News
Budget raised for flagship Energy City project
|
Qatar said yesterday it expects to raise the budget for its landmark Energy City project by $900 million (Dh3.3 billion) because of higher land prices and construction costs. Energy City Chief Executive Officer, Hisham Al Imadi, said work is under way to build the infrastructure and the project could be completed by mid 2009. “It is a major challenge for us to finish the project on time and attract as many companies as possible,” he told the Qatari Arabic language daily Al Raya. “This project will be the Middle East’s first integrated centre for energy companies and supporting firms and services. Its primary costs were estimated at $2.6bn, but we expect them to rise to nearly $3.5bn because of the increase in the prices of land and the construction costs.” Qatar launched the Energy City project in 2005 to provide services for the energy sector in the local market and neighbouring Gulf states. Located in Lusail north of the capital Doha, it will house an integrated complex where international and state-owned oil companies and service providers will base their operations.
It will also host the Gulf Mercantile Exchange, trading rooms, brokerage offices, a base for shipping and logistics and research and data centres. “Our focus now is to complete the infrastructure and attract firms through a promotion campaign that will be launched in the first half of this year,” Imadi said. The number $900m: The amount by which Qatar plans to raise the budget for Energy City
|