Keys to the Kingdom

AV Magazine

There's a lot of potential for AV in Qatar as its development is driven by preparations for the World Cup 2022. http://www.avinteractive.com/features/market-sectors/keys-to-the-kingdom-27-08-2015/

The richest country on earth is spending heavily on AV but don’t expect to make a quick buck and be prepared for the long haul.

Regardless of whether the FIFA World Cup does wind up in Qatar, the country is intent on reinventing its international profile with a series of massive infrastructure projects.

To be sure, the kicker for many of them is its hosting of soccer’s circus in 2022, but the richest nation on earth will not let its ambitious plans crumble into the desert.

“There is high potential in the AV business in Qatar, a high demand and growth rate essentially driven by the government in preparation for the WC 2022,” says Riedel’s local manager Ahmed Magd.

Peter Owen, Middle East sales manager at L-Acoustics (which installed Kudo in the auditorium of the Qatar National Convention Center last year) agrees there are a wide variety of projects in the country. Many of them are led by government departments, but there are a number of private projects too.

“Qatar is doing a lot of development as they are keen to show the professional side of their country,” he says. “I’m seeing many Dubai-based companies opening offices in Doha due to  the growth in Qatar.”

Comparisons are inevitable between the more traditional Qatar and its noisy neighbour which has its own showcase to build for World Expo 2020.

“The markets are very different,” reports Vincent Phillippo, director for Crestron Middle East. “Dubai has already finished many developments. The market in Qatar is slower and can better be compared to Abu Dhabi. Qatar is more open to work with the latest technologies compared to Dubai.”

According to Stephen Harvey, managing director, LM Productions, the business culture is more mature in Dubai than Qatar. He points out that it can be expensive to do business there.

“The ongoing business costs are high and there is a lot of red tape. It’s not an area you step into lightly. A lot of companies which come to Qatar thinking they are going to make quick money have been disappointed and left again. You have to be in for the long term. But then that was the same in Dubai if you go back a few years and much the same in other parts of the Gulf.

“Most projects are offered via tenders so be prepared for large tender bonds which can take a long time to be returned, quite complex terms and conditions and very long payment terms,” he says. “Government payment terms tend to be particularly long so any company must have good cash flow and be able to absorb these kind of costs.”

Owen sees both Dubai and Qatar driving an increase in vertical markets over the coming years. “The opportunities are numerous,” he declares. “We’re seeing a lot of movement in the sports market, of course, but the country as a whole is developing and this is driving growth over various markets… growth that will continue to accelerate as 2022 approaches.”

Qatar sits on top of a massive oil field which has given its 280,000 nationals a GDP of $100,000 per head. The petroleum industry, which accounts for 70 per cent of government revenue and 85 per cent of exports, has attracted another 1.5 million expatriates to base themselves there.

The country is spending more than £200bn ($312bn) on a building bonanza ahead of the World Cup. This includes nine new stadiums and renovations of three, with the 12 venues divided among seven cities including Al-Daayen, Al-Khor, Al-Rayyan Doha and Umm Slal. After the tournament there is a plan to dismantle parts of the stadiums and send them to developing countries.

“There is a great deal of spend on making Doha a very advanced transportation hub with Doha airport one of the largest in the world,” says Eleuterio Fernandes, Middle East and Africa sales director at Exterity.

Qatar’s Hamad International Airport, which cost $15.5bn , is now open with an initial capacity of 30 million passengers a year. Exterity’s IPTV solution is installed there, just as it is at other regional airports in Jebel Ali, Muscat and Riyadh.

“The Doha airport install is our largest VoD solution worldwide,” says Fernandes. “We have twenty one VoD servers running tutorials for all users including HR, cabin crew, IT and marketing. It’s also duplicated for full redundancy with two identical systems on each side of the airport.”

In Fernandes’ opinion Qatari clients want a complete integration for all AV solutions. “They are okay with solutions that do the minimum but for a large project they want state of the art,” he says. “Hospitality is also a good business, with existing hotels swapping out their coaxial for IPTV. There are a lot of opportunities in new property which will really ramp up demand for new technology from 2016.”

Smart City Lusail

The World Cup final is scheduled to be held at the 86,000 seat Lusail Iconic Stadium which is under construction in the yet to be built city of Lusail. This is an entire planned community on the Persian Gulf costing some $45bn.

The 38 square mile metropolis plans two golf courses, 22 hotels, a theme park, a lagoon, and two marinas. There will eventually be enough housing to accommodate 450,000 people – nearly 200,000 more than the number of native citizens living in the country.

The project is being funded by the government through property company Qatari Diar which describes Lusail as a “self-contained and comprehensively planned city signifying Qatar’s progress on a grand scale.”

Because it is being constructed from scratch in a country where money is seemingly no object, Lusail will be one of the world’s first entirely ‘smart’ cities. Among its attributes will be building and waste management sensors, street sensors for traffic control plus CCTV linked to a central command hub designed for citizen safety and greener energy consumption. Residents will be able to move around via water taxi or light-rail system, both of which will run on green energy.

Other Smart City projects in the UAE region including Dubai’s Masdar City and another four in Saudi Arabia will contribute to doubling the Gulf’s spend on government-related AV technology by next year, according to InfoComm.

“Technology will be the foundation for Smart Cities, from securing smart grids, to control technology, and environmental sustainability,” said David Lim, project director, InfoComm Asia. “No two Smart Cities are alike. Each one requires world-class customised control systems that can evolve to meet the needs of professional AV applications.”

Setting up in business

The keys to the kingdom are not dissimilar to unlocking other foreign markets. It pays to spend time curating relationships and working with a local partner.

“Having a high profile sponsor will help your business but be prepared to lose money in the early stages and be prepared for competition,” warns Harvey. “It will cost a lot more than you think to set-up a business in Qatar. Be active in your communications and have good staff.”

Crestron’s Phillippo says: “Only if a dealer has a local presence can you get involved. For most projects it’s required to be present in Qatar for several years.”

“Find a strong local partner,” stresses Owen. “One whom you trust, shares a similar business philosophy and who brings an intimate knowledge of the local culture as well as good contacts with the various local government ministries.

“Beyond the relationship, Qataris are looking for the best products, they want brands they can trust to have the same quality they are putting into their property development.”

Kuwait

Compared to the rest of the UAE the Kuwaiti market is “relatively small and very much a price oriented market” says Riedel. It is also less dynamic than much of the UAE. One of its largest annual events is the Hala festival each February which features cultural activities and attracts 8,000 tourists.

“Kuwait is now a stable market and I expect it to show growth in the upcoming years, but for the moment it’s still a little calm,” says Owen; while Phillippo acknowledges there are a few very large projects in Kuwait: “The market is slower than others when it comes to decisions.

Exterity entered the Middle East in 2006 based in Kuwait, an approach that has paid off handsomely as it claims to have a 85 per cent of IPTV market share in the country.

“There is little AV in hospitality but a lot in oil and gas and also education,” says Fernandes. “The government wants to create a landmark in education and has several large scale projects.” Among them a campus-wide IPTV install at Kuwait University.

Qatar at Milan Expo

LM Productions was commissioned to create spectacular scenes within the Oman and Qatar pavilions at the Milan Expo.

Working with the Qatar National Pavilion Committee, Paradigm & Partners and City Neon Bahrain, LM created a virtual reality underwater landscape of the Arabian Sea where visitors feel they are walking through artificial coral reefs and interacting with marine life around them. The installation illuminates a project taking place in Qatari waters to restore ailing coral reefs lost to decades of aggressive coastal work and marine pollution.

At the entrance to the Qatar pavilion two short throw Optoma W316ST projectors were used to create virtual hostesses (a mother and child) greeting guests. Visitors can flick through a virtual holographic book thanks to another projection. As the guests are guided through the pavilion, three different sized video globes explain how Qatar manages its food imports and food security via a projection from three short throw X306STs.