Talks on French business school in Doha likely to gain momentum

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:40:57 +0000

Web posted at: 6/23/2009 2:54:47
Source ::: BY NASSER AL HARTHY

DOHA: Ongoing discussions to bring the prestigious French business school — Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) — and the French Institute of Petroleum (Instiut Francais du Petrole) to operate in the Education City here are expected to get a boost with the visit of the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned to Paris.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the French Embassy here said yesterday that Qatari-French relations had been steadily growing.

The two countries are increasingly focussing to bolster ties in other fields as well, including research, culture and arts. French energy giant Total has already set up a research centre at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP).

French imports from Qatar rose by a significant 252 percent while exports fell a bit last year mainly due to delays in deliveries of Airbus planes. Aircraft sales accounted for 29 percent of French exports to Qatar last year. However, future deliveries are expected to reverse the trend.

French firms in Qatar cover a wide range of sectors and their number currently estimated at over 40 has been increasing steadily. Areva, for instance is a world-leading company in nuclear energy, while Veolia is specialised in a range of waste management services and water treatment.

THE PENINSULA

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New Doha Port to pre qualify contractors soon

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:52:41 +0000

Wednesday, 27 May 2009
MEED reported that contract for excavation work is expected to attract firms from around the world. As per report Qatar is inviting contractors to pre-qualify for the first major construction package on its multi billion dollar New Doha Port project.

The inland port is to be built in Mesaieed to the south of Doha and will support industrial development in the area. It will be one of the largest marine projects to be awarded this year and is expected to attract global interest. The client is the New Doha Port Steering Committee, an arm of the Finance Ministry.

The winner will excavate 58 million cubic meters of material covering an area of 3.2 square kilometers to a depth of 18 meters. New Doha Port will use the excavated material to build 8 kilometers of quay wall and a 5 kilometers long rubble breakwater.

Contractors said that the value of the contract will exceed that of Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port marine works contract, which was worth about USD 1.5 billion when it was awarded in October 2007.

One European contractor working in the Gulf said that “This is one of the largest marine contracts in the world. To give you an idea of the scale, Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi has a 3.2 kilometers quay wall and 40 million cubic meters of dredging. With little work available in other markets, I expect there will be substantial interest from all over the world.”

The authorities want to finish the phase-1 of the project in 2014. It will involve the construction of the first container terminal at the port, which will have a capacity of 2 million 20 foot equivalent units, a 15 meter deep approach channel to the port, an 8 meter to 13.5 meter deep harbor basin and berths for general cargo, the Qatari and visiting navies and Emiri yachts.

The authorities want to finish the second phase, which involves a second container terminal capable of handling 2 million foot equivalent units a year and an extension to the harbor basin in 2020.

An optional third phase could add a third container terminal at the port, taking total capacity to 6 million foot equivalent units a year.

(Sourced from MEED)

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Talks on French business school in Doha likely to gain momentum

New Doha Port to pre qualify contractors soon