Dubai-based contracting giant ASGC’s — which was the main contractor of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion — CEO and executive director, Bishoy Azmy told Construction Week that construction stakeholders “must diversify” in 2021.
Azmy explained that in 2021 it is “probably good for the real estate industry in the long term not to launch new residential developments, because it will balance the supply/demand equation. [However] for the construction industry, this is obviously less good news so we must diversify.”
When talking of diversification, Azmy added that the contractor, which is also working on various country pavilions at the World Expo, is trying to focus on other emirates, and other countries where it has presence, as well as new sectors including infrastructure, oil and gas.
“We think 2021 will be a good year despite the expected decline in our traditional income base.”
While there is a lot of expectation in the industry surrounding 2021, after having witnessed the aftermath of the global pandemic, Azmy reviews the second half of 2021 with the one the has “huge potential for Dubai”.
“I believe that the timing for Expo 2020 couldn’t be better. The worst of the pandemic should hopefully then be behind us and people around the world will be hungry to get back to normal and travel again,” he added.
Azmy continued: “As one of the key travel hubs and with its entrepreneurial spirit, Dubai is perfectly placed to be one of the big beneficiaries of the global recovery.”
