South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) CEO, Neil Gopal, will chair the International Region Council (IRC) of the powerful, US-based Building Owners’ and Managers’ Association (BOMA) in 2014-15.
Neil Gopal, CEO of the South African Property Owners Association left, with Sapoa President, Amelia Beattie and, Henry Chamberlain, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Building Owners’ and Managers’ Association (BOMA) seen at the recent BOMA Annual.
“It is a great honour to represent the SA commercial and industrial property industry on a global platform,” says Gopal. “Especially one as influential as BOMA.”
BOMA is a federation of almost 100 building owner and manager associations throughout the US plus 13 international affiliates.
Gopal was elected to the position last month during a global gathering of BOMA members at its Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. He served as vice-chair of the BOMA IRC in 2013-14.
With its headquarters in Washington DC, BOMA’s mission is to advance a vibrant commercial real estate industry through advocacy, influence, and knowledge.
This mission aligns closely with Sapoa’s own strategic goals, as Gopal points out.
“The role provides an exceptional opportunity to learn from colleagues around the globe, in addition to sharing our knowledge and experience from SA,” says Gopal.
Indeed, the IRC is specifically tasked with facilitating more robust engagement between the international affiliates to share not only global best practice, but also information and knowledge resources.
But given the scope of the Council’s mandate, Gopal and his council colleagues will have their work cut out for them. BOMA’s international affiliates include associations as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico, and Finland and China.
“We will be working together on issues such as property management and operations, development, leasing, operating costs, energy consumption and legislation,” he says.
BOMA President and chief operating officer, Henry Chamberlain, says they highly valued their long standing relationship with the South African Property Owners Association and are very pleased that Gopal has agreed to lead their international activities.
“Gopal has been an effective leader within the international region for years and has been one of the architects of an exciting new strategic plan to expand our global collaborations around standards, best practices, research and more and collectively advance our industry.”
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