Bahrain is to spend BD2 billion ($5.3 billion) in a new campaign aimed at providing every citizen with adequate housing.
The $700 million Qatar Vinyl Company's (QVC) plant at Qatar's Mesaieed Industrial City has become fully operational following its inauguration late last month by Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Abu Dhabi is to get a new amusement park as part of a drive to boost its tourism facilities and bring more greenery to the UAE city. The 430,000 sq m Khalifa Park will have a natural marine history museum, theme gardens, oases, a mosque, a huge open-air theatre and a festival stand, according to local news reports.
A new shopping mall in Al Ain, UAE, is expected to open its doors this August. Work on the 100,000 sq m Al Ain Mall is nearly complete and the complex is due to open in early August.
Bahrain is to set up a pool of casual construction labour for contractors to draw from, instead of using illegal free-visa workers. The move forms part of a six-month amnesty being offered to illegal workers, to legalise their status or leave the island.
Emaar Properties is studying bids from six contracting groups for construction of the first three high-rises on the estimated $4 billion Dubai Marina project in Dubai, UAE.
Kuwait's parliament has approved spending over a billion dollars on construction projects in the country. Adnan Abdelsamad, the head of the committee on budgets and final accounts, said the budget included KD339.22 million ($1.139 billion) for construction projects that have been already approved.
The MA Kharafi Group of Kuwait is ready to inaugurate the Marsa Alam Airport in Egypt in October, the official Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) has reported. The Marsa Alam airport on the Red Sea coast is Egypt's first private sector airport and was built on the BOT (build-operate-transfer) system.
Equate plans mega expansion Petrochemical giant Equate is holding talks with an industrial bank on ways to finance a proposed multibillion-dollar expansion of its plant in Kuwait. The proposed $3 billion expansion will see output double by 2004.
Oman is set to give a green signal to build the Gulf's first private wastewater project after a delay of over three years. The RO232 million ($600 million) project had been dogged by financial and technical differences between its builders and the Oman government since 1997, but an agreement is now in sight.
Omani authorities have signed three agreements worth RO6.7 million ($17.4 million) for the construction of a water supply network in Al Masarrat. The companies signed up are Galfar Engineering and Construction Company, Civil Contracting Company (Civilco) and Hassan Juma Backer Trading and Contracting.
Plans have been mooted for Bahrain's first opera house. The venture is the brainchild of Bahraini businesswoman Suzi Kanoo who intends to build a cultural complex housing several artistic activities under the same roof. "The BD12 million ($33.
Leading international experts are expected to gather in Dubai during September for a conference on private sector involvement in public services and infrastructure in the Middle East. The Middle East Public/Private Investment Forum is scheduled to take place at the Al-Bustan Rotana during September 19-21.
A consortium including Germany's Westdeutsche Landesbank and France's BNP-Paribas had been appointed as joint lead arrangers for the financing of the Salalah power system privatisation project in Oman by Dhofar Power Company (DPC) and its subsidiary, Dhofar Generation Company (DGC).
Work on a new industrial port at Sohar in Oman is progressing with construction of the breakwater nearly complete, a report said. Oman is spending RO70 million ($181 million) on the port's first-phase development, which includes dredging and reclamation work and building the breakwater, the Oman Daily Observer reported.
A 50-storey high-rise in Dubai called The Tower will open its doors to business next April. The Dh150 million ($40.8 million) tower, which belongs to Union Properties, rises to a height of 245 m and has a built-up area of half a million sq m. It sits on a 10,000 sq m plot on Shaikh Zayed Road.
A UAE-South African venture has submitted the lowest bid for construction of a joint headquarters for two oil and gas firms in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, having just won a contract to carry out the main package of the Al Jaber complex in Dubai.
Alba calcining plant in trial runs Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has started trial operations of a 450,000-tonne coke calcining plant built under a $400 million project, the company said. The project in Bahrain includes a water desalination plant and a jetty facility.
Work on a plan to set up holiday chalets and a major hotel on the Sammaliah Island, northeast of Abu Dhabi city, as part of a multi-faceted programme to attract tourists and provide residents with more recreational facilities is expected to begin in the next few months.
Work has started on phase I of a state-of-the-art world trade and expo centre in a newly-developed area of Sharjah, UAE, adjacent to the Al Khan lagoon. Phase I of the construction comprises two column-free exhibition halls, together offering 8,000 sq m of indoor space as well as 14,000 sq m of open-air sites.
