Dubai, UAE, 7 August 2018: Evapco has recently opened an office in the UAE, which is now fully operational, said Georges Hoeterickx, Director, Business Development, Evapco Europe. Hoeterickx said that the move to set up an office in Dubai reflects the company’s decision to proactively advance its penetration in the UAE and provide more direct support to clients across the broader GCC region market. The office, he said, will offer pre-sales and sales support and facilitate after-market activities.

The after-market activities, Hoeterickx explained, will focus mainly on retrofit projects, for which the company has seen growing demand. “[Clients] want to retrofit cooling towers and bring them back in good shape by replacing major components,” he said. “The frequency of this is higher [in the region] than what we see in Europe because of the climate and poor maintenance.”

Further touching on emerging trends in the market, Hoeterickx added that he has seen more appreciation for, and investment in, reliable and higher quality equipment, owing to stakeholders’ previous experiences following the decision to choose lower-cost products. In the region, he added, the trend is also moving towards District Cooling over individual cooling for buildings. Lastly, Hoeterickx stressed that there has also been growing awareness with regard to the fire protection aspect of cooling towers. Though this has been part of regulations set by local authorities, he said, compliance has been more stringent of late, with pressure being placed on stakeholders to ensure that cooling towers are made with the proper materials.

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