The recent visit of the political-economic delegation of BiH to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar provided new opportunities for BiH companies from the construction and metal sector.
“The interest of our businesspeople was great, and their expectations were geared mainly to accomplish first contacts with business people from that area and to ensure them political and institutional support so that such meetings and contacts gain in importance in terms of developing future business cooperation. We appreciate that the expectations of business people in this sense are fulfilled’’, said the Secretary for the Sector for Construction of the FBiH Chamber of Commerce Dženana Hodžić, who was part of the BiH delegation.
Investments in the UAE and Qatar are important, but if we look promising and try to make a comparison, according to Hodžić, it can be concluded that constructors can have bigger expectations for the conclusion of works in Qatar.
“Abu Dhabi and Dubai have a lot of building sites, but it all comes to already contracted works that are ending. Further investments were largely halted or limited, because there a lot of momentum in infrastructure investments outstripped demand. Therefore, building permits for future construction will generally be consistent with economic justification and covered by agreements. This does not mean that in this part there would not be new contracted jobs’’, said Hodžić.
In Qatar preparations are underway for the World Cup in Football 2022 and building capacity for the event. Hodžić said that they are planning investments, both in building construction and in road infrastructure. Also, there is a plan for the construction of 10 new stadiums and renovations of three current ones.
“In Qatar there is a demand for construction materials, particularly cement. Due to rapid investment and increased demand for building material, there is an evident increase in the price of building material, which in Qatar is 12 times higher than in the UAE”, added Hodžić.
She said that our companies are independent and to each their own. It is difficult to launch important projects in the areas of this country because the tender conditions require references to modern, demanding facilities, a check of credit rating and bank guarantees for good performance.
“The state should now take priority in the support of these companies for obtaining bank guarantees, and the Chambers of Commerce initiate and coordinate the pooling of our companies in joint consortium. Such an approach would certainly give a better results’’, said Hodžić.
The Deputy Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdžija led the visit to the UAE and Qatar of the BiH delegation.
Three business forums were held in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Dohi, and one of the meetings was with the Association of Construction Companies from Turkey, which is present in the Qatar market.
“This meeting is also important to evaluate because our companies are offered all information first hand, and in what ways they can take their position in the Qatar market. The easiest way, in this phase, would be to contract jobs with Turkish and German companies, which have already received some tenders in Qatar’’, said Hodžić.
