Limak commends Kuwait’s efforts to organize aviation show
KUWAIT: The Kuwait Aviation Show 2018 concluded yesterday at Kuwait International Airport with over 125 local and international civil and military aviation companies participating. The four-day event aimed to place Kuwait as a top contender in the Middle East’s aviation sector through attracting foreign investors.
On the sidelines of the airshow, Kuwait Times spoke with Limak Construction to learn more about their activity in the country. “We are participating today to present our company as a part of the aviation industry in Kuwait. We feel that we are one of Kuwait, and this is why we are one of the main sponsors of the show. We have a good background in such events in which we have participated for years,” said Haldun Firat Kokturk, Global Head of Airports at Limak.
He commended the great effort by Kuwait to organize the aviation show. “I think in the coming years, the Kuwait Aviation Show will be one of the most attractive shows in the world. The GCC aviation industry has shown impressive and consistent growth, outperforming most other regional markets around the globe.”
Kokturk said the Limak booth allowed visitors to experience a 3D view of the new airport the company is building in Kuwait. He said the airport project is Limak’s first and largest project in Kuwait, but vowed it will not be the last. “We aim to expand our projects in Kuwait, and have a farsighted vision of upcoming contracts with the Kuwaiti government, which shows total support. When we see an opportunity, we will go for it,” he said.
Kokturk said Limak Construction was established in 1976, and its activities include construction, tourism, cement, infrastructure and energy investments, energy contracting, aviation and food. “Limak Construction has successfully completed many major projects including airports, ports, dams, irrigation systems, highways, hydroelectric power plants, industrial plants, oil and gas pipelines and building complexes, hotels and resorts. It is ranked among the world’s largest international construction companies by the Engineering News Record magazine. Limak is currently executing Istanbul’s new airport project and Dakar’s Blaise-Diagne International Airport, among the many projects currently being undertaken,” he said.
Four projects
About Limak’s projects in Kuwait, Feyiz Genc, CEO and board member at Limak, told Kuwait Times that the company has four projects with the Kuwaiti government including the Kuwait international Airport project. Genc said Limak has completed a housing project with 5,000 flats in West Abdullah Mubarak for the housing ministry. “We completed the project two months before the deadline. We were recently awarded a new project for 3,000 flats by the housing ministry,” he revealed. Genc noted that Limak is also working on the Infectious Diseases Hospital project. “We are planning to stay here permanently, not temporarily. We want to expand in Kuwait and worldwide too. Limak is always there to complete any impossible mission,” he stressed.
Richard Meredith, Project Director of the Kuwait International Airport terminal project, noted that the first stage of the new terminal is British-designed, with a capacity of 13 million passengers annually. Additions to be made later can expand it to accommodate 25 million passengers.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Al-Omar, council for Limak Construction’s board of directors, spoke about Limak’s social responsibility in Kuwait. “Extending beyond construction, Limak looks at its projects as opportunities to invest in the communities. In the fall of 2017, Limak officially completed its first edition of the ‘Kuwait Engineer Girls’ program, which involved the training of 35 undergraduate female Kuwait University engineers over the course of a semester.”
‘Kuwait Engineer Girls’ Modeled after a successful program launched in 2015 by Limak in Turkey, the ‘Kuwait Engineer Girls’ program is a joint project implemented through a partnership between Kuwait University, Turkey’s Bogazici University and Limak Construction Kuwait. The program aims to equip young female engineers with the tools necessary to compete and succeed in
the future workplace and help them envision their future careers in engineering.
The program consists of 12 courses taken over 200 training hours delivered by professors and specialists from Bogazici University and Limak. Upon completion of the program, graduates receive a Business Technology Education Council (BTEC) management and leadership certificate recognized in over 100 countries worldwide and three semester credit hours from Kuwait University.
Recently graduating from the program, the young female professionals along with their peers at Kuwait University were invited to a supplementary trip to Turkey in Jan 2018, where they experienced hands-on training and were taught about Limak’s state-of-theart mega-projects, including Istanbul’s new airport, which is slated to be the largest in the world.