Second quarter blues for the UAE, Saudi construction sector, report says


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The construction sector in the UAE and Saudi Arabia slid in the second quarter amid a combination of summer holidays, slow-moving liquidity and low oil prices, according to project management firm Faithful+Gould.

The company, a division of Atkins, said that backlog work for the UAE construction market shrank by about US$17 billion  last year. While in the first half of the year there was an improvement in awards throughout the UAE compared to the first half a year earlier, the value of projects planned or being delivered was flat. However, the firm said that as funding issues start to ease, new master plans will move through to construction.

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Read more:

Construction industry across Gulf on cusp of rebound

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David Clifton, Faithful+Gould's regional development director, said that tender price pressure was still being exerted in the UAE despite market awards improving year-on-year. "We've already seen this year that major international players have withdrawn from the market and others have been caught out financially," he said in the report. "There's continued evidence of unsustainable low tender prices, which will no doubt require some future management through the supply chain."

The study also said that  Saudi Arabia awarded about $11bn  in contracts in the first quarter, but has more than halved that figure this quarter.

 

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2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

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2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

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2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

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Sector: Online food delivery

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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets