Quriyat Development Company (QDC), a joint venture between Omani groups Al Madina Real Estate Company and Space Gulf Company, has laid the foundation stone for an integrated tourism complex (ITC) in the sultanate which is worth nearly $1 billion, said a report.

Oman’s Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) and Flex Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company, have recently signed an agreement to set up an international complex for pharmaceutical industries at a cost of $365 million, said a report. The complex will produce more than 100 compound drugs, reported the Times of Oman.

Nasser Bin Khaled (NBK) Automobiles, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, has entered into an agreement with Turkey’s Tekfen Construction for the supply of 50 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks for its projects in the Gulf country, said a report.

The Arabian Gulf University has awarded the first of the contracts for the construction of the multimillion-dollar King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Medical City, a multiple-phased development to come up on a one-million-sq-m area in Bahrain.

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from companies to take part in a competitive tender for a 100-MW utility-scale solar photovoltaic project in southern Oman, a report said.

NFT, a specialist in tower cranes, has replaced old-school cable ropes on its construction hoists with electrical busbar. This was a special order prepared by GJJ for NFT’s Orbit hoists, and the first of its kind in the region.

Qatar Rail said it has set ambitious goals for 2018 on the Doha Metro project aiming to complete more than 90 per cent of the work, including the remaining MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) and architectural fit-outs, this year. This will see completion of the Red Line up to Al Qassar and the start of trial operations.

British construction company Carillion, which was forced into compulsory liquidation, has clarified that its overseas joint ventures such as Carillion Alawi were not part of this move, and would continue to operate uninterrupted, said a report.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide a $201-million grant to Oman for two development projects at the Port of Duqm in the sultanate, said a report.

Bahraini firm OAK Group, a renewable energy and infrastructure services solution provider, has in alliance with Al Hamdan Consulting been awarded a contract for Phase One front-end engineering design (Feed) of a by-product recycling plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

UD Trucks, a Japanese truck manufacturer and a part of Volvo Group, marked one of its best performing years in the Middle East and East Africa region in 2017, with a 50 per cent sales increase in the Saudi markets and two-fold growth in Bahrain.

Genie names manager for region Terex Corporation, a global manufacturer of lifting and material processing products, has announced that John Chandler is rejoining the Genie team where, based in the UK, he will take over as the strategic accounts and business development manager for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR) region.