EIC elects its new Board for the year 2023/2024 and meets for Workshop on Infrastructure Development in the Gulf Region
Wiesbaden, 28 April 2023: The EIC General Assembly held in Wiesbaden, Germany, re-elects Benoît Chauvin, Senior Vice-President Business Development from French contractor COLAS, as President of EIC. Gustavo Martínez, Commercial Director and Head of Digitalisation and Documentation at FERROVIAL (Spain), is elected as EIC’s new Vice-President and succeeds Philippe Dessoy, General Manager Business Development from BESIX (Belgium), who currently serves as President of CICA (Confederation of International Contractors´ Association). EIC Treasurer remains Jesper Arkil from ARKIL Holding (Denmark).
EIC’s Business Workshop on 'Infrastructure Development in the Gulf Region' attracts around 100 participants from 20 countries, representing EIC member federations, member companies and business partners from construction-related industries as well as client representatives from the Gulf region. Mr Reinhard Bütikofer (The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament) opens the Workshop with a keynote speech by on 'EU Foreign Policy Priorities in an Unstable Geopolitical Environment'. In the light of the current geopolitical challenges, Mr. Bütikofer urges the EU to overcome its motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’ and to develop a stronger unified voice in Foreign Politics, as it was already the case for trade matters. Thereafter, high-level speakers and panelists explore the 'Project and Infrastructure Development' as well as 'Financing and Delivering of Infrastructure Projects' in the Gulf Region.
Chief of Program Delivery at Qatar Rail, Jassim Mohammed Al Ansari, presents the current status of the railway system in Qatar and the future outlook for investments. Real Estate and Construction Managing Director from the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), Fahad Alhashem, presents the Saudi Arabian infrastructure and real estate projects of the state´s investment fond PIF. Further market insights were given by the French consulting firm Egis as well as a representative of the world´s leading tunneling borer manufacturer Herrenknecht. Finally, the executive level of Europe´s contractors active in that region, Besix, Strabag International and Webuild discussed with the Arabic consultant firm DAR the competition with Asian and local construction companies, agreeing on the necessity to delivering qualitative and sustainable infrastructure to clients in the Gulf region.
The presentations delivered by Qatar National Bank and Fenwick Elliott as well as the case study from Bouygues Bâtiment International familiarised EIC delegates with the financing opportunities and the legal framework for a successful project realisation by considering the broad regional complexity and thus implementing flexible approaches towards investments in the Middle East region.
Links for further information
Please visit the EIC Website for an overview of the EIC Board 2023/2024 which also provides the information on EIC´s Member Federations as well as EIC´s Associated Member Companies.
To download the presentations and view all speakers presenting in Wiesbaden, please visit the Speakers section on the Workshop Website.
The full Press Release can please be downloaded below.
