEO of Egyptian General Petroleum Company • Dr Arezki Hocini, President of ALNAFT, Algeria’s National Oil Company • Walid Nasr, President of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration • Nick Fretwell, Vice-President of Greece, Bulgaria, France and Italy, Total E&P • Nicola Monti, Executive VP of Exploration and Production, Edison • Yannis Bassias, Chairman & CEO, Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management

The Med Summit

For the first time, all Mediterranean

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national oil companies will be present in Athens, during the MED Summit.

Two days, more than 10 networking sessions, and 20-plus C-level speakers will be there to discuss investment opportunities in their countries, as well as key oil majors to present on their operations and discuss cooperation possibilities and projects, such as the East Med and Medgaz pipelines.

Why Med?

The Mediterranean Sea is a hydrocarbons and natural gas giant, vastly underexplored, with some of the world’s most important and fascinating discoveries, such as the recent Zohr discovery with an estimated gas reservoir of over 30 tcf.

The MED Summit features mature and traditional oil & gas producers such as Egypt, Algeria and Libya, whilst showing exciting opportunities in new frontiers such as Greece, Lebanon, Cyprus, Morocco and Cyprus.

Limited places left

The med summit is expected to be a sell out event, so dont miss out on a fantastic opportunity to network and explore the vast potential that the Mediterranean has to offer. Please visit www.med-petroleum.com for more details and look forward to meeting with you there.

INSPIRE & CONNECT W I T H T H E G LO BA L E N E RGY BUSINESS LEADERS

T H E L A R G E ST GAT H E R I N G O F T E C H N I C A L & CO M M E R C I A L GA S , L N G A N D E N E R GY P R O F E S S I O N A L S I N 2 01 8 W I T H :

50,000 SQUARE FEET OF EXHIBITION SPACE

30,000 ATTENDEES

3,500 CONFERENCE ATTENDEES

350+ SPEAKERS REPRESENTING THE GLOBAL GAS & LNG VALUE CHAIN

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT AND LEAD THE DEBATE

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 23 FEBRUARY 2018

DMG237

28 STRATEGIC AND 82 TECHNICAL SESSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM, FOR THE FULL LIST VISIT WWW.GASTECHEVENT.COM//EME1

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