Dubai builder Arabtec on Monday said that it has entered into a joint venture with South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction to pursue heavy infrastructure and construction projects in the Mena region.

Arabtec, which is expanding aggressively, launched a joint venture with another South Korean firm Samsung Engineering Co in September that would focus on large energy and power-related projects in the region.

The new venture, called Arabtec-GS Infrastructure, will be headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the Dubai contractor said in a statement on Dubai's bourse.

The partnership will pursue and perform large scale infrastructure projects like metro, railway, bridge, port and tunnel projects, the statement added.

Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, managing director and CEO of Arabtec Holding said: “Another key component of the company’s five year growth strategy is being put in place through this exciting new joint venture with GS.

“This partnership demonstrates further progress being made on diversifying the business into other high margin and high growth segments of engineering and construction. GS has a proven track-record in the region, which further complements our expertise in the infrastructure sector and will allow both parties to capitalise on a range of new opportunities in this fast growing sector.”

Lim Byeong Yong, president and CEO of GS Engineering and Construction said: “We are very pleased and honoured to have partnered with Arabtec on this exciting venture. The joint venture brings together two like-minded industry leaders with complementary skills and capabilities. The partnership works well with our existing backlog of projects already underway in the region as it will help us grow and expand it.

“The growth in infrastructure expenditure in this region is substantial and we believe that our partnership with Arabtec is the perfect vehicle to solidify our operations in the Middle East, as well as contribute to the growth of its infrastructure sector and future generations of engineers.” – TradeArabia News Service & Reuters