Aluminium systems specialist  Technal  has  pledged  to reinforce  its presence  throughout  the  Middle East  even further.

The French company has been active in the region for well over a  quarter  of  a century through a  licensee agreement  with Bahrain Aluminium  Extrusion (Balexco)  and  in  the past three years  has been directly  involved  as  Technal Middle  East (TME), a  joint venture  between Technal International  and  Balexco.
'Three years ago, our target was to be present, not only in  sales  in all  the Middle  East,  but also  through  a fabricator's  network,'  says  Gerard Lugrin,  general manager of  Technal Middle East.
'Today, this target is a  reality.  We have our head office, showroom,  warehouse  in Bahrain as  a base for the GCC  and  we  intend  to repeat this  exercise by expanding  our  fabricator's network  specialists  and setting up offices  in  different countries.  The Technal Middle East structure is  primarily  a  complete  service  centre  and  has a  three-pronged  approached to serving the  region:

A number of  fabricators/fitter  partners  are  now flying  the  Technal colours  as  authorised  fabricators  for  residential projects and  authorised builders for  contracts, in the  region. 
'To be strong and well involved in the market, we need a  sound  network.  This does not mean a large number  of  fabricators,  but rather  those that have a good  reputation for quality,' Lugrin  says. 'Authorised builders are carefully selected after evaluating their expertise and capacity to cater to large/high-rise  projects while authorised fabricators  are chosen  on their  reputation for  service and  quality.   This alliance for quality competitiveness of fabricators combined with the effective support services from Technal Middle East  is the only effective  way to develop  our  brand image  and secure growth  simultaneously  in  the residential and  contracts sectors.'
Technal Middle East has set up an office in Jebel Ali and has sales engineers for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
A new permanent sales engineer will be stationed in Kuwait next month. A technical engineer will soon be appointed.
'We are committed to the region, offering with our  local  presence, close support to the fabricators and  specifiers - through advice,  winning  projects and  ensuring on site the  quality of  works produced by  our  fabricators and builders.'
Technal is  part of  Norsk Hydron Building system,  a European leader  in  designing,  testing and  distributing  aluminium  systems for the  building sector, providing assurance of expertise to all  contracts/residential  decision-makers.
'Technal sells  a  complete  system  and  hence,  we  can guarantee  its  performance.  When our group designs a window  or a  curtain wall,  for   instance,  we  design and   test all  the  components,'  says  Lugrin. 'This  ensures  that the  products  will  perform  to design and meet  international standards.  This, essentially, is a major difference between Technal and many products on the market.'
Technal has one of the largest product ranges available in the market and aims to meet all levels of competitiveness with the guarantee of the best air permeability, water tightness, wind resistance standards and reliability of accessories and assembly, according to Lugrin.
The system blends smart design and technical performance, offering comfort and energy conservation.
Technal says it has a competitive edge in the quality market because of its advanced technology and superior design.
Technal Middle East's fabricators network in all GCC countries have carried out a large number of projects in both the residential and contracts market segments. Among the latest projects that will be or are utilising  Technal systems  are:

Technal is also willing to step in itself and undertake high-end projects in the region, if the need arises.
A case in point is the Abu Dhabi Trade Centre where it was requested to handle the complete project.  
'This kind of turnkey service is fairly far removed from our core business,' says a Technal spokesman,  'but we have already demonstrated that Technal has all competencies it needs to become leaders in this field and in supporting the fabricators.'
'The last three years have been fruitful for TME, providing all fabricators with support, and establishing an engineering approach, internal structure and network in the GCC countries.  This structure will be enlarged in terms of fabricators and a step-by-step permanent Technal Middle East presence in selected countries,' Lugrin adds.