Samsung lines up next tower megaproject

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The Burj Dubai is now the tallest tower in the world. According to Kim, there are many other plans to build super-tall towers in the region.

Samsung Engineering & Construction is looking to build a new tower in the region whose height will top the Burj Dubai.

The South Korean construction giant is currently working in collaboration with Belgium's Besix and local firm Arabtec on the Burj Dubai, for which it signed a US $875 million (AED3.2 billion) construction contract with Emaar Properties in December 2004.

It is now in talks with a number of developers across the Middle East over plans to build a skyscraper that will set a new record in tall building.

"We have been approached by a number of clients," said Beejay Kim, senior manager, Samsung Engineering & Construction. "Many have tall building plans, not only Nakheel. Kuwait has a project for a kilometer-tall building, Saudi also has some tall tower plans, so do Bahrain and Qatar - everybody has tall building plans, the difference is whose can materialise quicker."

Samsung is no stranger to the construction of tall towers, having been involved in the construction of three of the world's tallest skyscrapers - Tapei 101, Malaysia's Petronas Towers and now the Burj Dubai, which recently became the world's tallest building when it surpassed the height of Tapei 101 at 508m. The final height of the Burj Dubai is being kept a secret but upon completion in 2008 it will be well over 700m tall.

While the past few years have seen the majority of Samsung's energies ploughed into the Burj project, Kim added that having reached this point in the building's construction, it is now time for the contractor to find it's next big venture.

"Until we reached that critical point, it was our company philosophy to concentrate on the Burj Dubai but now that the Burj has reached the tallest point of any other building in the world, I think it's time to look for another job.

"We have worked on the three top tallest buildings in the world right now, so if somebody is looking to build another building in the world taller than this we would love to go for it."

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