The facilities management (FM) industry in the UAE remains upbeat with a projected value exceeding $10 billion by 2012 despite the current global financial crisis, said an industry expert.

Sungwon OBO, a member of Makateb Holding, the first office building operator company in the world, said it continues to generate strong business leads and was expecting a growth rate of between 15 to 20 per cent within the next 3 years.

The company pointed out that those providing core services were expected to withstand the downturn because of the strategic and critical importance of their services to the economy.

Wahid Attallah, chairman, Sungwon OBO said the UAE's facilities management sector remained a popular destination among international investors, citing the newly minted partnership between Makateb and Sungwon Development, the pioneering facility management company in South Korea which is now the Facilities Management Division of Makateb.

'In line with this, Steve Woo Young Choi, president of Sungwon Development and the vice chairman of Sungwon OBO, visited Sungwon OBO's offices in Dubai to discuss growth strategies for the new fiscal year,' he noted.

'On a positive note, the financial crisis has actually helped improve the business value of Makateb as real estate companies and big-time developers are putting a premium on cost-efficient and high-quality maintenance and management solutions for their existing properties.'

'Buildings, facilities and other properties need to be maintained and managed; considering the actual size of the property market in the UAE and across the region, there is more than enough cushion to prevent us from being negatively affected by the crisis,' he added.

Steve Woo said Dubai and the rest of the UAE remained strong as a facilities management market mainly because of the country's enormous development activities in the past several years.

Despite the slowdown in real estate development, there are already several existing properties and many more that are poised to be delivered within the next year or two, clearly representing a healthy growth potential for Sungwon OBO and the rest of the facilities management sector, he pointed out.

'This is the prime reason why we have been eager to invest in this market and partner with Makateb,' he added.00

With up to 80 per cent of the overall costs within a building's life cycle being attributed to operation, maintenance and management, developers and building owners are now optimising the business value of their properties through the cost-effective building management solutions of facilities management providers.

Accordingly, Sungwon OBO delivers a full range of integrated facilities management services, including consultancy, mechanical and electrical maintenance, lifecycle costing, energy management and building maintenance.

Makateb Holding offers end-to-end office building solutions to all property owners and developers in the UAE and across the region.

The company has devised a unique rating system that distinguishes office buildings as one-star, two-star and up to five-star facilities.

The criteria used for this rating are based on standards compliance and the provision of amenities and services according to the adopted classification system.

This ensures the same level of luxury and quality services clients would expect from premium hotel operators and resulting to a truly first-of-its-kind experience for office building tenants in the UAE and the region.-TradeArabia News Service