It’s small. It’s rich. And it’s thinking big. Qatar is setting a scorching pace as it unleashes a flood of billion-dollar projects including magnificent towers, man-made islands, hotels, gas projects, a mega airport, industrial zones and a slew of other massive projects that rival some of the iconic developments under way in the region.

The construction bonanza that the state promises to offer is drawing major global players to the tiny Gulf state.
Qatar is also making concerted efforts to build for the future and is boosting its road, power, health and educational infrastructure. Recent forecasts suggest that $120 billion worth of investments will be channeled into the country over the next five years for infrastructure improvement. Recently named the most competitive Arab economy by the World Economic Forum, Qatar is experiencing a period of unparalleled growth, reflected by investments in the oil and gas sector which amount to more than $60 billion.
The boom in fact was ignited in the run-up to the Asian Games held last December – which drew the world’s attention to its excellent sporting venues –and now pervades the various sectors of its economy, right from real estate to industry and waste management.
The economic and demographic boom is driven by the development of its gas industry. The third largest exporter of natural gas with 15 per cent of the world’s total proven gas reserves – the state is carving a name for itself as the latest booming economy in the Gulf that is fuelled by burgeoning liquefied natural gas exports, which are expected to quadruple by 2013.
“Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world. Per capita income in 2005 was reportedly almost $53,000 and you could make a fairly safe assumption that it would rise above the $60,000 mark for 2006,” said Steve Flint, head of property business at Commercialbank, Doha.
On a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita basis, Qatar is likely to lead the world in the next few years. The construction accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to the Qatar-based Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC).
“The government has been pivotal in its support of the real estate market by committing massive financial resources to public spending. The decision to open up the market up to freehold ownership by foreign nationals is another clear sign from the government that it is looking to the future,” he added.
The government currently allows non-Qatari nationals to buy freehold property in three designated areas: West Bay Lagoon, The Pearl-Qatar, a $2.5 billion  offshore island project, and the near $1 billion Barwa Al Khor beach development. The $5 billion Lusail development is also up for investment on a leasehold basis.
Under Qatar’s current five-year plan, which is due to end by 2009/10, a total of nearly QR32 billion ($8.8 billion) is expected to be invested by the government in various projects, according to Ahmed Sultan Al Kuwari, assistant managing director for technical affairs of Public Works Authority (Ashghal). Half of this, QR16 billion, would be spent on building roads, QR8 billion for drainage works and QR7.2 billion for buildings, he said.
This is the single biggest budget allocation made in the history of Qatar and “reflects the extent to which the government is eager to build the infrastructure for the country”, he says.
“Ashghal contracts are divided into three categories according to their value,” Al Kuwari says. “Those up to the value of QR100 million are set aside for local companies. Local companies and joint ventures can bid for those valued up to QR200 million while those above are open to all – local, joint ventures and international companies.”
The government has also earmarked $15 billion for a raft of tourism, airport infrastructure and hotel projects. Around QR3.8 billion has been allocated for healthcare projects to be developed before the end of this year.
Qatar is pursuing plans for the development of two mega independent power projects (IPPs), one at Messaied which has already been awarded to a private consortium, while the other, at Ras Laffan Industry City, has just been opened up for investment. In addition, the state-owned Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has envisaged capital projects worth QR7.38 billion ($2 billion) for its electricity network expansion during the current fiscal. It has plans to commission 31 major projects in 2007.
There has been a dramatic surge in construction across the capital city of Doha, which invested $2.8 billion to build new stadia and residences to host the Asian Games – the first Middle East country to do so. The influx of new workers into the country has created a shortage of accommodation, which has sent the rents soaring, which in turn has fuelled a real estate boom. All kinds of developments, from leisure, residential, commercials to transport infrastructure, are presently under construction, the most ambitious of which are the $2.6 billion Energy City which itself is part of the mega Lusail development, The Pearl-Qatar, and Education City.

Commercial/residential projects
Tagged as the ‘city with a brain’, the ground-breaking Energy City Qatar (ECQ) will provide a full-service, technologically-advanced hub for energy industry management affording excellent access for upstream and downstream companies (see separate report).
The developer of Lusail – Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment and Development Company – also has plans to develop the Doha Convention Centre and Tower which will bring a breathtaking aspect to the Doha skyline. Projected to cost $1.2 billion, architects Murphy Jahn Inc, famous for the Deutsche Post building in Bonn and the Sony Centre in Berlin, have produced a design which is both innovative and inspirational.
The tower will soar approximately 105 storeys into the sky and offer panoramic city views and over the blue water from its prestigious central location on the Corniche. It will be home to a hotel with 300 guest rooms, 80 serviced apartments, and 300 residential apartments.
The Convention Centre, adjacent to the tower, will provide 100,000 sq m of convention space and is destined to become an important regional and international exhibition location.
Qatari Diar is also spearheading a number of other exciting projects within Al Qutaifya Lagoon – a project that over the last 10 years has brought about residential and commercial districts on the reclaimed land. Among them is Chiva Som Qatar, which will be situated in Ras Qutaifaan, north of Lusail, and will encompass the existing Nature Reserve and Royal Farm. The design of the resort and spa will be a blend of Thai, Qatari and Western cultural influences.
The Pearl-Qatar is said to be Qatar’s most ambitious real estate project which, when completed in 2010, will house over 40,000 residents in 11,000 villas, town houses and apartments. Work on this prestigious project started in 2004 and the reclamation work has now been completed (see separate report).
Construction work is well under way on a number of facilities within Education City, the first project of its kind in the region. The project has already seen a number of international universities opening up last year (see separate report).
Also on the cards is a smart industrial city, which is expected to include a “World of Electronics” sales and exhibition centre, a facility for the study of improved information security, and the “Future City”, an area for public exhibitions on the history and future of technology. Singaporean consultancy firm Jurong International has been signed up to study the feasibility of the estimated $2 billion project, which is expected to cover 5 sq km.
The local Barwa Real Estate Company has launched a new development in Qatar called the Ain Khalid Commercial Development. Located in the Msemeer area, the estimated QR3.5 billion ($962 million) mixed-use project will comprise malls, housing apartments, retail outlets, exhibitions, and restaurants. The project is to expected to be commissioned by 2009.
Barwa Real Estate is also developing the Barwa Al Khor residential project, and has appointed two international firms to undertake the design of the development. The project envisages the development of a full-service town in Al Khor, north of Doha, which will feature residential villas, beach chalets and commercial centres. Non-Qataris will also be allowed to buy units at Barwa Al Khor.
Another leading local developer Qatar Real Estate Investment Company (QREIC) is planning to launch a mixed-use development in central Doha and has appointed Arab Engineering as the consultant on the proposed $165 million project that is still in the design stage.
Much like the UAE, and Dubai in particular, Qatar too is boosting its hospitality sector rapidly to cope with the growing tourist flow into the country. In Doha,  40 new hotels are currently being constructed and many more are in the planning stages. One of the hotels being built is the Merweb Al Sharq Hotel and Leisure Resort by Qatar National Hotels Company. The consultant to the project is Arab Engineering Bureau and the main contract has been awarded to United Construction Establishment. The cost of the hotel, which is presently under construction, is estimated at around $100 million.
A 360-room environmentally friendly hotel is set to open in the Dafna area, north of Doha. The Retaj Al Rayyan is to be the first in a chain of local and regional hotels. The 21-storey hotel will contain 72 suites as well as restaurants and other entertainment facilities.
Among the major corporate headquarters projects that are in the pipeline is the $275 million centralised headquarters for Qatar Petroleum, which is on the drawing boards. The consultant for this commercial building is Skidmore Owings and Merrill and tenders for the main contracting jobs will be put out once the blueprint gets the nod.

Airport
Work is going on at full tilt on the $5.5 billion New Doha International Airport (NDIA). The airport, which is slated to be finished and handed over in 2015, will be able to handle the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus 380, and, when fully operational, cope with 12 million passengers a year. The construction of the airport’s $807 million state-of-the-art passenger terminal has been contracted to Sky Oryx, Taisel Corporation and TAV and is under way on a 2,200-hectare site that will have two parallel runways. The consultants for NDIA are Bechtel and HOK.
Among the latest developments at the project, the New Doha International Airport (NDIA) Steering Committee has given US-based Bechtel the go-ahead on phase 3a of the project. This phase involves the design and construction of the north node, a two-track people mover system, a commercial area and parts of the two legs that will form concourses D and E. Design work has already started and is scheduled for completion shortly.
Over the past year, a number of packages have been tendered. Among the recent contract awards were the $196 million deal for design and construction of a 35,000 sq ft aircraft hangar and various other works for the new airport, which went to a consortium of Greece’s Aktor and the local Darwish Engineering. The New Doha International Airport is due to open in 2009 on completion of the first phase. South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction has recently been selected for the foundations package for Concourse C while a joint venture of France’s Thales and US-based Arinc has secured the $55 million special systems package.
Meanwhile, at the existing airport, Qatar Airways has opened its first business class terminal, which was built in nine months at a cost of $90 million. The 10,000 sq m terminal features facilities such as a duty-free shopping area, conference rooms, spa treatment rooms, a sauna, a Jacuzzi and other amenities normally associated with full-service terminals.

Power & water
Qatar, which intends to build one of the largest combined cycle power plants in the Gulf, has awarded a Qatari/Japanese joint venture a $2.3 billion build-operate (BO) contract for a new power station in Mesaieed. The project is said to be one of the world’s biggest independent power projects (IPP), with an installed generating capacity of 2,000 MW and is to be completed by April 2010.
Kahramaa, the country’s chief distributor of power and desalinated water, will operate the plant, which it will own jointly with Japan’s Marubeni IPP and Qatar Petroleum. The Spanish firm Iberdola Engineering Construction will build the plant.
Kahramaa was also expected to issue the request for proposals for the Ras Laffan C independent water and power project last month. The plant, due to be fully commissioned in April 2010, will be the state’s largest.
Meanwhile, Siemens has been awarded a $930 million contract by Kahramaa for 25 turnkey substations, the expansion of 14 existing substations and the modification of 10 more around the capital city of Doha, around 50 miles south of Ras Laffan. The work is to be done by February 2009.
The project is part of the mega network expansion programme being implemented by Kahramaa.
“The current year will witness a 113 per cent increase in Kahramaa’s electricity network expansion. We are planning a 169 per cent increase in the next financial year. In 2008, Kahramaa will set up 40 additional substations adding to its total number to 191. Currently, Kahramaa has 75 ongoing substation projects. The works to lay cable line along 2025 km are in progress,” said Ali Al Jomali, acting manager, electricity network planning.
The authority has set aside a total of QR1.73 billion for its prestigious West Bay projects. Detailing the investment scope in Kahramaa’s future transmission expansion, Abdul Hameed Jahani, manager, electricity projects, said it is planning around 30 substations as part of phase IIX expansion during 2010 and 2012. This is in addition to the expansion of 400 kV and 220 kV interconnected backbone, introduction of compensation equipment and a future control centre.

Public works
According to Ashgal, plans have been drawn up for the next five years that will see the building of bridges, roads and other infrastructure developments at a cost of $8.8 billion. The plan includes 32 road projects, 19 buildings, and six drainage works.  Road projects have the highest allocation and include the North Expressway; the Landmark Interchange; 66-km Dukhan Road, which consists of three phases; and the Doha Expressway.
The Doha Expressway, a $175.7 million project, has been contracted to the Croatian firm Konstructor Engineering. The North Expressway, which is to be implemented shortly in three phases, is a 150-km-long expressway with three lanes inside Doha and four lanes outside the city. It will have seven main intersections, and 21 minor intersections.
Other major road projects include the Lusail Road, Salwa Highway-Phase 2 and the D Ring Road-Wakrah Road.
 In addition, Qatar and Bahrain have given the go-ahead for the $4.8 billion “Friendship Causeway” that will, in 2011, become the world longest fixed link bridge. Almost 45 km in length, it will connect the west coast of Qatar, near the Zubarah fortress, and the east coast of Bahrain, south of Manama.
Other major projects include a hospital in Shamal, a harbour in Wakrah, an Emiri dockyard, Ruwais harbour and jetties in Al Khor and Simaisima, a headquarters for Supreme Council for Family Affairs and upgrading of the Qatar International Exhibition Centre.

Oil & gas
Qatar continues to expand its upstream and downstream gas facilities, which help to ensure that the country remains a frontrunner in the gas export market.
One of the landmark projects launched is the world’s largest GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility to be built in Qatar by a joint venture of Shell and Qatar Petroleum.
Further contracts have been awarded for the 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) Pearl plant in the Industrial City of Ras Laffan, which aims to tap gas from part of Qatar’s giant North Field and convert it into oil products.
The contracts pertain to building some of the pipelines, tankage, effluent plant and temporary power supply at the site of the plant. Toyo Engineering will build two GTL trains with a capacity of 70,000 bpd each in partnership with South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The price tag for the project is in the range of $12 to $18 billion for the overall cost, including upstream and downstream facilities.
Meanwhile, South African petrochemicals company Sasol has said that its Oryx gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar had reached intermediate production, with its first shipment ready for market in the final week of this month. The plant was completed within budget, but start-up took a couple of months longer than anticipated.
In recent months a number of pipeline projects have been given the green light. The UK’s Mott MacDonald has started work on the front- end engineering and design (Feed) for a new multi-products pipeline, running from the Mesaieed refinery to the New Doha International Airport. The Feed contract, due to be completed next August, has been placed by Qatar Petroleum (QP).
QP has recently awarded a gas pipeline construction contract to India-based Punj Lloyd. According to the terms of the award, the company will be responsible for laying a 97.2 km-long pipeline; building three new stations; upgrading six existing stations; decommissioning the existing pipeline; and demolishing nine existing stations. The contract is part of Doha urban pipeline relocations project. The cost to complete the project has been estimated at $180 million.
Meanwhile, technical bids are under evaluation at Qatar Chemical Company II (Q-Chem II) for the contract to build the ethylene pipeline from Ras Laffan to Mesaieed. The project calls for the construction of a 130-km-long pipeline to transport ethylene from the Ras Laffan Olefins Company complex to downstream units in Mesaieed.

Waste management
Five international groups have submitted bids to design, build and operate the Doha north sewage treatment plant (STP), as the country strives to deal with a booming population.
It will be the largest STP in the state, providing 243,000 cu m a day (cm/d) of wastewater treatment capacity. The contract covers the 30-month design and construction and the 10-year operation and maintenance of the plant.
Ashghal is expected to take up to six months to make an award. The consultant on the scheme is the UK’s Hyder Consulting. Ashghal is planning to increase its wastewater treatment capacity to almost 530,000 cm/d over the next three years, through a series of new projects.
 Keppel Seghers – the environmental arm of Keppel Corp has won the bid to build a solid waste management project in Qatar worth $1.1 billion.
Another contract to design and build the effluent treatment plant at Ras Laffan was awarded to Veolia Water and Saipem as well as the local construction company Al Jaber. The plant is to treat and recycle industrial effluents from the Pearl GTL.

Other projects
The athletes village which recently hosted more than 10,000 sportspersons is being converted into a state-of-the-art medical city. The $600-million project that last December hosted the athletes taking part in the 15th Asian Games will become Qatar’s major healthcare infrastructure and one of the largest in the Gulf region. The Hamad Medical City, set over a 450,000 sq m area close to the city centre, will eventually host three specialty hospitals, with a total of about 700 beds.