Saudi firm campaigns against costs
Saudi Arabia’s Al Ghannam Building Materials concluded an eight-month campaign for fair prices with a ceremony at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh last month.

The ceremony was held under the patronage of Prince Mishal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, head of the Saudi Allegiance Commission, and was attended by diplomats, ambassadors and businessmen.
Over the course of the campaign – titled ‘Partners Against the High Cost of Living’ – the company ran a series of advertisements and implemented a fair-selling policy, under the direction of its owner and founder Sheikh Abdullah bin Adulaziz Al Ghannam.
Riffa Views sewage plant ready
A new sewage treatment plant (STP) at the upscale Riffa Views golfing residences in Bahrain is ready for operations. The plant was installed by water desalination and wastewater treatment specialist Metito as a build-operate and transfer (BOT) project to provide wastewater treatment to the development, which is spread over 280 hectares of land.
Metito first built a small temporary plant as an immediate fast-track solution at the start of 2008, before further developing it to handle 3,600 cu m of waste water a day. The treated water from the plant will be used to irrigate the golf course.
Security specialist wins award
Saudi Arabia’s Batterjee Security Systems has won an award from Sensormatic, one of its international principals. The sales award, which was presented to Batterjee Security Systems at a ceremony in Athens, Greece, honoured the Jeddah-based trader for having achieved the “highest growth rate” for the year 2008.
“Receiving this award is a great accomplishment,” says Batterjee Security Systems executive manager Samir Khayyat. “We look forward for another successful year as we continue to strive for excellence in the security market.”
Part of the US-headquartered Tyco International, Sensormatic specialises in safety and security solutions for the retail industry.
US wood sales to Mena rise
Exports of American hardwood logs, lumber and veneer to the Middle East and North Africa (Mena)  in the first six months of 2008 grew by 29 per cent in value to $38.5 million over the same period last year.
The main US hardwood product exported the region – hardwood lumber – saw a marginal downturn in volume terms during the period, falling by 1.1 per cent to 22,187 cu m, but rising by 5.8 per cent in value to $16.7 million, the American Hardwood Export Council said, adding that with the exception of Saudi Arabia, across-the-board increases were seen in the value of shipments of US hardwood lumber to the region during the first six months of this year.
Moody’s warns of GCC power crunch
Large investments will be required to ensure the continuity of power to the Arabian Gulf as unprecedented economic and demographic growth create a strain on power supplies in the region, says Moody’s Investors Service in a report entitled ‘Arabian Gulf Electricity Industry’.
“Moody’s believes that these exceptional growth trends are likely to challenge local utilities, which will need to install significant additional capacity to meet rising demand,” says  Philipp Lotter, senior vice president at Moody’s Middle East in Dubai (DIFC).
According to estimates, up to $50 billion could be spent in the GCC countries by 2015 for increased generation capacity of nearly 60,000 MW. Additional substantial investments will also be needed to update transmission and distribution networks.
Despite these challenges, the credit outlook for the sector is mostly stable, Moody’s adds.
GCC power grid set for trials
The GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) will start trial operations of its $1.2 billion electricity grid before the end of the year.
Phase One of the grid, which will ultimately link the power networks of all six GCC states, will be fully operational in the first quarter of 2009 once all tests have been completed, said Ahmed Ali Ebrahim, a senior official at the GCCIA.
The first phase will see the interconnection of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with Oman and the UAE to be connected by the end of 2010 in two subsequent phases.
As part of Phase Three, the GCCIA has awarded National Contracting Company (NCC) of Saudi Arabia a $70 million contract to build the overhead line from Sila in western Abu Dhabi to the capital, while a contract for the construction of a substation at Sila is expected to be awarded shortly. Both contracts are to be completed in the second half of 2010, providing the grid’s final link.
Lion’s share of bridge work for Qatar
Qatari firms are expected to execute the bulk of the work on the planned $2 billion Qatar-Bahrain causeway, an official said.
Construction of the 40-km ‘Friendship Bridge’, which will be the longest in the world when completed, is scheduled to start in January next year.
Qatar Bahrain Causeway Consortium project director Yanick Garillon said probably 70 per cent of the work for the project will be carried out in Qatar and the remainder in Bahrain. Some jobs would include require advanced technologies and international contractors would need to partner with local companies he added.