Khalid Cement Industries Complex (KCIC) is one of Qatar's foremost suppliers of complete concrete solutions. It established itself as a major concrete production company with its 200,000 m2 main production plant just outside Doha, Qatar. Recently KCIC was awarded the National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA) Green Star certification for its application of an environment management system, which considers the proper implementation of procedures and systems to conserve the environment while producing concrete. This makes KCIC the only company in Qatar to achieve such a prestigious certification and only the second in the entire Middle East to achieve such recognition. REAL had the following interview with Dr. Daniela Kalkuehler, the Marketing Manager of the company.

CAN YOU GIVE US A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY?

Khalid Cement Industries is a local Qatari Company and the biggest achievement of the Khalid Corporation, so we have a lot of sister companies and branches but the main achievement is Khalid Cement. We deal with the concrete business and we can deliver almost everything you can imagine in terms of concrete ready mix, and we have a very big division for finished concrete products which include hollow core slabs, concrete blocks, interlock pavers, precast building solutions, boundary walls and kerbstones, and we provide all kinds of services connected to this. We have our own design department. We also have our own laboratory department, which is important for quality policies as well as our own research and development department. We are ISO certified and we are following the Qatari standards. We have a newly established marketing department and this year it's the first time we join an international exhibition.

WHO ARE YOUR TARGET CLIENTS?

At the moment, our clients are all locals but we are also focusing on international clients. In Qatar there are a lot of megaprojects but we also want to have presence and have clients from the international market. Currently, we are delivering our concept mainly in the Qatari market.

CAN YOU NAME SOME OF THE PROJECTS YOU ARE UNDERTAKING?

We were in charge of the Barwa Commercial Avenue, and Barwa housing. We are also in charge of many towers such as the Qatar Foundation project.

WHAT IS YOUR FEEDBACK OF THE EXHIBITION?

We are very happy and satisfied with the exhibition. We met a lot of existing and potential clients and concluded some very fruitful and successful meetings. Even the senior management is happy with the outcome of this exhibition. We have the Green Star certification and we are the only company certified with this in Qatar, and it's granted from the National Ready Mix Concrete Association. Green Star is mainly awarded to environmental excellence, given to those who adhere to essential principals of the environmental and sustainability movement of the industry. In the Middle East, we are the second to receive this certification with the first being a company in Saudi Arabia. Worldwide, we are the 95th company to receive the Green Star certification.

HOW DO YOU GET QUALIFIED?

You become qualified when you reduce the cement content. When you produce cement, every 1 ton of cement in the factory gives around 1 ton of C02 in the air. So whenever you can reduce the cement demand, you are also reducing C02. Then there is the implementation of environment management system in the company like water recycling, concrete recycling, and waste management plan.

WHAT ARE YOUR COMPANY'S PLANS IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

In terms of ready mix and besides Green Star, we are now applying for the LEED certification and the lowest C02 emission plant in the Middle East. Going green is our main issue at the moment. Local and international clients inquire about this; everybody is talking about green concrete.