The conference was held from 20-24 September at Sydney’s Darling Harbour. First on the agenda was a welcome event where delegates from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, India, China, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates mingled for drinks overlooking the iconic harbour.
Day one of the conference opened on a more serious note, with each country presenting on the company’s current situation, the unique conditions of their market and future planning. On day two, the Australian Management team held educational presentations on Business Development, Sales and Marketing, and Auditing and IT, with a management workshop in the afternoon.
Days three and four of the conference featured one-on-one workshops with various departments, and gave international guests the opportunity to enjoy the sights and cuisine of Sydney.
While the last International Conference was held eight years ago, CEO Brett Mathews believes the next event may not be so far off.
‘The conference was a great opportunity for all management teams to meet and share information. The collective knowledge base and expertise on the parking industry is encouraging,’ he said.
‘We see great benefits to holding this international event on a more regular basis.’
The international conference was very rewarding to all delegates who have put plans to invest their knowledge and experience in the car park operations of each country.

The conference was attended by John Awad, Managing Director - Middle East, and Elias Bou Maroun, Operations Manager - UAE, who have explored the various technologies, marketing and operational methods implemented in Sydney with plans to implement the same innovations in the Middle East operations, such as the National control room which overviews the management of over 100 car parks from one location, and Parktoberfest the largest promotion ever done in Australia which can greatly encourage turnover of the car parks. They have also attended an intensive corporate seminar and put a 3 year business plan to boost the management of quality assurance, human resources and the corporate identity of every car park of the Middle East portfolio.

Secure Parking is now proudly managing Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls Car Parks including the Deira City Centre Mall and the Mall of the Emirates.

Deira City Centre Mall includes more than 350 retail shops, a hotel and various entertainment facilities with parking facilities of 5,000 spaces in 4 multi-storey car parks serving more than 15,000 cars daily.

Mall of the Emirates includes more than 450 retail shops, a hotel and various entertainment facilities with a parking facility of 7,000 spaces in 4 level multistory car park, serving more than 30,000 cars daily.

Secure Parking has been appointed in 2007 to conduct the operation study for MAF covering a static capacity and parking demand analysis, car park design and functionality review, the design of parking management system, the supervision and commissioning of the access control equipment, and operation and management guidelines.

In each Mall, a highly sophisticated Automated Central Paid Parking management system was installed and linked to all Access Control Equipment including entry and exit barriers, pay stations, ticket dispensers and card readers.

Secure Parking is now managing the new and very luxurious Bellevue Medical Center Car Park in Mansourieh as well the Libano-Canadian Hospital Car Park in Sin El Fil.

Other Hospital Car Parks managed by Secure Parking:

1. Clemenceau Medical Center, Hamra
2. American University Hospital, Hamra
3. Clinique du Levant, Sin El Fil
4. St Joseph Hospital, Dora

After winning a 7 years contract to supply, install and operate 750 single meters for on-street parking in the City of Tripoli north of Lebanon, Secure Parking has finished installing the meters and are fully operational. The operation required a capital commitment by the Company of an excess of USD350,000 and involves the money collection from the meters and the wheel clamping of parking ‘offenders’. Those meters have helped organize the traffic in the city of Tripoli, minimize jams and avoid double parking or blocking parking.

After winning the tender in 2004 for providing parking consultancy services to the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) for its 35,000 bays and 2 million square meters of mixed development, the first operation was the iconic Gate District car park with 3,000 car spaces. In September 2006 Secure Parking signed a six year contract for the operation and management of the car park. In October 2007, the services were extended to cover the new Gate Village car park of 2,000 spaces.

A fully computerized access control system with state of the art technology was essential for this most prestigious building, home to more than 320 of the world’s leading companies in the field of financial services, investment banking and asset management.

In addition, over the next two years, 28 private developments will be completed within the DIFC precinct with a total car parking capacity of in excess of 30,000 spaces. Secure Parking sees great opportunity in expanding its operations within the DIFC by providing its management services for the set-up and ongoing management for a large proportion of these car parks.

The below sample of projects shows the various types of projects that we are involved with:

Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC)
We provided the DIFC parking consultancy services covering the design guidelines for its 35,000 bays, including the below currently operated car parks by our Company:

Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls (MAF): Mall of the Emirates
Mall of the Emirates includes more than 450 retail shops, a hotel and various entertainment facilities with a parking facility of 7,000 spaces in 4 multi-storey levels.

Deira City Centre Mall
Deira City Centre Mall includes more than 350 retail shops, a hotel and various entertainment facilities with parking facilities of 5,000 spaces in 4 multi-storey car parks.

Mohammad Al Habib Real Estate Co.: Panorama Mall
Panorama Mall is located in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, offering more than 250 high end shopping outlets and various restaurants complex; it is considered one of the most luxurious destinations in the region.
The Mall’s car park capacity is approximately 2,500 spaces with a surface and basement levels.

Nakheel: Palm Gateway Towers at Palm Jumeirah
The mixed use development consists of one Office Tower and one Residential Tower.
The parking facility consists of a multi-storey car park of 12 levels with 5,000 spaces dedicated to offices, residents, retail users and public users of the Palm Jumeirah monorail system running from the Gateway Towers.

Meraas Development: Jumeirah Garden City
Jumeirah Garden City Land covers a built up area of approximately 15,600,000 m2, a mixed use development in Jumeirah consisting of hotels, offices, retail, residential, villas and other commercial uses.