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Investment
in Qatar’s infrastructure and industry is reaching fever
pitch as the Gulf emirate continues its drive to become
a significant regional player. With the world’s third
largest natural gas reserves and one of the highest per
capita incomes in the world, Qatar is a small country
with big ambitions.
Since the
turn of the millennium, the government has assigned
$25bn of public finance to upgrade the national
infrastructure. As well as new roads, sewerage plants
and a $750m expansion programme for Doha International
Airport, the plans include numerous prestige projects
designed to enhance Qatar’s cultural identity and
promote foreign investment.
As part of
the ongoing development, the Al Rayyan Tourism
Investment Company has announced plans to build five new
hotels to cater to the growing number of tourists and
business travellers visiting the country, and the $400
million construction and fit-out contract was recently
awarded to Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises - part of
the Al Habtoor Group.
Al Habtoor
Engineering Enterprises has established an unrivalled
reputation in the UAE construction sector through
landmark projects like the Sheikh Rashid Terminal
Concourse at Dubai International Airport. The company
has also built many of Dubai’s most famous hotels – the
321 metre high Burj Al Arab, the Shangri-la (both
completed as a Joint Venture with Murray & Roberts), the
600-bedroom Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the Metropolitan
Palace Hotel and the Dusit Dubai to name but a few.
As part of
the Dubai-based company’s regional expansion,
construction projects have also been undertaken in
Lebanon and Egypt, but this latest contract marks the
company’s largest venture outside the UAE, and its first
in Qatar.
Project
Director and Area Manager for Qatar Operations, Nasr A.
Nasr, says he sees huge potential in the emerging Gulf
state’s construction and real estate sector.
“Al Habtoor
Engineering Enterprises has never worked in Qatar
before, but we have been studying the market for some
time with an eye to suitable commercial opportunities,”
he explains. “Qatar, and particularly Doha, is on the
threshold of the scale of expansion that Dubai found
itself in ten years ago and there are opportunities for
companies such as ours to apply the discipline learnt in
Dubai to this new demand for infrastructure and building
development.
“Al Habtoor
Engineering Enterprises brings to the Qatar market
expertise in design/redesign and build, fast-track
construction methods, fine-tuned procurement, project
management skills, logistics management and an
unblemished record in similar projects throughout the
UAE.”
The Qatar
contract involves constructing five hotels as part of
the expansion of Doha City Centre, the capital's most
popular shopping destination, with project sites on the
west and east sides of the existing mall.
“There are
three five-star hotels & two four-stars, namely two
Marriott hotels, one Shangri-la, one Merweb and one
Renaissance hotel,” Nasr explains. “The project is
divided into two areas, with one phase consisting of the
two Marriott hotels, which covers a total built-up area
of 160,000 square metres and 48-storeys in height. The
other phase consists of three hotels covering an area of
260,000m2 to a similar height, in addition to two
rooftop helipads.
“Both
phases have a similar build-up of three basement levels,
six podium levels and then towers emerging through the
podiums. The external envelopes will be fully glazed
curtain walling, with all leisure, pools and
entertainment areas located at ground level.”
Nasr is no
stranger to completing high profile hotel projects on
budget and on time. He was Project Director for the
construction of the AED 400 million Shangri-la complex
on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, which marked the Hong
Kong-based chain’s first hotel in the Gulf.
But this
latest project, which also includes a Shangri-la, will
present new challenges for Nasr and his team due to its
massive scale, with five hotels under construction at
the same time. Work began on site in April and the
contract duration for the entire project is 24 months.
“The
project is definitely unique and constitutes a new
challenge as we first had to overcome all the obstacles
associated with establishing an area office, including
the logistics of relocating staff, housing, labour
accommodation, procurement and transport of materials
from the UAE,” Nasr explains.
“However Al
Habtoor, under the directives of our Chairman and
Managing Partner, have succeeded in overcoming all the
initial obstacles. We are established, set and ready to
break new ground and prove our reputation for excellence
and quality construction in the state of Qatar.”
Another
first for the project is the introduction of a
Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) attached to the value of
the contract, which Nasr says represents a new approach
to contracting in the region.
“This
pioneering initiative will not only ensure the smooth
implementation of the entire project from the start, but
will also result in all parties concerned working as a
team,” he says.
The hotel
podiums will have a direct link to the existing shopping
mall, with construction features including RCC
structure, external cladding with glazed curtain walling
systems, MEP services, conveying systems and soft and
hard landscaping.
“This
project faces a challenging timescale for completion
which will pose tremendous thrust on planning,
procurement and execution,” Nasr says. “This engineering
marvel is the biggest project awarded to Al Habtoor
Engineering Enterprises outside the UAE. It will be one
of the landmark projects in Qatar, adding another
masterpiece to the architecture of Doha.”
Looking to
Qatar’s future, annual liquefied natural gas (LNG)
production has already reached 18m tonnes and is
expected to rise to 27m tonnes this year. If it can
achieve its goal of 36m tonnes by 2008, Qatar will
outstrip Indonesia as the world’s largest LNG exporter,
and the revenues from the 650,000 barrels per day of
crude oil it’s currently pumping will become an added
bonus rather than an economic mainstay.
With such
economic growth taking place, along with Qatar’s desires
to invest in economic diversification and boost the
country’s appeal to foreign investors, Nasr predicts a
bright future for Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises in
Qatar’s continuing development. | 
