The Big 5 Construct Egypt concluded on Tuesday and reported having successfully provided a safe platform for the construction community to reconnect, revitalize business activities, and rebuild partnerships.
The event’s third edition was opened by Egypt’s Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Assem El-Gazzar, whose ministry sponsored the event.
From June 26 to 29, The Big 5 Construct Egypt hosted over 180 construction brands from more than 18 countries, ran over 35 free-to-attend educational workshops, and introduced new strategic features The Big 5 Egypt Leadership Conference and The Big 5 Egypt Impact Awards, in which 19 awards were given.
The Big 5 Egypt Leadership Conference saw major Egyptian stakeholders, including Orascom Construction Plc, Hassan Allam Construction, Arab Contractors Company, and Sovereign Fund of Egypt convene to share current objectives in the field.
At the conference, Mohamed Eldahshoury, Chief Executive Officer, Hassan Allam Construction revealed that “Hassan Allam, Arab Contractors, and Orascom are all participating and responding very fast to the country’s plans; we are very busy in studying many opportunities together and that helps us to utilize our capabilities and our resources. This is life changing for the sector and I can say motivation for all of us is very high.”
Dr Mohamed Youssef, Board Member at the Arab Contractors Company went a step further, describing collaboration as an exercise that stretches across disciplines: “The collaboration of all the stakeholders in the construction industry is vital for the future, you cannot only look at the contractor, as we are just one part of the cycle. You need to involve the customer and clients as well as contractors and engineering companies.”
Ayman Soleiman, Chief Executive Officer of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt revealed “We are trying to position Egypt as a gateway into Africa logistically, economically, and from a free-trade standpoint. We want to harness the sheer volume and size of our economy as a scalable powerhouse for procurement through efficient connectivity and we can deliver that as a service to smaller economies and smaller neighboring countries.”
In his closing statement, Ihab Mehawed, Managing Director of Orascom shared testament to the value of strong infrastructure: “Transportation is very important for any country’s economic growth – if you don’t have proper connectivity between cities and ports then you will not be able to export your goods competitively. The government should continue the effort they started and invest in infrastructure, it’s the only way to sustain our growth.”
Finally, Muhammed Kazi, Vice President of the event’s organizer DMG concluded: “I want to extend a sincere thank you to the governing bodies of Egypt, our international and local exhibitors, our partners and sponsors and to the business community in Cairo for their support and participation. It has been a delight to once again bring people together for vital face-to-face interactions.”
