A diamond in Dubai

"Ranked as one of the fastest growing cities of the world… Dubai at the moment is a very exciting market to operate in and is clearly a playground for contractors like us,” exults Minoo Jamaji, managing director of Roshan Construction LLC, reckoned as one of the leaders in the field in the United Arab Emirates.

The company, which specializes in turnkey construction of all kinds of pre engineered steel and RCC buildings such as warehouses, factories, workshops, showrooms, cold stores, staff/labor accommodations, office and residential buildings, won two major industrial awards in the space of five months. In January this year it was awarded the 10th Diamond Eye Award for Quality Commitment and Excellence from OtherWays Management and Consulting Association, Paris, in the presence of a galaxy of trade and industry leaders from around the globe. The award entitles Roshan Construction to use the ‘Top Quality Customer Satisfaction Aptitude’ seal as an internationally recognized mark. Last September it received the 19th International Construction Award from The Trade Leaders’ Club, Madrid, Spain, for excellence in industrial construction.

Noting that Dubai has "achieved many a milestone by developing some of the most prestigious and sought after infrastructure landmarks in the world,” Jamaji says he enjoys "a hassle free and safe business operating environment and a tax free economy,” which makes the place an ideal choice for doing business.

In an interview with The Business Weekly earlier this year, Jamaji had told journalist Vinod Kumar, "We are constantly trying to match the standards set by Dubai’s leaders, as the Emirate continues to witness unprecedented growth in the industrial and storage sectors,” adding that getting "qualified and skilled workers remains our top priority.” As Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have all opened up freehold properties it seems that the preeminence of Dubai as a source of employment in the Middle East has been affected, he noted. The manpower shortage is said to be affecting construction schedules.

Roshan Construction’s roster of clients includes Nikai, Toshiba Electronics, Mohebi Logistics, Panasonic Gulf, Seven Seas Shipchandlers, Alphamed, Panalpina, Anixter UK Ltd, Infofort, Came ME, AGMC, Landmark Group, Pan Emirates, Belhasa Driving Centre and Nestlé. "Because of this (labor shortage), we have declined many new jobs as we ourselves have so many projects… We do not believe in experimenting with new developers until we have finished work for our existing clients,” Jamaji explained.

Another factor Jamaji currently contends with is the rising cost of inputs. "You commit to a job on a certain budget and three to four months down the line, the construction materials costs rise by 10 to 25 percent. Because of this, there are lots of contractors who have lost money. At the same time, if they quote too high, they tend to lose the jobs. The problem here is that most of the contracts are lump-sum contracts. There is no escalation clause like we have in India. Once you sign a contract, then you have to deliver at that rate,” Jamaji told the journalist.

With the announcement of new master projects by the government, Jamaji says, "We expect business to be good for another 10 to 12 years... For example, work at the new Jebel Ali Airport, which is as big as Hong Kong, will continue for another 30 to 40 years. There are hundreds of developers who have to develop these projects but we know that we will get work there as we have a reputation in the market…

"Clients prefer (our) company because we are leaders in industrial development. We know our staff and our strength, we have the best of project managers and designers. Customers find it very easy to communicate with us, as they prefer a one-stop shop where they can get everything done by a single contractor. Firefighting, air-conditioning, plumbing, we do everything in-house and we have invested heavily in the last few years on men, equipment, labor camps and machinery,” Jamaji clarified to Kumar.

Roshan Construction’s product management group has gained reputation for continuously refining building details with the goal of making components more economical, more aesthetic, more durable and easier to execute.

Jamaji considers the Dh170 million (Rs 217.6 crore) logistics facility for Landmark Group as the most challenging project the company has handled. The 1.76 million square feet of built-up area houses all the divisions of the Landmark Group like Home Centre, Baby Shop, Splash, Lifestyle and Emax. The facility in Jebel Ali is said to be one of the biggest logistics centers in the Middle East and at any given time, 110 containers can offload cargo at the same time. Nearly 60 percent air-conditioned, Roshan had completed the whole project in a record time of just 10 months, notes an entry on the Internet.

An industrial product by Roshan Construction

Industrial construction comes naturally to the qualified civil engineer who has honed his skills and experience with over 2,000 projects over 15 years in Dubai. Jamaji says he established Roshan Construction — in pursuit of a childhood dream of running his own business — in March 2003 with less than 40 employees and an initial capital investment of USD 300,000. Today the company employs close to 10,000 persons full-time and registers a yearly turnover of USD 600 million, he notes in the course of a brief e-mail interview with Parsiana. And the solid entrepreneur that he is, he says he is making the most of the real estate boom in the UAE by diversifying and establishing M/s Rockwell Real Estate which currently has an annual turnover of USD 250 million!

One of the sponsors of the Ninth World Zoroastrian Congress scheduled for end December 2009 in Dubai, Jamaji feels it will benefit the small Zoroastrian community in the UAE, already a respected group, by bringing further recognition in many ways. "We all Zoroastrians in the UAE are proud of it and are eagerly looking forward to it,” he states.

Responding to one of Parsiana’s stock questions to learn Jamaji’s religious stance, he notes, "We live in a world which is only getting smaller and the only way to peaceful existence and harmony is to have liberal religious views.”

What are your views on intermarriage/acceptance of non-Zoroastrian spouse and children into the faith? we persist. He replies, "I am of the belief the future and existence of our religion lies in its peaceful spread and understanding its practicality, and one of the practic­alities to it is to allow acceptance of inte­r­­marriages (and) of non-Zoroastrian spouse and children into the faith.”

Jamaji owns up to "a passion for collecting cars” and says that over the years he has managed to acquire quite an impressive collection which includes Rolls Royce, Mercedes, H2 Hummer, Cadillac Escalade, Corvette, etc.

His other interests include reading, playing basketball and spending quality time with his family which includes his father Adarbad, a retired civil engineer, and mother Banu, sisters Dinaz Ahmed and Shireen Patel, both happily married with kids of their own, all well settled in Dubai. Brother Shiraz works with Minoo as the general manager of Roshan Construction while Minoo’s wife Rowena is the company’s director of administration and purchase. They have three children: son Germain (11), daughters Jaymee (eight) and Jessica (two).

"Our community is very respectable and held in high regard the world over and I sincerely wish all the Zoroastrians who are making a difference to the community all the very best in what they are doing or aspire to do. May the Light never extinguish from the Zoroastrian community,” is Jamaji’s hope and prayer.