Qatar kicks off $6.87bn works
Doha: A QR25 billion ($6.87 billion) public works project, which includes several infrastructure development schemes, was launched by Qatar, recently.

The Public Works Authority’s (Asghal) plan includes 32 road projects, 19 construction projects and seven waste disposing projects.
Some of the projects will be completed by the end of 2006, when Doha will stage the Asian Games.
Tenders for the construction would be open to local and, under certain conditions, to international companies as well, said Zayed Mansour Al Khayareen, general manager of Asghal.
However, tenders for projects worth less than QR100 million will be open only to Qatari companies.
Projects worth between QR100 million and QR200 million will be open to joint ventures between Qatari and international companies. The Qatari partner must own no less than 51 per cent of the venture.
Tenders for projects worth more than QR200 million will be open to joint ventures between international and local companies, with the condition that at least 30 per cent of the contract value would be subcontracted to local companies.
The plan focuses mainly on transportation-related projects, with about QR13 billion (Dh13.1 billion) allocated to the modernisation of Qatar’s roads, bridges and tunnels.
About QR7 billion has been allocated for major waste disposal projects.

Bechtel lands $2bn EPC contract
Muscat: US company Bechtel has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) management contract for a $2 billion aluminium smelter project in Oman.
The contract would cover the construction of a potline with a capacity of about 330,000 tonnes per annum in the first phase of the project.
Construction on the plant will start soon after financial closure, expected in the second half of this year.
The plant will be operational by 2008. With completion of the second phase, annual capacity will rise to 650,000 tonnes.

Oman unveils plans for $500m port
Muscat: Oman has unveiled plans to create a new commercial port at a cost of more than $500 million.
“The plan is under way,” said Transport Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthi.
Royal Haskoning of the Netherlands, together with Lebanon’s Khatib and Alami, is designing the port and shipyard in Duqm, central Oman, which will be able to handle ultra-large crude carriers.
The initial estimated cost of $260 million has been increased to at least $500 million as the development scope widened.

Terminal 2 expansion contract soon
Dubai: The contract for the Dh488.11 million ($132.8 million) expansion of the Terminal 2 of the Dubai International Airport (DIA) is likely to be awarded by the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation soon with the bid evaluation under way, a report said.
This will be followed by a civil engineering contract for Concourse 3, a specially-designed and purpose-built terminal for Airbus A380 superjumbos, Khalifa Suhail Al Zafein, director of engineering and projects at the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).
The project will take two years to complete and upon completion, the terminal will have 110,000 sq m of built-up area to cater to five million passengers annually. It is designed to have 62 check-in counters and six baggage carousels.
Detailed designs have been completed for Concourse 3 and bids will be invited for the work soon. The DIA  expansion project will cost Dh15 billion ($4.1 billion). Currently, 7,000 workers are engaged in various sites at the airport on construction activities. Al Zafein said contracts for about 80 per cent of the work in the airport expansion have been awarded, and the remainder will be decided by the end of this year.

Istithmar plans new hospital
Dubai: Dubai-based investment holding company Istithmar, and Bumrungrad Hospital of Thailand have announced plans to construct a new hospital in Dubai. The Dh300 million, 125-bed Phase 1 of the new facility, will be located on Sheikh Zayed Road and cater to the rapidly growing communities of Jumeriah, Jebel Ali and New Dubai districts of Dubai.
“The facility is well positioned to meet the growing healthcare needs of one of the fastest growing cities in the world and to attract patients from throughout the region,” says Curtis J Schroeder, Bumrungrad’s Group CEO. “We are very pleased to have Istithmar as our partner who is playing a dynamic role in this very exciting period in the development of the UAE.”
The construction of the new facility will commence in Q3 of 2005 and completion is expected in December 2007.

Indigo Icon launched
Dubai: Indigo Icon, a commercial development designed by Atkins, has been launched in Dubai by Emirates Properties Investment (BVI), the same promoters who launched the residential and commercial development, Indigo Tower last year.
Strategically located between the fifth and sixth interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road and at the Jumeirah Lake Towers, a freehold venture from Nakheel comprising 79 towers, the 34-storey Indigo Icon will boast views of surrounding lakes and waterways and is within easy reach of the commercial centre of Dubai, Emirates Golf Club and the Montgomerie.

Emirates’ engineering centre rises
Dubai: Contractors for Emirate’s Dh1.3 billion ($354 million) engineering centre are in the process of lifting thousands of tonnes of steel mega-trusses to support the roofs.
The heaviest are the arches over the hangar doors, each 95 m long and weighing 460 tonnes, and requiring four cranes to be lifted into place. Outside the hangars, the Engineering Centre will have nine dedicated aircraft parking bays, with facilities for refuelling.
The new centre coming up on a 55-hectare site, to the north of Dubai International Airport, is Emirates’ largest single facility investment and perhaps the world’s biggest civil aviation maintenance facility, says a spokesman.
The new centre’s eight hangars are expected to form the largest free-spanned structures in the Middle East, with roofs supported by 110-m-long single spans.
The current engineering hangar, close to the Airport Expo, will be demolished to pave the way for the construction of Concourse 3, once the new Engineering Centre is completed.
France’s Aeroports de Paris (ADPi) and Fraser Nag Partnership are the main consultants to the landside facilities.

Business Bay projects launched
Dubai: Dubai Properties has launched Business Bay projects worth Dh30 billion ($8.2 billion) and stretching across 547 million sq ft this year. The company is initially investing Dh2.5 billion, said Hashim Al Dabal, CEO.
“This phase of the executive towers project consists of 11 new residential towers which form a complete township alongside Sheikh Zayed Road, together with a giant commercial complex consisting of 10 to 15 commercial buildings and an imposing hotel,” he said.
The new towers consisting of 4,500 residential units will include a mix of studio apartments and villas consisting of three and four bedrooms.

Crystal Arc sets up Creative Glass
Dubai: Crystal Arc has set up Creative Glass, a $1.5 million (Dh5.5 million) subsidiary possessing the Middle East’s largest furnace for glass bending and fusing, company representatives said.
Creative Glass anticipates a turnover of $3 million in the first year of operations, said Mustansir Saifuddin, managing director of Crystal Arc.
“The rising demand for glass furniture, has prompted Crystal Arc to enter into this exciting and promising line of business,” Saifuddin said. The plant is equipped with advanced technology from Spain. It can carry out sophisticated jobs involving glass bending and fusing, stained glass, sand-blasting and acid-etching. It will produce tables, chairs, shower doors, ceilings, domes, staircase railings and coloured washbasins.

$3bn financing deal for Taweelah B
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) has signed a Dh11 billion ($3 billion) 20-year financing deal with a group of local, regional and international banks for Taweelah B – a water and power project. The project will have a daily output of 2,000 MW and 160 million gallons of desalinated water, is expected to start operations in 2008.
The facilities will be run by a joint venture to be owned 60 per cent by Adwea and 40 per cent by the Marubeni-led group. Financial institutions involved in the financing include: Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, First Gulf Bank, National Bank of Qatar, Bayerische LandesBank, BNP Paribas, Calyon, HSBC, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Standard Chartered Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Marina Diamond Four launched
Dubai: Following the success of its first three properties, Diamond Investment’s has officially launched Marina Diamond Four, the latest addition to the outstanding Marina Diamond towers that are rising up along the Dubai Marina. 
The 20-storey building – expected to complete in 2007 – offers spectacular views over this exclusive waterfront development, top-of-the-range service facilities, including swimming pools, sauna, steam room and 24 hour security service, as well as doorstep proximity to a pedestrian and dining boulevard – the Marina Walk.
The residential apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms, will be available on a fully-furnished basis, equipped with high-quality kitchen appliances. In addition, the building provides tenants with a double-storey covered car park, of which one space is allocated to each flat.

EMS, Jernain form joint venture
Dubai: Energy Management Services (EMS), a leading energy management and energy conservation company in the Middle East, has entered into a joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based Jernain Maintenance, a subsidiary of the Al Ain International Group.
In the start-up phase, JernainEMS will be responsible for ensuring optimum energy management through value engineering for several projects at the design stage. Spread across Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the projects are expected to generate capital savings of over Dh14.5 million ($4 million) in terms of investment in products such as HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning), illumination and water fittings and optimising property design and construction elements to enhance the performance of equipment installed.
JernainEMS has also won the energy management contracts for the 30-storey residential-cum-commercial Silver Tower on the Abu Dhabi corniche and 20-storey residential-cum-shopping centre Jernain Tower in Khaledya Street.