Growth drivers under focus at KSA Confex 2017

The Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) will put the spotlight anew on a range of contemporary issues and growth drivers that are influencing the regional facilities management (FM) industry when it hosts this year’s edition of the premier Saudi Arabia Confex.

Set to take place on Monday and Tuesday, at the Movenpick Hotel in Riyadh, the event will gather worldrenowned FM experts and leaders to tackle major topics of national and international importance, including sustainability, smart cities, innovation, disruptive technologies, job creation opportunities, and human capital development. The Riyadh event is to be staged against the backdrop of the thriving Saudi FM community, which, according to industry reports, now accounts for 55 percent of the entire Middle East FM sector. The local sector’s value currently stands at $20.3 billion.

Ali Al-Suwaidi, vice president of MEFMA, said: “The upcoming Saudi Arabia Confex 2017 will bring to light the significant role of integrated, quality, and professional FM services in today’s world of rapid technological innovations, connectivity, and smart initiatives. Participating global decision and policy makers as well as key stakeholders will discuss, among others, the latest global FM trends and developments to determine which of these factors are greatly transforming the local and regional FM communities and how FM experts such as ourselves can further capitalize on opportunities to improve the Middle East’s competitiveness in terms of competencies, knowledge, and services.”

Al-Suwaidi added: “In the KSA market, in particular, we will dig deeper to establish the best ways to reinforce the FM community to make sure that it is aligned with the goals and objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. Given its importance, Saudi Arabia Confex 2017 will see the high-level participation of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh. We look forward to an exciting edition this year.”

Activities for MEFMA’s Saudi Arabia Confex 2017 will be split across two days — workshops to be held on the first day, conference and exhibition on the second day. The discussions during the workshop, “Facilities Management Benchmarking toward more Sustainable Investments,” will be led by Peter Prischl, managing director — Drees & Sommer International.

The second workshop, which is entitled, “The Transformation into Saudi Smart Cities — Vision 2030,” will be spearheaded by Al-Suwaidi.