If you’ve looked at the news recently, you’ll have seen dire reports of soaring gas prices and dire predictions of either a very expensive or a very cold winter ahead.
Why were Atamate taking part in a construction show in Oman? It may not seem like the place you would expect to see a British based software company whose markets have been mainly European.
Oman is the UK’s fastest growing export market, and the Department for International Trade (DIT), the Engineering Industries Association (EIA) and Intec Export Intelligence pulled together a number of British companies to take part in the show and be part of a British Pavilion.
The BIG Show is one of the largest construction shows in the Middle East and although the oil price drop has affected the construction market in Oman, there are a lot of residential and small commercial projects in the pipeline as well as many existing properties and buildings.
We arrived on Sunday morning when we were given a series of presentations hosted by the British Embassy in Muscat. These not only gave us and our fellow exhibitors an overview of Oman and it’s history, but what the strengths and weaknesses of the Omani market and how best to do business in Oman. Our thanks to the embassy staff, Douglas OHI (www.douglasohi.com) , Oliver Stephens of Addleshaw Goddard addleshawgoddard.com and Business Gateways (businessgateways.com).
The British Embassy Oman gave a reception in the evening at the Hormuz Hotel which proved to be very useful networking for Atamate. We met many Omani business owners and senior level executives and had the chance to socialise with them and the other British companies.
Keeping cool in Oman: reducing air conditioning costs
The show took over the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre in Muscat for 3 days and was open until 9pm giving local companies the chance to visit after the working day. We were very busy for the majority of the show talking in the main about how to control air conditioning in existing and new builds. Air conditioners are the largest user of electricity in Omani buildings and being able to control these with smart building technology was of great interest to many visitors.
In Oman, air conditioners are installed in every building, both residential and commercial. In most large commercial buildings in Oman BMS are installed, but in residential multi-unit properties, there is little control of any of the building services including cooling. As the oil prices falls, and the government subsidies (http://www.omanobserver.om/energy-subsidies-tumble-across-gcc/) of energy are reduced, the amount of electricity and money that it takes to cool buildings will become more and more of an issue. Using Atamate software, cooling control is made simple and affordable and can be retrofitted into existing buildings. As a result, we had a very successful show meeting many building owners and facilities management companies all trying to reduce cooling costs.
In addition to the show, we had a number of meetings with Omani and international businesses in Oman who we plan to be doing business with in the near future.
A great trip and we will be back!
Any questions, please get in touch - there is a form below, or email us on info@atamate.com
