BESIX started its activities in the Middle East through as early as 1965, first in the Emirates, followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein and Oman. Our license to operate in this region includes a solid engagement to high quality work and life conditions for our workers, which we continue to improve further.
Our projects in building, marine and civil works require a massive amount of manpower, which is not available locally. Today we have over 8.000 employees in the Middle East, many of which are migrant workers, mainly from South–east Asia and the Indian subcontinent in particular.
BESIX aims to go further than applying local rules. We have procurement and recruitment processes in place to avoid any abuse of migrant workers and we request our subcontractors to equally respect our standards. In the Middle East and Qatar specifically we have initiated higher lodging standards, including recreational facilities and language and IT training.
In 2017, BESIX Group has signed an international framework agreement on fair labour standards with the Building & Wood Workers’ International (BWI). This agreement’s purpose is to promote and protect the well-being of all employees and workers employed by BESIX Group. It firmly illustrates the Group’s commitment for fair labour standards of its employees and workers regardless of age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, political opinion or beliefs.