PILING works for Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower project is expected to be completed at the end of this year. Currently, 80 per cent of the piling works has been completed by Saudi Bauer Company, said Talal Al Maiman, executive director of development and domestic investments, chairman and CEO of the Kingdom Real Estate Development Company (KRED).

AL MEERA Consumer Goods Company, a leading retail chain in Qatar, has signed a blanket agreement with two leading construction groups Al Aliaa Trading and Contracting Company (ATC) and Al Muftah Trading and Contracting Company to build seven new malls in the country.

BAHRAIN’S MH Al Mahroos  has entered the interior design market under a partnership with Laboratorio Italiano, a renowned Italian company.

BASF has launched the Master Builders Solutions brand in the GCC as well as in Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan, in line with its commitment to provide tailor-made products and solutions to the industry.

ARCHITECTS, engineers and contractors are racing to sit the Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) exams before May 31 next year, after which the assessments are expected to get more stringent.

WELDING solutions from Leister Technologies including combinations of its Triac, Comet, Twinny T and Fusion continue to secure prominent projects in the region, with the ongoing STEP (Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme) tunnel scheme in Abu Dhabi. UAE, being among the latest in the Swiss company’s projects portfolio.

KING Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) has awarded a SR313-million ($83.4 million) contract to Rezaik Al Jedrawi Company for the construction of the first phase of Al Waha residential community in the economic city located at Thuwal, 100 km north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

THE Middle East is set to experience unparalleled construction activity over the next two decades but must be prepared for the complex infrastructure challenges that come with major programme delivery, says EC Harris in its latest study: ‘Middle East major construction programmes – mitigating the risk’.

AUTODESK is expanding its portfolio of technology for building information modelling (BIM) for infrastructure following the completion of the acquisition of technology assets from two UK-based software companies. Autodesk has acquired technology including Sam from Bestech Systems.

GALFAR Engineering and Contracting Company, one of the leading contracting firms in the Gulf region, is believed to have won the inflight catering facilities contract of Muscat International Airport in Oman, which is estimated to cost RO67.37 million ($172.94 million).

A NEW assembly plant for Volvo and Renault trucks is to be built in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Saudi Arabia. KAEC has signed an agreement with Zahid Tractor and Heavy Machinery Company for the purchase of a 225,000-sq-m plot for the project.

THE 2,177-km-long GCC rail network costing $200 billion, which will link all six Gulf states by rail for the first time will be fully operational in 2018, said Dr Ramiz Al Assar, World Bank resident adviser of the GCC Secretariat General in Riyadh.

OMAN has signed 13 contracts for roads and land transport projects at a cost of RO535.55 million ($1.39 billion) including key  packages for the Al Batinah Expressway, according to a report by the Oman Observer. “These packages will open new horizons for construction and economic boom in the nearby areas.

THE new concept design for Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar has been revealed and early works are expected to begin on site next month (January). The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee unveiled the innovative design that has been developed by Aecom in association with Zaha Hadid Architects.

SAUDI Diesel Equipment Company has recently won two key awards from leading construction equipment manufacturer Doosan of Korea for setting new benchmarks in spearheading its international business growth as its dealer in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia signs $533m road deals SAUDI ARABIA'S Transport Ministry has signed 32 contracts worth more than SR2 billion ($533 million) for the construction of new roads and repair of existing ones in different parts of the kingdom, a report said.