Dubai, UAE - Ssangyong E&C has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Wasl Group to work together on new development projects worth $2.72 billion (AED 10 billion) over the next three years.
The South Korean contractor announced the deal on 5 November. It called the agreement a decisive foothold in Dubai, which it described as a key Middle East hub for winning major orders.
Until now the partners have worked mainly on hotels and upmarket homes. The MOU sets out a plan to take their cooperation well past that, into a broad range of mixed-use schemes.
Wasl Group was set up by the Dubai Real Estate Corporation (DREC) and is Dubai’s largest real estate development and operations company. Across Dubai it owns and manages upwards of 70,000 homes and commercial units, roughly 1,300 buildings and up to 6,000 land plots earmarked for various purposes.
The relationship goes back to 2017. Since then Ssangyong E&C has completed major projects for Wasl Group worth more than $746 million (KRW 1 trillion), among them the Hyatt Centric Hotel and the One Residences luxury apartments.
The contractor put the new agreement down to the same things that won it those jobs: the quality of its work on site and the technical trust it has built up with the developer over time.
Both buildings were handed over in 2022. Earlier this year Ssangyong E&C added a further Wasl job, the Avenue Park Towers contract, which the company put at an estimated $250 million (KRW 370 billion). That job covers a pair of luxury residential towers, of 43 and 37 storeys, on a central Dubai site around 10 minutes’ drive from the international airport.
The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Woong-ki, chairman of Ssangyong E&C’s parent company Global Sae-A, who met H.E. Hesham Al Qassim, Chief Executive Officer of Wasl Group. The two talked through a mid- to long-term blueprint for their work in Dubai.
Hesham Al Qassim, Chief Executive Officer of Wasl Group, said: “The long-standing partnership with Ssangyong E&C clearly shows how important it is to work with a capable partner who has a firm commitment to Wasl Group’s vision and quality.”
He added: “This agreement will be an important opportunity to further strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two companies based on our shared experience and trust, and to successfully complete projects that contribute to Dubai’s growth.”
Kim Woong-ki, Chairman of Global Sae-A, said: “With Ssangyong E&C’s strategic partnership with Wasl Group, we will actively support Dubai’s sustainable growth vision.”
Kim said it was very meaningful for the group to be able to take part in Wasl Group’s next-generation development projects. Drawing on Ssangyong E&C’s extensive construction experience and technological expertise, it would contribute to Dubai’s mid- to long-term development and prosperity, he said.
