Singapore construction and engineering firm Yongnam Holdings said its order book should triple in size next year due to several big infrastructure projects in the city-state and the Middle East.

Yongnam recently won its first contract in the Middle East with a railway project in Dubai, worth S$4 million initially, but Seow said he expects the Middle East to contribute about 25 per cent in the group's revenue in 2007, and more than 45 per cent of revenue by 2011.
 
Yongnam wants to win bigger deals at home and abroad, including contracts for the construction of Singapore's two casinos -- expected to cost up to US$6.6 billion -- and for property development in the Middle East, chief executive Officer Seow Soon Yong said in an interview.

'I have to spread my wings to the Middle East, I see 10 years of growth in infrastructure and building construction there,' Seow said.

'There are so many high-rise buildings coming up in Qatar and Dubai now.'

Yongnam, whose order books currently stands at a record S$150 million ($97 million), expects to add new orders of up to S$250 million annually for the next three years.

The firm reported a sharp drop in net profit to S$1 million in 2005, from S$7.2 million in the previous year when the firm's profit was lifted by exceptional gains.

However, revenue from construction projects rose 28 per cent to S$81.5 million in 2005. Seow said the firm's turnover will rise by 50 per cent in 2006, and will grow by about 20 per cent annually in the next two years.