BR research recently met Mr.
We are a world class project management company operating in different geographies. Descon is very well known to honor its commitments by providing the most reliable solutions in project management and its implementation. We are by far recognized as the leading manufacturer of high-quality equipment in the industry. We offer plant services, and most importantly, our automation business segment is a real step change in process and production industry.
We are living a vision and striving with ‘service delivery’ to become a world class and most trusted partner of our customers in Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction domains operating internationally.
BRR: What segments does
We are the preferred choice of contractor in all major projects in
BRR: What is Descon’s long-term vision?
NB: Our vision is that we must be the preferred choice for our customers for all the engineering and contracting services we provide. And we want to be the partner in the progress of this nation. We are proud to be the largest project management enterprise operating inside
BRR: What percentage of the revenues comes from
NB: The revenue mix can be different as we have different entities. But in terms of volume, execution and presence, 75 percent of the business comes from
BRR: What refineries have you built and set up in the country?
NB: The biggest refinery in
BRR: Tell us about Descon’s global presence.
NB: We are operating in eight countries today in
We are almost in every country in the
The geographical coverage and the diversified portfolio we offer makes Descon a market leader.
BRR: What does a basic engineering project for Descon entail and what are its elements?
NB: The CONCEPTUAL ENGINEERING project phase serves to identify the technical and economic feasibility of the project. Our long experience in the industry and consolidated knowledge allows us to conduct conceptual engineering and front-end engineering design (FEED). This includes the engineering documents that define the global and conceptual scope of the project, including the type of technology and equipment specifications to be used.
The elements of an engineering package are the Basic Engineering and Detailed Engineering; we at Descon can do all these. BASIC ENGINEERING design phase is generally associated with an economic and financial feasibility study; this process serves to provide a project cost estimate closer to reality.
DETAILED ENGINEERING project is the set of documents generated from the Basic Engineering. These include all the construction details by discipline (Civil, Mechanical, Process, Electric, Telecommunications, Instrumentation and Control, Computer Systems) which must be approved for construction.
BRR: How do you rate the human capital of the country specifically for the engineering business?
NB: From what I can recall,
interesting reading: Pakistani student developed voice operated wheelchair
The problem comes in retaining that talent in
BRR: Do these engineers get additional training when they join you?
NB: We have a very structured training program for engineers. We put them through different divisions of the business. Some go into engineering department; some go into execution. A few of them move into quality and assurance. Some move into planning and proposals etc.
We also have management training and development programs for development of our management teams
BRR: What role is Descon playing to bring global companies to
NB: Descon is among very few organizations that have the historical joint ventures with the largest companies in the world. Descon had a joint venture with one of the largest Japanese engineering, construction and procurement companies called the JGC. Then we had a JV with Presson, a Canadian technology company, which formed Presson Descon International Pvt. Limited that is an integrated engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) company housed within this facility.
We have distributions for international companies, and we collaborate on consortium basis on a lot of international engineering platforms.
It is our vision that 30 percent of our growth should come from international joint ventures. We want to encourage our workforce to get that international exposure.
BRR: What is your view of the country’s changing economic dynamics and the challenges that come with it. How has Descon been affected?
NB: Every economy goes through a certain cycle. The largest economies on the globe have gone through these cycles of growth and depression. I believe we are just going through a cycle of uncertainty. We’ve had political uncertainty close to the elections, and then there were some geopolitical uncertainties, just like any other third world country would during a political transition. But now we are looking at certain stabilization factors.
There are some very large scale projects at conceptual stage, which are of extreme importance for the industrial growth and the nation in general. The economy is at the verge of a major turnaround. We have compacted the trough enough to bounce back strong and high.
BRR: What are some of your ongoing projects in
NB: In
We are anticipating major investment in electrification of sub-stations and transmission lines infrastructure of the country. We are aligning our strategy to be part of that growth. We are working on some partnerships with international companies to execute these major projects in the remote areas of our country. These are some of the high-level projects that are expected in the next 18 to 24 months.
interesting reading: PU reducing gap among dept. of science and engineering
There are some infrastructure projects coming up in the northern areas, being planned by provincial governments. We are also actively looking into alternate energy investments that are at the conceptual stage.
BRR: You talked about alternate energy projects, how do you see the new Renewable Energy Policy?
NB: I generally believe that a policy is a framework; it contains guidelines. Government has a vision to go into the renewables, which is the right approach. We have our sunlight to exploit 300 days a year, and high wind corridors to develop renewables.
BRR: From your experience in the upstream oil and gas sector, what in your view are the reasons behind the stagnation and now the decline in crude oil and natural gas production?
NB: I believe
Overall, I believe that the potential is there. Our two major EandP companies are doing well in order to maintain and retain production. The government is taking some very good actions in order to grow EandP business. The government is offering some new blocks to the international and local companies. So I finally see an element of positivity going into this sector.
Are we moving in the right direction? Yes. Are we moving at the right pace? That’s a question. Did we explore the entire nation? No, we did not.
BRR: Where do you see Descon in the next 5 years?
NB: In the current situation, we want to sustain and maintain our market presence and our market share. We are targeting and putting our structures together for some very strategic upcoming projects in the country as well as overseas. We are focusing on growing our engineering business. We believe we have enough talent and we can provide engineering services to major technology and EPCC organizations for specific projects. We are strategically targeting
BRR: Any regulatory barrier or any suggestion to the government to make your business operations simpler and easier?
© Pakistan Press International, source