The Persian Gulf region has big plans for modernisation. One question…who’s going to do the work?

The Persian Gulf is in poised to become one of the most incredibly modern regions in the world. Doha is ramping up infrastructure improvements for the World Cup in 2022 and its bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. I just read an article on gulfnews.com about how design work has just begun on a metro and light rail project that promises to bring together different parts of Abu Dhabi, arguably one of the region’s most modern cities along with Dubai.

Expansion in Doha, Qatar demands significant engineering resources.

While modernisation brings great promise to the region, it also poses an even larger question: Where are companies and governments going to find the engineers and technical workers to perform the work? And more importantly, what is it going to take to get them to come here?

Having been in the business of finding engineering talent for projects for over 15 years, I must say, the job is not easy but, it can been done successfully.

Let’s first address the pressing question: What makes a candidate right for this type of work?  Europe and Asia are renowned for their rail engineers. However, you have to look at more than a skill set when identifying candidates for projects in the Gulf Region. An engineer may have 30 years of experience on light, high-speed and tunnel rail systems and still might not be the right fit. 

One might pose the question, “How could this not be the perfect person for the job?” The answer is simple. If that same worker has spent all of his or her career in Europe or Asia with little experience travelling the world, the transition can be overwhelming and downright detrimental to a project’s success.  One must really examine each candidate’s personality and mindset before making the commitment to bring them onto a project.     

The next question that arises has to do more with the engineering and technical industry itself. The professionals in our industry have enjoyed great success over their careers, be it in oil and gas, rail, industrial and commercial construction or civil engineering. They are virtually all about to retire over the next five to 10 years with only a handful of younger engineers eager to replace them. We can place experienced professionals on projects anywhere in the world but, what happens when they decide to finally buy a villa in Italy or travel the world for pleasure?

The short answer is to mend your pockets so that they are even deeper. The competition is heated right now and will be even more so in the future. For example, there are railway projects underway or in the planning stages in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, with continued expansion in Singapore. In addition Australia, UK and the USA all have projects targeting infrastructure skill sets needed for these rail projects.

The tougher, more realistic answer is that we need to act now to ensure the supply of talent meets current and future demand.

Training and cross-training engineers from other industries will help in the short term. In the US, after the auto industry nearly collapsed, in conjunction with the local, state and national government grants, industry professionals and area colleges and universities, my company took auto engineers and prepared them for new careers in oil and gas.

An engineer is an engineer.

It takes a specific type of thinking to be an engineer and see the big picture of how everything in a system or process is connected. If you educate and engineer from one industry that may be slowing to the systems and processes in another, the transition will be much faster than training a new engineer how to lead and manage a project.

Long term, one of the only answers is for industry and governments in the region to grow the engineering workforce organically from within.

Curricula focused on long term needs of the region and its modernisation must be formed. Countries in the region must reach out to programs in established modern engineering hubs around the world and develop their own programs. In fact, one might say that true modernisation might only be possible if our region opens its doors to welcome outside influence and culture while lessening some of the tight Visa restrictions on inter-Gulf travel and work. Educators and perspective candidates will be looking to come to the Gulf not based simply on the promise of a lucrative payout but rather, to get in on the ground floor of something much larger. 

In other words, education and fundamental shifts in the way we look at staffing engineering projects are keys to future modernisation in the region. If we stay the current course, modernisation and the benefits of it to the Gulf may be at risk.

While other countries debate the benefits of rail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking action.

Ask most Westerners about Saudi Arabia and they will likely tell you that it is an oil rich country in the Middle East that is mostly arid desert land with a few big cities. Some might even reference the passion for the Kingdom’s football team or the marvel of industrial cities that have been built from the ground up and highlighted in engineering publications and documentaries.

Now, one has cause to believe that any future description of the Kingdom will include thoughts of a country with one of the most sophisticated rail networks in the world.

  

A recent article in the Arab News by Siraj Wahab takes an in-depth look at the infrastructure improvements being made to the current rail system in Saudi Arabia as well as the new projects underway that will connect eight of the Kingdom’s 13 provinces via a vast network of high-speed lines and a system of tunnels and land bridges by 2015.

(Riyadh) Rail will soon connect the Kingdom.

There are currently five phases of construction on the new network that comprise 7,000 km of track, or about three and two-thirds more track than the current system. The Kingdom’s current system is about 1,500 km long and runs between Riyadh and Dammam on two lines; one for passengers and one for freight. Highlights include:  the Haramain High Speed Rail project that will connect Makkah, Jeddah, Rabigh and Madinah and includes more than 500 tunnels; an expansive land bridge slated to connect the existing network with industrial and business centres across the country; incorporation of a recently completed private line; and a phase called the Gulf Cooperation Council Railway Project that will link Kuwait to Ras Al-Khair, Oman and Qatar.

If that’s not enough, the Kingdom is not ruling out the possibility of future lines that connect all of the provinces and even a line that connects to the European network one day.

Aziz M. Al-Hokail, president of the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO), explains the benefits of expansion and the reasons the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah approved the massive spend. Al-Hokail references how rail projects have helped interconnect economies in other countries, spurred growth in the form of cities popping up along the lines and the benefits to both commuters and logistics improvements.

He mentions that one need only look at the US or Taiwan as evidence of the benefits that rail has on an economy. There were once vast expanses of empty land along the rail lines in both countries. Now industrial hubs and suburban areas have grown out of seemingly nowhere, much like towns did along rivers in ancient times. A shipment that once took a week by sea will be made in 12 hours via the new high speed rail network, boosting trade in the country as well.

On all levels, rail in Saudi Arabia looks like a no-brainer.  High-speed lines look to diversify an already robust nation and economy. Soon, private shops and consumer-based micro economies may pop up between industrial cities and grow as well.  

With all of the debate around the rest of the world and bickering between politicians and experts about the benefits of rail versus the costs involved, one might be tempted to look at what the Saudi’s are doing and say the time for talk is over. The jobs it creates, enhancements to trade and quality of life of those around a line, not to mention the cost efficiencies once complete, all make rail a viable option. Some say the current rail project might be late in coming to the Kingdom given the advanced networks around the world. Despite the seemingly late entry into modernization movement, the same people might also be saying that come 2015, Saudi Arabia may be the very model for modernization, thanks to rail. Perhaps it will be a lesson for us all.