The Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA), the exclusive platform affiliate for Facilities Management (FM) professionals, broader construction industry stakeholders, and owner associations, recently held a MEFMA networking event, which brought together many experts from the Middle East's FM industry Bahrain and continued the regional dialogue on key elements that driving the market. The networking event was held under the theme, Future Outlook' of the Facilities Management (FM) industry at GCC.

The event, which was held on October 28, 2019 at the Wyndham Grand Manama Hotel, was attended by distinguished speakers led by Tarek Nizameddin, Senior Executive Director (Commercial) of Ejadah and a Committee member of the MEFMA Strategy. During his speech covering the future outlook for the GCC FM sector, Nisamedin focused on the growth opportunities in the GCC region's FM market amid increased economic activity.

Jamal Lootah, President of MEFMA, said: GCC's FM industry is ready for exponential growth. According to the Goldstein's research estimates, its market value will reach $71.4 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6 percent. Some of the key growth drivers identified are the expansion of construction industry and other large-scale development projects, the trend of automation and the high cost of GCC governments.

Based on this bright outlook, we continue to look at ways in which regional FM players can improve their current and future prospects, while at the same time developing effective solutions to the challenges. This is why we continue to provide a platform where stakeholders can meet and share ideas. We brought this event to Bahrain because we wanted to showcase a lot of growth opportunities and recent positive developments in the local market, Lootah said.

Goldstein Research predicts that the market size of Bahrains FM market, which is still in its early stage, will exceed USD $2.3 billion by 2024, which is 12.2 percent of the CAGR.

Eng. Aaref Hejres, Chairman, Bahrain Property Development Association, said: The Middle East, particularly the Arabian Gulf, is witnessing an urban growth in line with ambitious development plans based on economic diversification. Facility management is now emerging as an urgent need to improve operational efficiency using the latest technological innovations while reducing carbon footprint. In line with the growing trend to create sustainability as an essential pillar of overall growth. This networking event was a great platform to support the Bahrain Facilities Management Community with best practices that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of buildings. With the rapid pace of executing real estate and construction projects in line with Bahrain's comprehensive development path according to "Vision 2030". We greatly appreciate the efforts of the Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) to ensure the effectiveness, sustainability and competitiveness of the local and regional facilities management sector.

In addition to Nizameddin, the other speaker was Khaled Alshami, director of Solution Consulting (Middle East & Africa), who discussed the benefits of moving asset management systems to the cloud.A panel discussion moderated by Nizameddin followed the two main lectures. The panelists consisted of AarefHejres, Chairman, Bahrain Property Development Association (BaPDA); Khalil Al-Refaii, Planning& Work Control Leader, Saudi Aramco; MohannadAlmadhi, Managing Director, Musanadah FM; and Raymond Al-Salhani, Project Manager, Al Hajry Overseas Co. Ltd.

Al Hajry Overseas and Infor were the events main sponsors, while BAPDA was the supporter partner.