Bahrain's Ministry of Works first keynote speaker at Urban Coastal Development Conference

The focus of this year's international summit is on developing valuable coastal real estate and ensuring sustainability.

Mr Al-Kalali will present on the theme of coastlines and will provide an overview of a Dredging and Land Reclamation Technical Manual which is being used in the Kingdom of Bahrain for coastal development projects including offshore islands.

The event also serves as an ideal platform to share views and discuss aspects of the manual, the production of which was completed at the end of 2008. Mr Al-Kalali is being accompanied by Jamil Mirzah from the Ministry's Construction Projects Directorate and Rod Acosta from its Strategic Projects Directorate.

As a key member of an international panel of outstanding speakers, Mr Al-Kalali's presentation is entitled 'Coastal Development in the Arabian Gulf'. He will share his extensive experience amassed over career spanning more than two decades and will discuss coastal and marine development principles and major issues in the Arabian Gulf.

This will include a critical review of completed and planned coastal development projects in the region, as well as a focus on lessons learned in addition to an overview of dredging and land reclamation in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Mr Al-Kalali will also highlight functional design principles and guidelines within the context of integrated coastal zone management and marine spatial planning.

"This event aims to address major challenges affecting urban coastal development in consideration of the desire to create valuable real estate. In so doing it is imperative to overcome technical challenges and to effectively plan and manage projects as well as protect the marine environment and maintain culture and tradition, all of which should be performed within the boundaries of necessary regulation," said Mr Al-Kalali.

"For these complex reasons it becomes all the more important to come together in a forum such as this summit to share expertise and experience on how to best address these challenges," he added.

As a key contributor to the development of Bahrain the Ministry of Works' contribution to all economic, social and cultural sectors in the Kingdom includes caring and striving to protect the environment. According to Mr Al-Kalali, the topics of the event are significant for the region given increasing demand and development activity that is currently taking place throughout coastal areas of the Arabian Gulf.

"Across the region Arabian Gulf countries are surging ahead to satisfy an appetite for commercial, residential, tourism and leisure development and a number of factors make coastal areas the preferred location for such activity," said Mr Al-Kalali.

"These include the fact that due to its geographical shape the Arabian Gulf is well protected from natural disasters such as cyclones and tsunamis. It has shallow waters, along with a climate that encourages sea-based activity, and close proximity of coastal zones to 'mainline' infrastructure and communications. All create a perfect environment that both stimulates demand for coastal development and instils confidence in governments, developers and contractors for economic growth and achievement," added Al-Kalali.

"However, satisfying this demand and harnessing sustainable economic benefits of coastal development must be achieved by balancing technical and environmental considerations including eco-systems, in order to safeguard the region for present and future generations. In our role as the construction arm of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain we remain committed to providing our services while taking into account their environmental impact and by participating in events such as this we are able to contribute towards the desire to achieve this balance and respect the environment," concluded Mr Al-Kalali.

The event has been designed to target the concerns of key decision-makers and influencers in the construction market, catering for the needs of developers, regulators, main contractors and consultants.