VOICES FROM THE CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE SECTOR
What do people need to know about Apave International?
Apave International is a 150-year-old French group specialized in technical risk management. Today, Apave has approximately 12,000 employees, with 3,000 working internationally. We started our operations in Lebanon 20 years ago and expanded our activities to cover the whole region. Starting from our Beirut hub, we completed projects and later established subsidiaries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. We deal with a range of technical risks from lifts to buildings, seismic, environmental, and water pollution in the construction business, where we work as technical auditors for the construction of towers, metros, and other big projects. Today, the technical culture is mainly focused on safety, and the environment and is mandated by law, something that has been reflected also in the region. There are new regulations and, as a consequence, new types of projects with increased complexity of risk. Risk management practices in Lebanon took off only during reconstruction after the Civil War; however, despite the delay, it is progressing on the right track. Environmental and safety risk management is a completely new attitude that Apave International is bringing to the region, transferring our European expertise and capacity-building.
How does Apave intend to face these challenging times for the real estate sector?
While our business was originally concentrated in construction, we had to diversify our sectors of operation following the real estate crisis in Lebanon. We are also undergoing internal restructuring, reorganizing our team, stopping new hiring, reducing some of our budgets, and working on geographic and product diversification. Specifically, we are looking to open new projects in Egypt, where we were already present, but had to stop activities five years ago due to the country's economic and political crisis. We are trying to make Egypt an objective for 2019. Summing up, we are putting a Plan B scenario in place. It protects us against the possibility of our oil and gas and CEDRE projects not being completed. These are long-term solutions that will take time and largely depend on the public sector's availability to reform itself.
Can you give us an overview of your ongoing projects, and what is the rationale behind the group's diversification strategy?
At present, Batco Group's on-going projects are spread over the MENA region, the GCC, Europe, Eastern Europe, Turkey, and most recently India. Our main line of business includes EPC for heavy infrastructure works, tunnels, bridges, dams, marine works, water and wastewater treatment plants, and solid waste management. The rationale behind the group's diversification was a result of reaching the threshold of our main line of business. Not only did it become necessary to expand and utilize available excess resources, but also somehow an obligation toward our staff to allow for new challenges.
What is your outlook on the construction sector in Lebanon for 2019?
We are operating in an environment where the government is failing to provide stability for any business, and especially for contracting companies. We are confronted with multiple challenges, including slow GDP growth, low investment, political confusion, and poor government payment practices. Unless such an environment changes, the crisis will worsen. Nonetheless, I am optimistic about Lebanon's future. Batco has invested extraordinary efforts, human resources, and capital in Lebanon and will continue to do so. The government's recent budget approval, narrowing of the deficit, and a plan to implement improved fiscal policies does constitute a positive signal and hopefully will restart the economy.
What is the most challenging and rewarding project you have worked on?
For us all, every project is a challenge and consequently we have learnt to continuously be motivated, challenged, and ready to come on top of every challenge. We consider every project we work on a challenge, but with hard work and commitment every project becomes a reward. On a personal level, the Haret Hreik - Sands Tunnel Project, will always be special. It was one of Batco's first challenges. It was a major part of an overall drainage system of Beirut and due to its complexities, it was a test of the company's capabilities. Batco exceled in preparation and exceeded expectations during the execution stage.
VOICES FROM THE CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE SECTOR
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