MANILA, Philippines — Milcon Gulf Group, which operates a regional headquarters in the Philippines, and Al Barij International LLC have forged a strategic partnership to launch a series of new ventures in the rapidly growing Middle East and Asia Pacific markets, with keen interest in the Philippines as an investment destination.

Milcon’s Asia Regional Office based in the Philippines is fully accredited by the Securities and Exchange Commission as regional headquarters. The joint venture will use the Philippines as a base for talents.

Based on their partnership, the group shall leverage their existing expertise in the areas of energy efficiency, surveillance, information technology, aviation, and related services to set up strategic ventures in order to cater to the rapidly growing GCC (refers to Arab states of the gulf) market on an opportunistic basis. The partners will also identify a number of areas where they would jointly cooperate on partnering or acquiring stakes in companies that would suit the demand coming from active markets where demand exists.

“Milcon group has key strategic initiatives for the Mena market and we feel that the timing is good for us to formalize our agreement with Al Barij, a well established and respected business house in the important markets of Oman and GCC. We shall use our relationship to advance our business plans in the Mena (Middle East and North African) region and other synergistic markets,” said Shameem Qurashi, chairman of Milcon Gulf Group.

“Al Barij has been dealing with several companies in the all important Asia Pacific Region for quite some time. With Milcon Group we feel we have found a well-suited strategic partner who is involved in a variety of sectors and industries, much like ourselves and we look forward to developing our many synergies and exploiting gaps in Mena and Asia Pacific markets,” said Mukhtar M Hasan, chairman of Al Barij International.

The Milcon Gulf Group, through its subsidiaries and partners in the Asia Pacific Region, the Middle East and North America, is recognized as a world class group dedicated to providing international solutions that successfully meet the challenges presented by today’s increasingly competitive global business environment.

Al Barij International LLC (ABI) is a limited liability company, based in Muscat, Oman and specializing in corporate finance, private equity and project development. Al Barij provides financial advisory services and access to capital resources to assist clients to buy, sell and finance businesses. As a boutique investment advisory firm serving middle market business, Al Barij deals with private corporate clients as well as public companies.

Al Barij work alongside management teams, shareholders, private equity investors, privately owned businesses and middle market businesses on all aspects of corporate finance transactions, from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and company sales to management buy-outs (MBOs) and fundraising transactions. (BCM)