The Gulf's drive for sustainable urban growth is reshaping facilities management, MEFMA president and Cleanco chief executive Jamal Abdulla Lootah tells FM Magazine.
"MEFMA represents the interests of governments, service providers and professionals across the region," says Jamal Abdulla Lootah, emphasising a clear distinction between the organisation he leads and many industry associations elsewhere. Where trade bodies are often created by professionals for their peers, MEFMA was established in 2010 with direct backing from policymakers. That origin has given it unusual weight in shaping both regulation and perception.
In the Gulf, facilities management has travelled a long way in a short time. For much of its history, the market was fragmented: MEP contractors handled mechanical and electrical systems, electromechanical engineers maintained HVAC, and soft service providers offered cleaning, security or landscaping. What was missing was integration, coherence and a distinctive professional identity that reflected the unique development of the sector in the region.
When MEFMA began, hardly anyone in the Gulf spoke about facilities management as a discipline.
The establishment of the Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) in 2009 began to change that. Based in Dubai, MEFMA has brought together government agencies, property developers, service providers, universities and individuals across the GCC, the Levant and North Africa.
Its role has been threefold: to professionalise the workforce through training and internationally aligned certifications, to generate research that informs both industry and policymakers, and to provide a platform where regional and global expertise can intersect.
"When MEFMA began, hardly anyone in the Gulf spoke about facilities management as a discipline," says Lootah. "Our first task was to explain what FM is and why it matters."
Organised under the patronage of Dubai Municipality, the most recent edition of the association's annual event, MEFMA CONFEX, attracted a record audience of over 800 participants from 12 countries and presented 30 awards showcasing excellence in operational efficiency and digital transformation in the FM industry.
Designing for Longevity
The skylines of the Gulf are synonymous with ambition: witness the Burj Khalifa, Jumeirah Beach Residence (once the world's largest single-phase residential and commercial development), Saudi Arabia's new NEOM megaproject, and Qatar's Lusail City. In addition to representing complex design and engineering challenges, all of these projects have laid bare the operational realities of operating towering buildings and structures in harsh climatic conditions that include extremely hot summers occasioning thermal shock when building materials contract rapidly during flash rainstorms.
Desert dust clogs systems; high humidity corrodes façades; energy-hungry HVAC units account for the majority of energy consumption. A structure that dazzles at launch can quickly become a liability if maintenance has not been built in from the start.
"Projects that look spectacular but are unmaintainable will become dead assets," warns Lootah. The lesson is gradually being absorbed. Developers now write FM requirements into tender documents; operators are involved in planning earlier; and regulators are embedding FM considerations into codes and standards.
Sustainability adds a further dimension. The region's reliance on imported materials and energy-intensive cooling places particular emphasis on efficiency. FM is no longer merely about extending the lifecycles of assets-it's about aligning with national ESG agendas and supporting (often extremely ambitious if more than adequately funded) net-zero ambitions.
Promoting Sustainable Urban Development
A discipline once centred on maintaining assets has become a lever of national policy. In the Gulf, the combination of rapid urbanisation, heavy reliance on imported construction materials and energy-intensive cooling systems makes the efficiency of the built environment a matter of economic survival as much as climate responsibility. For governments, facilities management is not only about extending lifecycles but also about delivering on net-zero promises made on the world stage at successive UN COP summits.
The UAE has been the most explicit. Its Net Zero by 2050 Strategy identifies buildings as a key pillar of decarbonisation, alongside power, transport and industry. Its updated nationally determined contribution commits to a 47 per cent reduction in emissions by 2035 relative to 2019 levels. And under the Climate Change Reduction Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024), all significant emitters - including property owners and operators - must monitor, report and cut their greenhouse gases. The policy has transformed FM from an operational necessity into a regulated function of state climate strategy.
In the other Gulf countries, the same direction of travel is clear. Saudi Arabia's Saudi Green Initiative has set a 2060 net-zero target, with a 50% renewable energy mix by 2030 and the adoption of a circular carbon economy framework. Qatar's National Vision 2030 embeds green building codes such as GSAS into regulations for new developments and public assets. Oman is targeting 30% renewable electricity by 2030, while Bahrain and Kuwait are scaling up solar and efficiency programmes as part of post-COP commitments. Each programme carries different emphases, but all bring the built environment under sharper scrutiny as a driver of carbon reduction.
MEFMA's mission - to "guide and empower members and the wider industry to shape a sustainable built environment in the Middle East" - aligns directly with these commitments. Through standards, certification, training and technical guidance, the organisation translates national net-zero ambitions into day-to-day operational practice. Without disciplined facilities management, Gulf governments will struggle to deliver on their sustainability promises.
Digital Transformation and Automation
If design integration is one axis of change, technology is the other. Across the Gulf, FM is shifting from reactive to predictive. IoT sensors track real-time performance of HVAC, lighting and water systems. AI models predict faults before they occur. Automated controls adjust energy use according to occupancy.
"Technology is not optional," Lootah says. "It is becoming the backbone of the sector. Our job is to prepare the workforce for this reality."
Adoption, however, is uneven. Many operators still run fragmented systems with little data interoperability. Cybersecurity is emerging as a risk. Training lags behind the speed of deployment. For all the promise of smart cities, the human factor remains critical.
Automation follows a different logic in the Gulf compared with Europe or the United States. Labour costs are less easily measured in wages alone, as expatriate packages often include accommodation, healthcare and transport. Recent reforms - wage protection systems, heat-stress rules, mandatory health insurance - have lifted standards but raised costs.
Even so, automation proves economical when it is incorporated into buildings at the design stage. Around 74 per cent of construction revenue in the UAE still comes from new builds, giving scope to embed robotics, sensor-driven maintenance and automated cleaning directly into design. "Automation here is not about replacing people," Lootah argues. "It's about scale, resilience, and reducing disruption."
People, Policy and Nationalisation
Technology is only part of the workforce story. Governments across the Gulf are pressing for higher national participation in the private sector. Emiratisation, Saudisation, Omanisation, Qatarisation and Bahrainisation all impose quotas and deadlines.
In the UAE, companies with 50 or more staff must raise the percentage of Emiratis they hire by 2 per cent annually by 2026. Smaller firms are already subject to mandatory targets with penalties for non-compliance, including monthly fines and restricted access to government services.
Lootah believes the twin pressures of automation and nationalisation can be complementary. "AI and automation can offset the relatively small pool of local nationals we have in the UAE compared even to other Gulf countries," he says. "That allows nationals to move into supervisory and leadership positions."
MEFMA is working with universities to align curricula with market demand, ensuring that Emiratis entering FM bring both technical and managerial skills. The aim is not to tick check boxes but to facilitate real career development.
Competition adds another layer. MEFMA estimates there are over 1,200 companies active in the FM space in the UAE alone. These include multinationals like Mitie, Serco, Servest and G4S; significant state-owned enterprises like TECOM (the property services company of Dubai Holding); and hundreds of single- and multi-service providers. The dynamic is fierce but, in Lootah's view, positive. "The market is large enough for everyone. What matters is quality, innovation and sustainability."
Public-sector firms bring reach and resources; private companies provide agility and specialisation. MEFMA's challenge is to maintain standards so rivalry does not devolve into price competition alone.
Jamal Abdulla Lootah (pictured) has played a central role in the development of MEFMA as the association's co-founder and current president.
Cleanco: Metaphor for a Growing Industry
No stranger to the facilities management sector, Jamal Abdulla Lootah took over as Group CEO of Cleanco in 2023 after more than two decades shaping the industry in the Gulf. He was previously the driving force behind Imdaad, which he built into one of the region's most recognisable FM providers, serving major clients such as Nakheel, Emaar Properties, Dubai Municipality and Al Maktoum International Airport. Before that, he held senior positions at Dubai World and began his career in the security department of Dubai Ports Authority. It is a trajectory that illustrates the breadth of the sector itself: from frontline operations to corporate leadership, from single-service provision to integrated, technology-driven solutions.
Cleanco, established more than forty years ago, has itself mirrored that evolution. Originally founded as a cleaning contractor, it now manages a portfolio of integrated FM services across the UAE. With more than 12,000 employees, the company provides structured training in technical disciplines from HVAC to waste management, embedding professional standards across a workforce drawn from multiple nationalities. "Scale matters," Lootah says. "But scale without training is just numbers. We have to make sure every individual is equipped to deliver consistently, whether in an airport terminal or a residential tower."
The company also holds a Guinness World Record for cleaning the largest ever surface area in 24 hours - a logistical feat that required precise planning and coordination. Yet Lootah is quick to frame the achievement not as a spectacle but as a signal of operational discipline. "That record showed what can be done when you mobilise people, training and technology in unison. The same principles apply when we manage a city-scale community or a complex mixed-use development."
Sustainability has become the next test. Cleanco has invested in eco-friendly cleaning products, recycling initiatives and waste-reduction schemes that align with the ESG agendas of its clients. "Clients no longer ask only for services," Lootah notes. "They expect providers to align with their ESG goals, and rightly so. FM is now judged not just on cost and delivery, but on its contribution to environmental and social objectives."
The trajectory of both Lootah's career and Cleanco's diversification reflects the wider industry in the Gulf: fragmented origins, rapid consolidation, and a shift towards integration, professionalism and sustainability. It is a reminder that facilities management is no longer the invisible support act behind the region's megaprojects but a strategic partner in shaping their long-term viability.
FM succeeds through teamwork, and teamwork is built on respect.
Exporting Expertise and Shaping the Future
No longer purely a consumer of imported FM services, the Gulf is increasingly exporting facilities management expertise it has developed as a result of hosting many of the world's most challenging and ambitious construction projects.
Major developments, including the Jebel Ali Port (the world's largest man-made harbour), Dubai Mall (which remains one of the largest retail destinations in the world), and the expansion of airports and the tourism sector as the region weans itself off petroleum exports and gravitates towards commerce and tourism, have created and honed facilities managers with unparalleled skillsets.
The international expansion of Emirati and Qatari real estate companies-including Dubai Holding, Qatari Diar and Msheireb Properties-into North Africa, Europe and the United States is creating new opportunities as the facilities management companies they contract in their domestic markets follow them overseas.
"FM providers here are already exporting their knowledge," Lootah notes. "Expertise developed here is increasingly global."
Looking also cites three major indusry imperatives. First, FM must be integrated at every stage of project design. Second, digital fluency must become the baseline skillset. Third, sustainability must be standard, not optional. Without these, assets "risk becoming stranded, and cities risk losing liveability."
Leadership and Lessons for the Future
Lootah's career reflects the rise of facilities management in the Gulf. From his first role in the security department of Dubai Ports Authority to senior positions at Dubai World, through to leading Imdaad and now Cleanco, the pioneer and veteran of facilities management in the UAE, has worked experience of single- as well as integrated, multi- services delivery. As a co-founder of MEFMA, Lootah can also be credited for the visionary approach it has adopted with a strong focus on.
Lootah himself admits, "When I started, facilities management was barely recognised as an industry in its own right," he says. "Today it is central to sustainability, urban resilience and the way cities function day to day."
For the next generation, the message is one of both opportunity and responsibility. "FM covers everything from engineering to community services," he notes. "There is space for every kind of talent - technical, managerial, and people-focused. The important thing is to find your niche." At the same time, he stresses the collective ethos: "This is not a solitary profession. FM succeeds through teamwork, and teamwork is built on respect. That is the principle that has guided me from the start."
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