CIBSE President Vince Arnold and CEO Ruth Carter connected with industry leaders, policymakers and members on a visit to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in October.
They were joined by CIBSE MENA chair Imran Shaikh and their visit highlighted the Institution’s growing presence in the region. It resulted in CIBSE strengthening relationships, exploring opportunities for technical collaboration and celebrating the achievements of the region.
Arnold and Carter’s visit coincided with the renaming of the CIBSE UAE region to CIBSE MENA. Its mission is to set a benchmark for excellence, balancing global standards with local ingenuity.
The trip included a visit to BK Gulf’s offices and modular factory in Dubai, where Arnold and Carter saw the strong graduate training programme.
In Riyadh, the CIBSE delegation met the team at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), to explore opportunities to support its ambition to become a sustainable, urban environment. The meeting was a step towards a deeper partnership, with CIBSE looking to support KAFD’s Vision 2030 commitments.
The delegation met the Egis engineering team, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to begin the accreditation of a graduate training and development scheme. CIBSE also signed an MOU with Arup to progress accreditation of the engineer’s graduate schemes.
Arnold delivered the opening keynote at the MEP International Conference MENA, emphasising the role of smart policy and regulation, and the need for collaboration.
The CIBSE Decarbonisation Conference 2025, hosted by CIBSE MENA, looked at practical pathways to net zero, with sessions covering cooling, net zero and data centres.
Arnold and Carter also attended the Student Design Competition 2025. The theme, Intelligent Buildings, challenged participants to explore IoT-driven systems, adaptive lighting, smart HVAC and real-time energy optimisation.
In addition, they met the project team for Desert Rock Resort in Saudi Arabia, which won the CIBSE MENA Electrical Project of the Year award.