Danube says it's not in crisis

The chairman of one of the UAE's biggest suppliers of building materials said last week that his firm has enough work to protect it from the global economic downturn until 2011.

"I feel that in spite of the recession we still have a lot of work to go for 2009," Danube Group chairman Rizwan Sajan told Construction Week.

"Many projects are still ongoing, so there's enough work to sustain us for 2009 and 2010."

Sajan added that the lack of projects being announced will not affect his firm until 2011, by which time he believes the construction sector will have stabilised.

"I don't think there will be a shortage of projects, because those that are being announced will last for a couple of years. I will not have to start worrying until 2011. Most of the people I am working with are booked, and they are so busy that they cannot take orders until mid-2010."

Sajan said it was important for companies to pursue a diverse range of operations to remain protected from a downturn in any particular sector. "We do not depend upon one particular Emirate or one particular customer so this puts us in a much better position," he said. "We are able to pick up small contracts and still maintain our growth."

Sajan's comments echo those of Pinsent Masons partner Sachin Kerur who told CW , "Survival is going to be a question of how diverse your services are. It's going to be quite tight if you are exposed to only one market.

"Look at the growth rate predicted for these markets, from 2-5%, that's not bad given the world situation but you would be particularly challenged if you were solely exposed to only one market."

Kerur agreed that existing orders should be enough to sustain the industry beyond 2009.

"Yes things are slowing but we can keep going certainly until the end of next year and into 2010."

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