GCC real estate projects under construction worth over Dhs8.8 trillion

Driven by its aim to meet the demand for rubber-based products within the booming regional construction market, Rubber World Industries (RWI), the leading manufacturer of closed-cell rubber insulation 'Gulf-O-flex' in the Gulf and South-East Asia and part of the international business conglomerate, the Memon Group of Companies, has announced its aims to increase its market share within the Middle East, which is currently at 86%.

The announcement follows the construction of a new production facility worth Dhs30m in Ajman, in an attempt to meet the rising demand for rubber-based products within the booming regional construction market.

The rapid emergence of high profile developments has driven the total value of projects in the GCC, thereby presenting RWI with an excellent opportunity to penetrate the market with its top quality rubber insulation products.

With modern plants located in Ajman, UAE, the manufacturer is undergoing major expansion activities that will triple the production capacity within a five-year period to address the demand, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have emerged as the largest markets in the region.

The company has also revealed its efforts to further enhance the performance of its versatile range of rubber insulation products to meet the requirements in the oil and gas fields, construction, shipping and automobile industries.

"As the only producer of rubber insulation in the Middle East region, we are steadily moving towards our goal of maintaining our leading position by offering a wide range of high performance rubber insulation and other derived products to discerning regional customers," said Abu Baker Shaikhani, Managing Director, Rubber World Industries, and Chairman of the Memon Group. "In line with our aggressive expansion, we have earmarked a total of Dhs30m for 2008, which is focused on increasing our production capacity from 1,200 containers to over 3,600 containers per year by 2013."

Leveraging its growing regional repute as the manufacturer of high quality and environmentally safe rubber insulation products, RWI is gearing up to maximise the widening window of opportunity driven by the materialization of planned developments by GCC-based and global developers.

With many projects still in the early planning or conceptualization stage, the company is expecting to see further growth opportunities, which will drive its continued focus on enhancing its product offering and manufacturing processes.

Additionally, the company also aims to leverage the demand for eco-friendly materials in accordance to stringent construction regulations set by governments across the region.

"The Gulf countries account for a total of 3,519 projects and our aim is to see our products used in most of the developments being constructed in the region at present. In addition to our expansion plans, we are also investing in research and development to meet regulatory requirements, which are focused on reducing costs and energy consumption in line with 'green building' initiatives by regional governments," concluded Shaikhani.

Most recently, RWI recently bagged an Dhs1.2m contract to supply rubber insulation products for 'Motor City', a high profile themed community development by Union Properties.

Further, the company has delivered its high quality products to major property developments by real estate leaders in the UAE, such as Emaar and Nakheel, and is currently exporting rubber insulation systems to more than 90 countries, including the US, Germany, Russia, Canada and Singapore.