Construction
From The Report: Qatar 2014
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The construction sector grew by 13% y-o-y in third-quarter 2013, driven primarily by spending on transport infrastructure. With more than $222bn of projects in the pipeline, sector growth has been forecast at 15% for 2014, while spending on infrastructure is set to reach $150bn in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The scale of construction activity in the region has created some challenges that Qatar, in particular, will have to address to meet its targets. The demand for building materials and bottlenecks in transport and logistics, for instance, are driving up the cost of construction.
This chapter contains interviews with Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, Minister of Municipality & Urban Planning; Essa Mohammed Ali Kaldari, CEO, Lusail Real Estate Development Company; and Khalid Al Rabban, Chairman, Qatar Primary Materials Company.
Articles from this Chapter
A flurry of activity: Building infrastructure for more diversified growth
OBG talks to Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, Minister of Municipality & Urban PlanningOBGplus
Interview:Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani How is the ministry working with other bodies to help alleviate congestion and backlogs in the construction industry? SHEIKH ABDUL RAHMAN BIN KHALIFA AL THANI: In order to meet the requirements of the construction boom currently taking place in the country, and the urban re-planning that is under way in a number of areas, the ministry launched the new building permits complex at Doha Municipality in February 2014. The new facility was created…
OBG talks to Essa Mohammed Ali Kaldari, CEO, Lusail Real Estate Development CompanyOBGplus
Interview:Essa Mohammed Ali Kaldari Considering the government’s focus on infrastructure development, how do you see this impacting large-scale development works in the coming years? ESSA MOHAMMED ALI KALDARI: Luckily, several large-scale projects such as Lusail City and Msheireb Downtown were started and tendered before the recent wave of infrastructure projects. Currently more than 70% of the infrastructure of Lusail is completed. The majority of large packages have been awarded,…
Promoting best practice: Addressing the building code and enhancing sustainabilityOBGplus
With the construction sector undergoing both a major boom and heightened global scrutiny in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar has been looking hard at its current building code in an effort to boost both safety and sustainability. This process has also been going on in an atmosphere of convergence within the GCC countries. Indeed, in December 2013 the six-member organisation announced that the first version of a unified code, applicable throughout the GCC, should be available by the end…
OBG talks to Khalid Al Rabban, Chairman, Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC)OBGplus
Interview:Khalid Al Rabban What measures are being pursued to strengthen the efficiency and capability of berths and jetties for the supply of materials? KHALID AL RABBAN: QPMC was set up in 2006 by emiri decree with the mandate to boost the efficiency of port facilities used to import construction materials, primarily aggregates including limestone, gabbro, sand and other free-flowing bulk construction materials. This involved improving the efficiency of three gabbro berths in Mesaieed with…
Work in progress: Connecting the country and improving logisticsOBGplus
Economic growth has created an unprecedented demand for construction equipment and raw material to build infrastructure, industrial bases, residences, retail outlets and all the other elements that are driving Qatar’s economy. This in turn requires a robust transport and logistics network to import and export goods and material. However, the process of bringing these goods and materials into the country is currently hindered by a number of bottlenecks. New Links The government has embarked upon…
Boom town: A wide variety of projects are helping to reshape DohaOBGplus
Qatar’s development strategy centres on using income from its vast energy resources to establish Doha as a regional, and increasingly global, centre for business and commercial activity. Constructing an urban environment that places the city alongside leading capitals is thus a priority for the government. Doha’s urban landscape has developed very rapidly over the past two decades. While the country’s industrial construction projects get the most attention, the government has invested a significant…
Home sweet home: A growing population is driving demand for more affordable housingOBGplus
With comprehensive infrastructure improvements and dozens of tourism developments in progress, it is not hard to understand why Doha’s skyline seems to have as many cranes as it does skyscrapers. The country is set to spend more than $200bn on construction over the next 10 years, according to a 2013 report from consulting firm Deloitte. The population, meanwhile, has undergone markedly faster growth over the past few years. Between 2008 and 2013, the population grew an average of over 5% each year,…
Build it and they will come: Tourism development plans are creating opportunities for retail, hotel and infrastructure contractorsOBGplus
Tourism has been a centrepiece of Qatar’s economic diversification plans for the past few years. The sector has come far, but it still accounted for no more than 1% the country’s GDP in 2013, in part because of its small size compared to larger sectors like energy and real estate. Still, the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), the state agency responsible for guiding the sector’s development, is working toward tripling tourism’s share of GDP to 3%, its chairman, Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi,…
Preparing for game day: The sector is seeing an uptick in sports-related activityOBGplus
In December 2013 a team of Qatari representatives arrived to Brazil’s north-east to observe the country’s preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. “Regardless of the difference in size between the two countries, there are lot of elements that you can learn from, a lot of security elements, a lot of things that you do not think about,” Nasser Al Khater, communications director for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SCDL), told Abu Dhabi’s The National. The state also has plans…
A key ingredient: Domestic production of building materials is ramping up in anticipation of rising demandOBGplus
In the past five years Doha has announced plans for a new railway system, a new port, nine stadia, and new highways and roads. These plans, in conjunction with tourism- and retail-related projects, are set to stretch Doha’s transport capacity to its limits. In the period surrounding the 2006 Asian Games, Qatar saw a flurry of construction activity that contributed to shipping bottlenecks and higher materials costs, helping to drive overall inflation to 15.2% in 2008, according to the Gulf Times.…
All roads lead to Doha: Forthcoming road and highway projects are set to improve inter-city and intra-city connectionsOBGplus
Qatar National Vision 2030, the country’s blueprint for the future, lays out ambitious goals for environmental, social, human and economic development in the coming decades. As part of these economic plans, the authorities aim to invest energy revenues into infrastructure projects, in order to build an environment in which a more diversified economy can flourish. In pursuit of this goal, planners have been on course to execute a complete overhaul of the state’s current transport network, newly…
