#10 Doka

As Doka’s Dubai-based Middle East and Africa office gears up for another record-breaking year, it is worth getting up to speed with some of its latest projects and the mechanisms that have contributed towards the company’s overall regional strength. With more than thirty years’ experience operating in the Middle East from its regional HQ in Dubai, you could say that Doka’s expansion has mimicked that of its surroundings.

Having been involved since the very beginning of what many would consider the ‘boom’ period of the UAE development, Doka’s existing reputation helped to secure contracts on some of the country’s most iconic buildings, most notably the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa, in the process becoming a staple provider for many of the wider GCC’s most ambitious infrastructure and high-rise projects.

In more recent years, Doka’s Director Region Middle East & Africa, Peter Vogel believes there have been several factors, which have helped the company to expand. “While we have made a concerted effort to expand our sales force in the past decade, I believe the decision from our head office in Amstetten to allow our Dubai operations to increase its territorial responsibility has been a major part of our success story,” says Vogel. “Thanks to the hard work, diligence and results of our team, Dubai has carved out its position as a regional leader, making us the logical choice to oversee Doka’s expansion into other markets, particularly west and central Asia, and more recently the whole of the African continent.

“Through a combination of outstanding engineering and logistical competence, Dubai has been able to provide the necessary support to our satellite operations across the wider MEA and WCA regions. From a logistics perspective, the establishment of our Material Distribution Centre here in Jebel Ali has further provided us with a wealth of advantages, in particular reducing lead times while offering an unbeatable level of material availability on site.”

Perhaps another aspect of Doka’s success has been its ability to overcome obstacles no matter the project or deadline. Take for example the Istanbul Marina project, whose ideal solution for its five geometrically different buildings was found after a 4,100-hour study, or the application of its CNC machine at the Lusail project in Qatar, which enabled a decrease in production time, while assuring accuracy for the preassembly that helped the overall project meet its deadline. Built on the strong foundation of its Dubai operations, Doka’s Middle East and Africa office is certainly well positioned, supplied and managed to play an increasingly important role in supporting not just the GCC’s development, but the burgeoning markets of central Asia and continental Africa as well.