Bauma China breaks records
Shanghai: With around 50,000 visitors from more than 100 countries and 742 exhibitors from all over the world, bauma China 2004 turned out to be the most successful and largest international trade fair for the construction industry in Asia, says a spokesman for International Trade Fairs, the organiser
“In total, over 50 per cent more trade visitors, 62 per cent more exhibitors and an increase of 143 per cent exhibition space, made the second international trade fair for building and building materials machines, construction vehicles and building equipment more than twice as large as the premiere event in 2002,” he adds.

International visitors for the expo, included delegations from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, India, the Russian Federation, Germany, the US, Malaysia, Italy and Australia.
“Two years ago visitors from 55 countries came to visit bauma China. This year the international participation has doubled in terms of visitor numbers as well as the countries of origin,” Manfred Wutzlhofer, CEO and chairman of Munich International Trade Fairs, says.
42 exhibitors from 27 countries participated in bauma China 2004. This is an impressive increase in comparison to the premiere event (458 exhibitors from 19 countries), he adds.
Next bauma China will be held in November 2006 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

Real estate conference in February
Dubai: The Second Middle East Real Estate conference, a two-day event to be held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai on February 1 and 2, 2005, will focus on the opportunities and risks in the Gulf real estate sector.
According to Meed – the organiser – the conference will seek to assess the real estate boom in the region, which has witnessed a record number of developments and a sharp rise in property prices in the past five years.
Key government officials and business leaders will present their vision, and industry specialists will analyse the context in which the Middle East real estate market is developing. This key industry event is being held alongside the Dubai Property Investment Show, which together with the conference, form key elements of the International Property Week Dubai 2005.

Buildex 2005 to open in Dhahran
Dammam: The Seventh Building and Construction Exhibition – Buildex 2005 – will be held at the Dhahran International Exhibition Centre from March 6 to 10, 2005.
The exhibition will also feature Airvex (air-conditioning, refrigeration and ventilation exhibition), and Energex (power generation, electrical and electronics exhibition), according to the Dhahran International Exhbitions Company.

BFH reclamation gets go ahead
Manama: The second phase of the reclamation works at Bahrain Financial Harbour have been given the go-ahead. The reclamation works, estimated at BD9.7 million ($25.73 million), will cover nearly 179,000 sq m and will be completed by April 2006, BFH holding company announced.
“A 2,670-m-long road, lined with greenery and water channels, will be constructed, to link the eastern and western sides of King Faisal Corniche,” Janahi Engineering and Consultants firm managing director and BFH company adviser Ahmed Janahi said.

Work resumes on Durrat Al Bahrain
Manama: Reclamation and construction work has now resumed at the site of a $1 billion (BD378 million) Durrat Al Bahrain resort in the south of Bahrain.
Work had earlier been brought to a halt in Ras Al Bar to review the original designs.
Work will continue at the site until 2008, but areas are expected to be opened to the public as stages of the project are completed.

TAV inks $350m Cairo airport deal
Cairo: TAV, a unit of Turkey's Akfen Holding AS, signed a $350-million contract with the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Aviation to build a third terminal at the Cairo airport, a report said. The terminal is expected to have a capacity of 11 million passengers a year and the ability to receive 15 flights at a time, according to EHCAA head Ibrahim Manah.
TAV will subcontract part of the job to its Egyptian public sector partner, the holding Company for Roads and Bridges. Construction is expected to begin this month and finish in 2007.
Officials said the government would announce a tender towards the end of this year for bids from international companies to manage the new terminal, with the France's Aeroport de Paris expected to bid.

Tendering for grand mosque soon
Manama: The main construction package for BD15 million ($40 million) Haji Hassan grand mosque – to be located at Seef in Bahrain – is due to be released for tendering soon. The building will cover an area of about 18,000 sq m. The local Gulf House Engineering has been appointed to draw up the designs of the mosque.

200 housing units for Busaiteen
Manama: Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has ordered that 200 housing units be built at Busaiteen in Bahrain, for people with derelict homes in the governorate. He also ordered that a committee be set up, including the Ministry of Works and Housing and Muharraq Governorate, to demolish all damaged houses. It will report to him within three months.

German firm lands hospital contract
Manama: Work has started on the concrete foundations of the new BD30 million ($80 million)Hamad General Hospital in Muharraq, Bahrain.
The BD680,000 contract was awarded to the German Keller Grundbau GmbH Engineering Company which specialises in such concrete infrastructure projects, said Works and Housing Ministry assistant under-secretary for human resources and finance Mohammed Khalil Al Sayed.
The 312-bed hospital will feature three interconnected four-storey medical blocks. A fourth block is expected to be built later, giving a total of 500 beds.
“Work on the main blocks will hopefully start in April 2005 after the concrete foundations are completed,” said Al Sayed, who is also acting assistant under-secretary for construction and maintenance projects.

Almoayyed, Simplex enter JV
Manama: A BD1 million ($2.7 million) Bahraini-Indian joint venture company has been set up to undertake concrete piling work in the kingdom.
Almoayyed Contracting Group, a division of Y K Almoayyed & Sons, has joined hands with Simplex Concrete Piles (India).
Simplex Concrete Piles is a leading construction and piling company in India and has been pioneers in the field of ground engineering for the past 80 years and has over 450,000 m of piles this year.

Bahrain to have taller homes
Manama: Bahrain may soon be reaching for the sky to ease a shortage of land for housing. Planning rules may be changed to allow families to build taller homes, even though they will take up a wider area.
Average home sizes would increase in ground space by 30 per cent, under proposals being put forward by a national committee.
High-rise blocks of flats would increase in ground space by 50 per cent, says Sayed Majeed Al Sayed, chairman of the regulations technical committee, which comes under the newly-formed National Committee for Building and Construction.
Increasing the ground space would allow builders to add more storeys, making better use of the land, said Al Sayed, who is also Northern Municipal Council chairman.

Bahrain plans new flyovers
Manama: Plans to build a massive system of flyovers and underpasses near Mina Salman have been approved by Bahrain’s Cabinet.
The flyover, to be built from the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Highway to the Sitra Bridge at Mina Salman, is part of a BD570 million ($1.51 billion) project announced earlier.