The role of project management in all industries across the Middle East and globally was stressed recently by a senior official of a Dubai firm specialising in the field.

Mounir A Ajam, CEO of Sukad FZ-LLC, said project management, an emerging profession, was the power that made many dreams come true. “Project management is not just about managing a construction project,” he said. ”Organisational project management has proven itself as a strategic business asset that could help organisations bridge the gap between corporate strategy and implementation; it is a link to ensure effective implementation of projects and programmes.” He added it could help in meeting challenges in a “much more effective way.”
Sukad, an innovation centre operating across the Middle East, specialises in consultancy and training services in project management and organisational project management. It is an acronym for Success through Uniqueness, Knowledge, Attitude and Development.
  Ajam referred to the ongoing construction boom in cities of the region including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and Manama and the speed of the development. Buildings were appearing like rapidly growing forests. Islands were emerging from Gulf waters and skyscrapers were reaching higher and higher, the official said. “The diversity of the projects and their developers is quite unique and some places are becoming a dreamland where every type of imaginable project is being created from highly innovative, creative and pioneering minds,” he observed.
Away from construction, Ajam remarked that regional airlines such as Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and Oman Air were “leading the way,” while in most other places the industry was declining. Similarly, many global information technology houses had moved into this region. “What is not readily recognisable is the power of human capital, resource development, nationalisation programmes and their role in creating our fantastic world. What is not easy to see is how the financial sector is emerging as a global power across many cities in our region.
“What is the power that is leading the way in making these dreams a reality? Obviously we do not have a magic wand…We would like to say that project management, as an emerging profession, is playing a significant role in all industries across the region and globally.”
Ajam likens project management to  “a giant that is awakening” and one that would need to be “tamed” when it indeed awakens. “How do we refine it in order for us to utilise its power in the most effective way?” he asks.