Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Danube targets to touch USD 1 billion in revenues by 2015
Danube targets to touch USD 1 billion in revenues by 2015
Company expects to grow by 25 per cent this year
January 24, 2011
Buoyant on its growth prospects, Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries, has set a target of attaining USD 1 billion (AED 3.67 billion) revenue by the year 2015. The company saw an impressive 25 per cent rise in revenues in 2010 in spite of the global economic crisis and projects a similar growth in 2011, that will take its revenues to AED 1.6 billion. Danube has also invested AED 50 million in a new manufacturing facility; spread over 1.3 million square feet, in Dubai TechnoPark, which would be functional this year.
In addition to securing significant growth, the company has also undertaken major expansion initiatives, which has expanded its market reach further across the region, as well as to India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Danube expanded its retail footprint in 2010 and opened Danube BUILDMART showrooms in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain and Mumbai. Each of these showrooms entailed an investment between AED 10 million and AED 50 million. The company plans to continue with its expansion through 2012, during which it targets to open 15 branches.
“The year 2010 was a very positive year for us and we are proud to say that we managed impressive growth and expanded at the same time. We added 10,000 new products to our portfolio for BUILDMART to meet housing needs, and now our total product portfolio is 25,000. Further, there were fresh initiatives and major investments, well thought over strategies and effective implementation, along with our foremost target to deliver the best to our customers, which together helped us stay strong even in tough market conditions. We are expecting positive growth results to continue in 2011 as well,” said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials.
Danube cited a recent ‘UAE Construction Industry Outlook to 2012’ report by industry intelligence provider RNCOS, which says that the UAE construction industry is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 per cent from 2010 to 2013.
“The bullish projections directed towards the UAE construction sector has drawn our focus further into broadening our presence in the domestic market, as we believe that excellent opportunities for growth are in sight for investors, developers and other players in the construction arena,” Sajan pointed out.
Danube not only saw strong performance in terms of its financials, its achievements were well recognized within and outside the industry circles. Danube was conferred with three prestigious awards including the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award and also received the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme (DQAP) award. The company’s Chairman, Mr. Rizwan Sajan, was also named ‘Businessman of the year’ at Ahlan! Masala Awards 2010.
“Our achievements were recognized and personally I am humbled to have received the award by Ahlan! Masala. These achievements are the result of combined efforts of all our partners, employees and associates and we are grateful to them for their contribution. We are committed to not only our own growth but also to continue to make a positive contribution to the construction industry as a whole,” concluded Sajan.
About Danube Building Materials FZCO
Established in 1993, Danube Building Materials FZCO provides more than 15,000 products in stock and in-house value added services in all of its 14 showrooms across the UAE. The company operates from its head offices – a 285,000 square foot facility in Jafza north and a 365,000 square feet base in Jafza south, which houses its logistics centre, kiln drying facility, factory and warehouses. From a small trading firm, Danube has grown into one of the largest building materials company in the region, with 18 branches worldwide - 13 in the UAE, 2 in Oman, 1 each in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India, in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada. Danube has a team of 1000 people working from strategic locations in across the Emirates, including Jebel Ali, Deira and Abu Dhabi. The company has been and is currently involved in major projects across the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, including Emirates Hills, the Burj Al Arab, Shangri-La Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Motor City, Burj Dubai, Dubai Airport Terminal 3, Yas Island, Reem Island, Saadiyat Island, and Al Raha Beach Hotel, among others.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
RTA launches Phase II of Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes
RTA launches Phase II of Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes
Al Tayer: 77 per cent of respondents opt for scheme expansion to include other roads in Dubai
Road & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has announced the launch of Phase II of the Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes Scheme, which includes parts of Naif Road extending one kilometer and Al Ittihad Road extending one kilometer as well, to be carried out in the first half of 2011. He added that the launch of Phase II of the Scheme comes in response to the huge success seen by the initial phase. Surveys and studies conducted by the RTA covering more than 1,000 users and drivers of public buses and taxis showed that 77 per cent of them responded that they wished to have the project expanded to include other streets in Dubai. 75 per cent of respondents confirmed that the scheme would help shorten the journey time and 86 per cent of bus drivers expressed their satisfaction with the scheme stressing that it would help slash the journey time and boost public transport rider-ship.
Al Tayer added that RTA had surveyed a number of roads prior to the implementation of Phase II of the Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes Scheme that included a host of parameters, namely the traffic congestion, engineering capabilities of adding bus lanes, entry and exit points, parking spaces and their influence on activities in the area, bus routes and the analysis of feasibility study of public bus lanes together with their impact on traffic safety. He pointed out that the study concluded that qualified for this purpose were Naif Road in a sector extending one km from Al Musalla Road to Al Khaleej Road, and Al Ittihad Road in a sector of one km in the direction from Sharjah to Dubai starting from the entrance of Dubai Emirate and extends through Al Nahda intersection.
He added: “The bus and taxi dedicated lane will be integrated into Naif Road by eliminating the longitudinal parking spaces at the right side while maintaining the parking spaces at the left side. The removed parking spaces will be replaced by RTA’s multi-storey parking facility accommodating nearly 394 vehicles, where the current occupancy rate is not more than 70%. There are also parking spaces of car rental companies in the adjoining area. As for Al Ittihad Road, action will be taken to remove the existing concrete barriers placed in the direction from Sharjah to Al Nahda intersection, separating the main road from the service road, and blocking the traffic from Sharjah to Al Mamzar area. Here, traffic will be exclusively allowed for buses only”.
The Chairman of the Board and Executive Director indicated that Phase II would contribute to increasing the number of bus commuters in the two areas. There are nine public bus routes passing through Naif Road with a total of 36 buses in operation during peak hours. Running through Al Ittihad Road are seven public transport bus routes with a total number of 22 buses in operation during peak hours. The implementation of Phase II will contribute to enhancing the traffic safety on both roads. The study indicated that the bus dedicated lane on Naif Road would have positive bearing on the commercial movement in the area. As regard Al Ittihad Road, the study showed that the addition of the lane would reflect positively on the traffic safety and boost the operational efficiency of buses.
It is worth-mentioning that last May 2010 RTA implemented the initial phase of the Dedicated Bus & Taxi Lanes Scheme with a total length of about 5.6 km covering several areas including Al Mankhool Road (about 1400 meters from Al Satwa R/A up to Sheikh Rashid Road), Al Khaleej Road (about 3660 meters from Khalid bin Al Waleed Road Intersection up to Al Musalla Road opposite to Hyatt Regency Hotel), Khalid bin Al Waleed Road (about 220 meter from Al Mina Road Intersection up to Street 16), and Al Ghubaiba Road (about 320 meters from Al Mina Intersection up to Street 12). The selection of these areas was made following a comprehensive study that took into consideration the population density and the service of congested areas in Dubai Emirate.
The concept of the Scheme is based on dedicating a lane for the use of buses and taxis to ensure the timely arrival of buses to the bus stops. The dedicated lane is a successful global practice that helps motivate the inhabitants use public transport instead of private vehicles. The concept, which is being implemented in several American & European cities, aims at shortening the journey time, and accordingly lure community members to use public transport means.
Captions
- Mattar Al Tayer
- Layaout of the Dedicated Bus & Taxi Lanes – Phase II
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Empower to help peers in the region to boost district cooling industry that is growing between 15 and 20% annually
Empower to help peers in the region to boost district cooling industry that is growing between 15 and 20% annually
Bin Shafar: Absence of long term planning is biggest obstacle facing District Cooling companies
Dubai, UAE, 16th January, 2011: Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower), the largest district cooling service provider in the region, has invited District cooling companies in the Middle East to benefit from EMPOWER’s experience and boost the growth of the industry that is growing between 15 and 20 per cent annually.
Shafar said district cooling industry is faced with obstacles like absence of long term planning. He said though the Middle East is still in its fancy in the field district cooling, the potential is great as government support is huge and new real estate projects launched over the past five years demand this technology. Further, this technology is environment friendly and is in line with government approach to energy conservation.
Bin Shafar pointed out that other challenges include lack of high caliber technical and marketing personnel which has led to financial issues. In contrast, Empower achieved a revenue growth of 27 percent in 2010, driven by a prudent policy.
Bin Shafar added: “We are ready to support our peers in the industry so that we can enhance the global competiveness of the Gulf district cooling industry. We have developed expertise that has been acquired through seven years of hand work and international collaboration.”
Bin Shafar said that the Gulf has a competitive edge compared to many other countries in the world because of its recent adoption of district cooling and this technology is seamlessly integrated into the real estate projects, unlike places in Northern America and Europe where the technology has to be added to existing projects.
Bin Shafar added that the UAE was the first in the Middle East to realize the importance of district cooling as an alternative to conventional cooling, compared to very modest usage in other parts of the Middle East.
Empower succeeded in adopting world class district cooling infrastructure to implement this system that is considered an ideal economic and environmental solution for residential and commercial units, offices and hotels. The operational savings in a residential unit compared to conventional AC technologies is remarkable.
Empower tops the list of companies providing district cooling service in the region. The company, owned by DEWA and TECOM, had adopted a clear strategy to preserve environment through aggressively disseminating this technology and conducting campaigns to highlight its strategic value in the short and long run to the people and the society in general.
About Empower:
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) is a joint venture between Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone (TECOM) Investments and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), created to provide energy-efficient district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments. Empower plans to diversify into other energy efficiency and conservation services. Empower's district cooling systems (DCS) provide effective and efficient means of air conditioning. Water is cooled in central plants and distributed through a network of piping systems to individual customer buildings. DCS achieves economies of scale by using centralised plants instead of individual cooling units in each building. The centralised system results in reduced capital and operating costs, thus reducing air-conditioning set-up and energy costs per building. Empower is set to become one of the largest district cooling companies in the region.
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