Accorhotels, a leading hotel operator, has announced the signing of a management agreement with Al Jassim Group, one of the leading diversified business groups in Qatar, to operate the first Majlis Grand Mercure hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Kuwait has announced that the work  on the long-delayed $7-billion metro project will finally kick off next year, said a report. The announcement comes following the recent appointment of new advisers for the ambitious project, reported The National.

Alfardan Properties has unveiled its new assortment of bespoke properties at the most sought after addresses in Doha, offering personalised services to enhance tenant’s lifestyles.

UK-based Exova, a global testing, calibration and advisory services provider, said it has won a 33-month contract to provide specialist testing for the construction of the New Orbital Highway and Truck Route in Qatar.

A total of 44 companies are in the race to prequalify for a 200-MW solar power plant project in Egypt which will be set up on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, said a report. All of them have obtained the tender conditions for the project proposed by the government, reported the Daily News Egypt, citing sources in the Ministry of Electricity.

Peri, a leading German manufacturer of formwork and scaffolding, held a construction safety drive in the UAE and Oman aimed at improving operations and ensuring high safety standards at work sites.

State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has named four companies as the preferred bidders for three of the four packages for its $5.2-billion Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project, a report said.

Mall of Qatar, the country’s largest leisure, entertainment and shopping complex, will cost QR5.4 billion ($1.48 billion) and will open in 2016. Poised to become one of the largest shopping destinations in the world, Mall of Qatar spans 550,000 sq m, and aims to attract a footfall of 20 million customers annually.

Qatar Rail has floated tenders for developing 12 proposed metro stations, according to a report. Qatar Rail’s tendering committee is seeking competent consultants and contractors to carry out the project, said The Peninsula report.

Glasspoint Solar, a US maker of solar steam generators for the oil and gas industry, will start work on its giant solar park project in Oman from this month, said a report. The 1GW solar-thermal project, which aims to turn water into steam for injection into the Amal oilfield, is due for completion in late 2017, reported the Muscat Daily.

Qatar has become the world’s richest country per capita measured by the value of its built environment, according to the latest Global Built Asset Wealth Index published by Arcadis, the leading global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets.

Consortiums led by Spanish water services giant Valoriza Agua and Japanese conglomerate Itochu Corporation have been selected by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) to develop two major independent water projects (IWPs) worth about $1 billion in the sultanate, a report said.

India-based Oberoi Group is planning two new luxury properties in Qatar – a 250-key luxury hotel in the West Bay area of Doha and a 148-key luxury serviced apartment in Lusail. The construction work on both the projects will start early next year and is expected to be completed in mid-2018.

AECOM, a global provider of professional technical and management support services, has emerged as the lowest bidder to provide engineering consultancy services for the second phase of North Manama Causeway and Busaiteen Link in Bahrain.

AECOM, a global, integrated infrastructure services company, has secured a primary infrastructural designing contract for the Diyar Al Muharraq project in Bahrain.

Raimondi supports tower project Raimondi, a leading designer and producer of cranes, has completed the installation of the last of the 10 tower cranes supplied to a mixed lifestyle project in Istanbul, Turkey.

Oman has prequalified nine leading global marine engineering firms to construct a major bulk liquid berths terminal at the Port of Duqm on the sultanate’s Wusta coast, said a report.

The GCC will increase its total seawater desalination capacity by nearly 40 per cent by 2020 in an effort to meet the increasing demand for potable water in the region, said organisers of the upcoming International Water Summit, which will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, next year (January 18 to 21).