MANILA, Philippines—An Abu Dhabi-based construction design company announced Thursday it planned to expand its Manila office fourfold in two years amid rising demand from the United Arab Emirates, where there is an ongoing construction boom.

Derek Bruce, founder and general manager of Reem Emirates Aluminum (REA), said at a news briefing that the rising cost of doing business in the UAE convinced the company to put up a subsidiary in the Philippines two years ago.

The local unit, Reemalum Philippines Inc. (RAP), employs 20 design specialists, CAD operators, structural engineers and administration staff. “We plan to expand this to 60 by yearend, 90 in 2009 and 120 in 2010,” Bruce said.

Ninety percent of REA’s designers in Abu Dhabi are Filipinos, he said.

Rakesh Nair, REA finance-accounting manager, said, “We aim to make RAP operationally independent of the parent company within the year. That means it would be funded entirely with sales revenues.”

He said RAP was aiming at a sales revenue of P40 million this year, P60 million in 2009 and P80 million in 2010.

In the UAE, the Reem group designs key components of construction projects, including the Silver Wave Tower in Abu Dhabi and the Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai.

Bruce said that for the Silver Wave project, Filipino designers provide drawing renditions of a combination of unitized and stick curtain wall that would be implemented in the 36-floor, 10,000 square-meter mixed use property.

Curtain walls are essential elements in modern construction. They provide both structural and aesthetic benefits because these aluminum-framed, glass in-filled walls are attached to the building structure without carrying the floor or roof loads.

“In the highly anticipated Jumeirah Lake Towers, RAP is assisting REA by providing shop drawings of the combined unitized and stick curtain wall designs in three of the nine towers, which range from 35 to 39 floors and are located on a 20,000-square-meter site,” he said.

Bruce said the Reem group enjoyed zero staff turnover and that this was ensured partly by offering compensation that was 20-30 percent higher than industry standards.

“The specialists that we hire benefit from working on international projects without having to relocate overseas and be away from their families and friends,” he added. Edited by INQUIRER.net