BESIX Group: Public-Private Partnerships the solution to affordable infrastructure development in the Middle East

BESIX Group, Belgium’s largest construction company, is celebrating 40 years of achievements in the Emirate of Sharjah as a result of the vision and leadership of His Highness, Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi.

Through its subsidiary, Six Construct, BESIX implemented its first project in Sharjah—the Sharjah National Cement Factory—in 1975 when it got its local license and has since completed more than 30 projects in the Emirate.

BESIX is now looking to evolve its business in Sharjah by diversifying beyond designing and building world-class facilities, including infrastructure. The company is increasingly focused on owning and operating infrastructure assets through public-private partnerships with governments in Europe and the Middle East.

Under the patronage of His Highness, Sheikh Sultan, BESIX is honoured to welcome His Highness, Sheikh Khaled bin Abdullah bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, other Sharjah VIPs and distinguished guests at its celebration-event, ‘Sharjah: 40 Years of Achievements’, which takes place at The Jawaher Convention Centre in the Emirate on Sunday 6 December.

“Through our subsidiary, Six Construct, it has been our privilege to partner with Sharjah in this wonderful journey of development since our first project here in 1975. We are looking forward to expanding our partnership in the years to come, and hope to evolve our relationship with Sharjah to become an investor in and operator of different types of infrastructure facilities,” said BESIX Senior Vice President, Mr. Ghassan Ejjeh.

BESIX and its subsidiaries have led a number of public-private partnerships, including in Europe and the Middle East. Sharjah too has been at the forefront of private-public partnerships with the development of the UAE’s leading waste-management company, Bee’ah.

“Infrastructure demands across the world are changing rapidly, and we at BESIX are at the forefront of this evolution in our industry,” said Pierre Sironval, Managing Director of Six Construct, Gulf Region. “We are moving Six Construct beyond designing and building world-class facilities to operating, managing and even owning assets through BESIX, in partnership with and for the benefit of governments seeking to give their people efficient, cost-effective infrastructure services to support economic and social development. We are immensely grateful to His Highness, the ruler of Sharjah, for all the support he has given us and look forward to making an invaluable contribution to another 40 years of spectacular development in this great emirate.”