In a bid to meet the growing global demand for piping systems for high-purity applications, Agru, an Austrian manufacturer of premium plastic products, has opened its state-of-the-art cleanroom factory in Bad Hall, Austria.

A consortium led by Salini Impregilo, an Italian industrial group specialising in construction and civil engineering, has won a $955-million contract from Kuwait’s government to develop an urban residential development on a 12,000-hectare area.

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) is investing $320 million towards building a 290-km pipeline between Muscat and Sohar for transporting refined products, said a report. The project is expected to start operations by mid-2017, according to the Times of Oman.

Work on the new supply building at Muscat International Airport is progressing at a steady pace and the project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, said a report. Work on packages 11 and 12 is in full swing with some parts nearing 90 per cent completion, reported the Oman Observer.

KBR, an American engineering, procurement, and construction company, said it has won an extension, valued over $185 million, to its programme management consultant (PMC) contract for Qatar’s Expressway Programme. The extension will see KBR continuing to deliver full programme management capability for the next three years, said KBR.

Qatar is to set up special economic zones that will allow for 100 per cent overseas ownership. A draft law approved by Qatar’s cabinet allows for the creation of an airport or sea port in the economic zones which will allow companies “unrestricted transfer of capital out of the country”, state news agency QNA reported.

State-run Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has launched tenders to expand its Sitra oil refinery, industry sources said.  The $5-billion expansion aims to boost processing capacity of the country’s only oil refinery to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its current 267,000 bpd under the Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP).

Qatar University has joined hands with Arab Engineering Bureau (AEB) to start wind tunnel engineering services for the Al Thumama stadium, one of the venues for Fifa World Cup 2022 matches in Qatar, said a report.

Egypt’s Carbon Holdings has secured an agreement with one of the four export credit agencies expected to provide financing worth between $4-5 billion for its massive Tahrir petrochemicals project, its chief executive Basil El Baz said.

100 km of metro tunnelling complete Qatar Rail has achieved a major milestone by completing 100 km of tunnelling across the city for its ambitious Doha Metro network and 41 per cent of the work related to the project.

Bahrain Real Estate Investment (Edamah), the real estate arm of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, has announced a $930-million plan to transform Hawar Islands into a signature eco-friendly tourism destination with state-of-the-art facilities, in collaboration with a private sector.

Oman’s government is keen to develop its RO300-million ($775 million) medical city project in the Barka region of the sultanate on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model, said a report.

Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) has announced that it will facilitate the development of Oman’s first world-class family water park in Muscat, a key project under the National CEO Programme (NCP).

Volvo Trucks has seen a ‎24 per cent increase in sales year-on-year for 2015 across the Middle East, where it is active in 13 markets thanks to its growing network and remains a key player in the region’s trucking industry.

Inovest, the founder and project manager of Bahrain Investment Wharf (BIW) labour accommodation project, has signed several agreements with VKL Holdings to complete the $140-million development in Bahrain.

Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has floated a tender seeking bids from consultancy firms to provide financial and commercial advisory services for an independent water project in the Muscat region of the sultanate, said a report.

A $200-billion infrastructure programme launched by Qatar as part of the World Cup 2022 preparations could see higher costs and delays because of the slump in oil prices, said a report.

Industry experts have urged for a new venture to be set up to collect millions of dinars to restart work on four developments in Bahrain that were never completed. They also called for the auctioning of two of the stalled projects as part of measures to resolve the crisis in the next six years.