A joint venture of Belgium’s Besix Group and Midmac Contracting has been awarded a $740-million contract to build the Doha Convention Center & Tower in Qatar.

Besix’s share in the contract is $370 million, according to Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), which has a 50 per cent stake in the group.
The project, for Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, is planned to be completed by March 2011.
Besix’s scope of work entails all structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing works for the convention centre and its two-level basement. It also includes the structural works for the retail space and its three-level basement as well as all the foundation works for the 550-m-high main tower.
The Doha Convention Center & Tower is planned to be a mixed-use development which includes a hotel, offices, residential, convention/exhibition center and retail spaces.
The development consists of the tower with an approximate built-up area of 220,000 sq m, convention/exhibition centre with a built-up area of 97,500 sq m along with a retail space with a built-up area of 40,000 sq m.
Parking is planned to be accommodated in the two-level basement under the convention centre with a built-up area of 135,000 sq m and a three-level basement under the retail spaces with a built-up area of 100,000 sq m.