Bridging education gaps in Middle East
Capitalising on Middle East which is giving lot of thrust in education and training is CADD Centre Training Services fulfilling the ever widening demand-supply gap in skilled man power. In an interview SK Selvan, MD, CADD Centre Training Services shares the brand’s expansion strategy in Middle East.
Namita Bhagat (NB): For how long ‘CADD Centre’ has been present in Middle East? What were the motivating factors for expansion in Middle East?
SK Selvan (SKS): CADD Centre has its presence in Middle East for the last six years. On a macroeconomic level, a booming economy and a vibrant Civil/Construction industry with an ever widening demand-supply gap in skilled man power were the reasons to enter the Middle east. Moreover, CADD Centre as a brand has lot of mind share in the ME market, where Indians and other South Asians dominates the work force for whom CADD Centre is synonymous to CAD and CAE.
NB: When and how did you plan your international expansion in Middle East?
SKS: When we plan to enter Middle East in 2004, it was rather an organic growth for CADD Centre due to the above mentioned reasons. We took the franchise route, as elsewhere, as the business development strategy.
NB: How many franchise locations do you have in Middle East at present and do you have any expansion plans at the moment?
SKS: We have three franchisees in UAE, Qatar and Oman now. We have a very ambitious, but stable expansion plan for Middle East. We expect to expand to all major locations in the GCC countries this year by offering Unit and Master Franchisees.
NB: What were the initial challenges that the company faced while expanding in Middle East especially in terms of government regulations and UAE, Qatar and Oman authorities.
SKS: The approval mechanism and government regulations were a bit tough, but were expected. To manage those teething problems, we preferred to partner with people/institutions that have enough understanding and experience in the market and have strong foundation. In the retail business side initially, we were finding some difficulties in getting training orders from Corporates and government funded training projects because of the typical nature of the segment, though we broke it subsequently, with quality.
NB: Is there any difference between company’s franchise system in India and Mid-East? Could you share company’s operational strategy to be followed in Middle East?
SKS: The major difference would be the Master Franchise option available for a country as a preferred mode, which is not there in India, and is one of the best packages in the industry. Operationally, we are more flexible and investor friendly in order to accommodate the differences in the market requirement. In the CAD segment itself, we offer a variety of programs in skill augmentation and career development, where the partner can choose from. Curriculum is tailor-made to the middle east customers and we often customize our products too.
