Bureau Veritas well positioned for Middle East growth

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In the fourth in a series of interviews ahead of Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, Jamil Al Ali, Middle East Regional Commercial and Business Development Director, Bureau Veritas M&O, Dubai, UAE, spoke to Seatrade Maritime News about developments in the industry.

“In 2022, Bureau Veritas M&O maintained its strong performance and successfully met its growth objectives for the Middle East region,” he said. “The company is now in a good position to grow the business by maintaining our strong customer relationships that have been built on trust over the years and growing our presence in the region. We believe these steps will help us a great deal to achieve the projected growth trajectory through 2023.”

Bureau Veritas expects strong areas for growth in the Middle East today, Al Ali believes, with the unit now expanding throughout the region, particularly in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. Earlier this year, Bureau Veritas inaugurated its new regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over 30 years after the enterprise first entered the Kingdom.

“The Middle East in general and [especially] Saudi Arabia are experiencing an exciting time right now, with ambitious expansion and futuristic development plans moving forward quickly. As a result, we are expanding our presence in Saudi Arabia in order to be proactive in our approach and better positioned to closely support our important clients in order to position ourselves to meet these growing client demands,” Al Ali said.

Last year, the group achieved very strong growth in all geographies globally including the Middle East and Africa Regions “as it continued to benefit from the development of numerous projects as oil prices rebounded,” its 2022 annual report said.

According to its annual report for last year, Bureau Veritas Saudi Arabia received a Partner Excellence Award 2022 from Neom's Engineering and Technical Services Department. In 2020, Bureau Veritas awarded its Safeguard Label to 50 Aramco facilities which include office buildings, schools, public facilities, a leisure center, restaurants, gyms and a library at locations in the Kingdom. On-site audits and inspections took place at the facilities.

“There is increased demand for both traditional classification-role services and the additional scope of services we provide to our clients, especially during transient times, helping them better prepare for the increasingly difficult challenges they are facing with regard to decarbonisation, thereby enabling them to lower their carbon footprint as being mandated by IMO, EU and other regulatory bodies,” he said.

Earlier in his career, Al Ali served in various positions at Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), including Manager Fleet New Building Projects Group.

Al Ali commends the firm's increased commitment to and focus on the maritime sector in the Middle East, particularly in light of the UAE's growing recognition as a viable maritime cluster on a global scale.

He played a key role at the recent ShipTek conference in Dubai in February, leading a robust debate on the region’s vital decarbonisation plans. “I was pleased to have the chance to be a moderator for the panel discussion titled ‘Maritime 2023-2030: Opportunities & Challenges that lie ahead,’ which was hailed as one of the conference's liveliest and most interactive sessions,” he said.

“By engaging both the panelists and the audience, as well as by keeping the insightful discussions alive for all parties involved, the panel discussion highlighted the pivotal role that Bureau Veritas M&O can provide as a major Classification Society bringing together important shipping industry stake holders and facilitating collaboration between them.”

Founded in 1828, Bureau Veritas is a French company which had 1,500 offices and laboratories in 140 countries as of last year, when it saw revenues of €5.65 billion in 2022.

Jamil Al Ali, Middle East Regional Commercial & Business Development Director, Bureau Veritas M&O, Dubai, is speaking at Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, on May 16-18, 2023, in Dubai, UAE.

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