Consolidation of group activities, brand awareness and expansion of infrastructure are among the major plans for 2002 of French group Installux and its Bahrain-based regional office.

Installux Gulf offers a wide range of products for the construction and interior finishing industries, including quality aluminium systems.

Basim Al Saie, general manager of Installux Gulf describes 2001 as a challenging year. "In early 2001 we were anticipating a rapid increase in building construction activity in the Gulf as a whole; Bahrain and Qatar were the stars while other Gulf countries did not move as fast.

"During the course of the year the pace did begin to quicken, and all expectation were that the fourth quarter will be the beginning of strong growth in the construction industry. However, the September 11 terror attacks in the US have affected the general mood and the real effects will be felt during the next 14 to 24 months," he says.

"Despite this," says Al Saie, "Installux Gulf secured a good number of projects in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, with the company's turnover up by 50 per cent over 2000."

Last year, Installux Gulf established a tie-up with an emerging quality fabricator Al Muhaidib Metal Industries of Riyadh, which Al Saie believes will help the firm grow in Saudi Arabia.

"During 2001 we also made concentrated efforts to enhance our distributor network and customer base, while developing new products to meet market demands,'' says Al Saie.

In 2001, Installux was involved in three major projects in Bahrain: the Sail Building in Hoora, Rabia Tower near the Ministry of Oil in the Diplomatic Area and another multi-storey development in Juffair.

In Kuwait, Installux is completing work on a Commercial Real Estate Company (CRC) building and the Aida building on the Waterfront.

It has started work last year on the National Bank of Abu Dhabi branch in Deira, Dubai, in the UAE.

"We are now poised to clinch two large projects in the UAE," Al Saie says.

At the end of last year, Installux started work on the 14-storey Al Kubaisi building in Doha, Qatar.

This year, the company intends to increase its efforts at pushing other products under the Installux umbrella - namely Tiaso office partitions and Store Roche awnings.

In April 2001, the French parent company acquired Sofadi, a leading shopfitting company in France. As a result of this move, the group has now set in motion measures to consolidate all its activities.

"This year will see us making a major launch of all our products, through new customer support media including new brochures, catalogues and technical literature which will all be available in English and as CD-Rom versions," he says.

Major initiatives are also under way at the French headquarters to enhance customer support through the construction of a 12,000 sq m fully-automated warehouse for the storage of aluminium profiles. "Installux is also in the process of updating and developing new products in a bid to offer the best design and optimal performance," he says.

Al Saie is very optimistic about the outlook for the region over the next two years.

He continues: "Ironically, the September 11 attacks will have a positive effect in the Gulf in that the whole Middle East region will see an increase in inter-Arab tourism, and therefore the whole area is likely to see increased activity with several hotels, resorts and leisure facilities being built to meet demand."

Other factors are also boosting the construction sector, he points out. "On account of the low interest rates, people are now moving to the traditional form of investment - in property - and this in turn will give a rise to real estate development,'' he says. "We are already seeing more private sector development projects in the Gulf such as the Durrat Al Bahrain and the Amwaj project in Bahrain, the Palm Islands and Emaar Properties developments such as the Dubai Marina in the UAE," he says.

Another boost to business activities is the announcement of unified customs tariffs, Al Saie says. "This means we can import products and re-export them without having to pay further customs duties in other GCC states," he points out.

Al Saie is now looking at major investments in increasing the company's infrastructure to ensure customers get faster deliveries and a quicker response time.