Dubai, UAE, 17 July 2018: The Bahrain market is perhaps one of the smallest in the GCC region, yet – despite the lack of large oil revenues – the country has benefited from investments and support from GCC region neighbours, said V Jayachandran, General Manager, Commercial Air Conditioning Division, AJM Kooheji Group. “The local population is but a small portion compared to the floating population from the GCC region, as well as its reasonably large expat base,” said Jayachandran. “This peculiar combination benefits the country in terms of creating a potential demand for temporary and residential units.” Jayachandran further said that given the limited land mass available, tall and vertical units are being seen as an answer to the rising demand for temporary and permanent accommodation.

“One could say that Bahrain boasts of the largest [number of] fully furnished accommodations for hire – long and short term – as well as properties on freehold, if you omit Dubai from the comparison,” he said. As such, he added, a large part of the economy revolves around the construction of such units, with investors pouring in from other affluent GCC members. This, Jayachandran emphasised, has driven demand for commercial air conditioning requirements, which the company aims to address through its Division, which offers design supply, installation, testing and commissioning.

“Bahrain is very strict with respect to doling out power, and demands extremely energy-efficient air conditioners and appliances,” he said, adding that AJM KoohejiGroup supports this by emphasising its inverter-type ACs, multi-split systems, VRF and conventional ACs from LG Electronics, in South Korea. The support also includes a large after-sales service infrastructure.

Jayachandran said, “You may already know that the inverter types, despite their higher cost, are fast gaining acceptance, as they have other investment savings with respect to power, in addition to running efficiently at perhaps 30-35% lesser power, not to mention the savings on wear and tear, due to controlled operation of their compressors.”

Hannah Jo Uy is Assistant Editor at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com