Drees & Sommer strengthening its UAE location

Drees & Sommer successfully continued to expand its international business during 2007. There was particularly strong improvement in sales and results in 2007 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the Group is represented by Drees & Sommer Gulf LCC, headquartered in Dubai.

Ralf Schwiede was responsible for this development of international business of the Drees & Sommer Group. The governments of the UAE have recently issued 'sustainable building' regulations applicable to both new construction and existing structures. In addition to project management, this is one of the fundamental competence areas of Drees & Sommer and takes the form of the business area known as 'Green Building'. Consequently, the partnership has decided to embark on a significant expansion of its business in the Middle East. A new company is currently being set up to help accomplish this and to take responsibility for all Drees & Sommer activities in the Middle East - including an expansion into India. After eight years of successful work as a Member of the Executive Board at Drees & Sommer AG, Ralf Schwiede will move to Dubai to take over the responsibility as CEO of the new company.

Drees & Sommer is currently involved in project management for the German Business Park in Dubai, for example. The project managers' task is to adhere to budget and schedules while completing the project to German quality standards. In addition to this, Marriott International has commissioned Drees & Sommer - as the owner's representative - to take on project management support for the construction of three new hotels in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Bahrain. The project managers are monitoring the overall process as well as quality assurance and cost control for the construction projects. Marriott International plans the construction of a further 16 hotels in the Middle East by the end of 2010. For its longstanding customer Airbus, Drees & Sommer assumed overall project management for the Airbus Spares Center at Dubai International Airport, a logistics centre for spare parts for the Airbus A380. Providing higher-level quality assurance, the experts on location also ensure implementation of the standards they have been instructed to put in place. Drees & Sommer is also responsible for project management of construction of the Silver Star Tower in the Dubai Business Bay District. Drees & Sommer also commenced concept development on Greece and Egpyt within The World - a series of manmade islands off the coast of Dubai. On Greece, a luxury contemporary boutique hotel with different type of units as waterfront villas, apartments and suites is designed. Drees & Sommer has devised a future-oriented energy concept for the Burj al-Taqa ('Energy Tower') in Bahrain. This new concept will reduce energy needs by 60 percent, with the remaining energy drawn from regenerative sources. The Drees & Sommer experts on location have also taken sole charge of technical planning.

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