Related Articles

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  Developers break ground on W Residences Dubai

  9 June 2025

  Dubai free zone operator Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and local real estate developer Signature Developers have officially broken ground on W Residences Dubai – Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT).

  The project, which is being developed in collaboration with Marriott International, involves the construction of a 38-storey tower that will have 33 residential floors, three basements, two podiums, a ground floor and an amenities level.

  Altogether, it will have 185 residences, including one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as four-bedroom penthouses.

  DMCC and Signature Developers announced the project in 2024. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the project is at the main contract bid stage. The contractor for the foundation works is TMF Euro Foundations. The development manager is South Africa’s Mirage Leisure & Development. The architect is MAD Architects.

  Uptown project

  DMCC is also developing other tower projects in Dubai. In May this year, MEED reported that it had appointed local construction firm Ali & Sons as the main contractor to build the estimated AED1bn ($272m) next phase of its Uptown Dubai development.

  The second phase includes constructing two 28- and 21-storey mid-rise towers featuring approximately 67,500 square metres (sq m) of commercial space and 5,000 sq m for retail and food and beverage outlets.

  The construction work began last year when local enabling contractor Swissboring started the foundation works on the project.

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  Colin Foreman
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  China State wins Abu Dhabi photovoltaic project

  9 June 2025

  Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for a photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant at Tawazun Industrial Park in Abu Dhabi.

  The scope of work includes the design, procurement, installation, commissioning and trial operation of a PV power plant, along with a 24-month warranty period for operation and maintenance.

  Once operational, the PV power station is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 14,064 tonnes annually. This reduction is equivalent to alleviating the carbon footprint of over 25% of Tawazun Industrial Park.

  The project client is Emerge, which is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and France’s EDF Group.

  In January, MEED reported that Emerge had awarded CSCEC a contract to build six solar power plants in Abu Dhabi.

  The EPC contract includes the design, procurement, installation, commissioning, trial operation and 24-month warranty period for operation and maintenance of six independent solar PV power stations.

  Emerge focuses on developing captive or private-to-private renewable energy projects across the GCC region.

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  Colin Foreman
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  Saudi Arabia evaluates 2km tower bids

  9 June 2025

  

   

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has received offers from firms for a contract to provide project management consultancy (PMC) for a new central business district (CBD) on the outskirts of Riyadh, which includes the proposed 2-kilometre megatall tower project.

  The PMC role covers both the tower and the surrounding district. The request for proposals is understood to have been issued by a PIF subsidiary known as the Tower District Real Estate Development Company.

  The firms invited to bid were understood to include Aecom, Jacobs, Parsons and Turner, all US-based, and the UK’s Mace.

  UK-based Foster & Partners is working as the architect on the tower after it won a design competition launched in late 2022.

  Record breaker

  The proposed tower will be more than double the height of the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is 828 metres tall. It is expected to be at least several hundred metres taller than the 1,000-metre-plus tall tower that is being built in Jeddah.

  Contractors that have priced megatall towers in the region say a 2km-tall structure could cost about $5bn to construct, depending on the final design.

  The 2km tower and the surrounding CBD, which are known as Project Rise, sit within a larger masterplanned development to the north of Riyadh called the North Pole.

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  MEED’s latest report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > GOVERNMENT: Riyadh takes the diplomatic initiative
  > ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy forges onward
  > BANKING: Saudi banks work to keep pace with credit expansion
  > UPSTREAM: Saudi oil and gas spending to surpass 2024 level
  > DOWNSTREAM: Aramco’s recalibrated chemical goals reflect realism
  > POWER: Saudi power sector enters busiest year
  > WATER: Saudi water contracts set another annual record
  > CONSTRUCTION: Reprioritisation underpins Saudi construction
  > TRANSPORT: Riyadh pushes ahead with infrastructure development
  > DATABANK: Saudi Arabia’s growth trend heads up

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  Colin Foreman
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  Algeria invites foreign companies to develop gold reserves

  9 June 2025

  Algeria’s state-owned mining company has invited local and foreign investors to participate in developing the country’s gold reserves and highlighted significant deposits in the south.

  Bellacine Soltani, Sonarem’s chief executive, said in a statement that the Tirak and Ammasisa mines in Algeria’s Southern Tamanrasset Province hold more than 60 tonnes of gold.

  The two mines have been inactive for more than a decade.

  His comments come ahead of a planned vote on new legislation that could permit foreign companies to hold as much as 80% of mining projects.

  Algeria’s parliament is due to vote on the legislation on 16 June 2025, a move that could potentially mark a major shift for the nation, where state enterprises have majority control.

  The North African country is also looking to streamline the licensing process and trim billions of dollars worth of costly imports, including steel and marble.

  Soltani said that opening the doors to small investors and startup entrepreneurs had already enabled Algeria to extract approximately 60,000 tonnes of ore from gold over the past three years, and about 400kg of pure gold.

  Soltani said Algeria has 140 million cubic metres of marble reserves and is aiming to exploit these reserves to reduce imports.

  Imports of finished and semi-finished marble have cost the public treasury around $290m over the past three years, Soltani said.

  According to Soltani, Sonarem owns more than 15 marble and other stone quarries, with an exploitable reserve value reaching 40 million cubic metres.

  In 2024, 46 gold extraction licenses were issued to companies in Algeria.

  Sonarem’s exports reached $200m last year, the bulk of which came from phosphate exports, which totalled more than $193m.

  Algeria is currently implementing an industrial strategy that aims to reduce imports of mining materials, satisfy domestic market needs and increase non-hydrocarbon exports.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14016597/main.png

  Wil Crisp
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  Twenty-eight firms interested in $1.5bn Morocco airport

  4 June 2025

  Twenty-eight local and international firms have expressed interest in a contract to build a new terminal at Morocco’s largest airport, Mohammed V International airport in Casablanca.

  The estimated MD15bn ($1.6bn) expansion will increase the airport’s capacity to 30 million passengers a year.

  The new terminal will span an area of about 450,000 square metres.

  Morocco’s Office National Des Aeroports (ONDA) issued the expression of interest notice in mid-April, with a submission deadline of 16 May.

  The firms that have expressed interest include:

  • TAV Airports Holding (Turkiye)
  • Makyol Insaat (Turkiye)
  • Sinohydro Corporation (China)
  • Jet Contractors (local)
  • China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (China)
  • China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China)
  • China International Water & Electric (China)
  • Acciona (Spain)
  • Shandong High-Speed Group Company (China)
  • China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation (China)
  • China Railway Construction Corporation (China)
  • Orascom Construction (Egypt)
  • Limak Insaat (Turkiye)
  • IC Ictas (Turkiye)
  • China Gezhouba Group (China)
  • Serka Taahut Insaat (Turkiye)
  • China Harbour Engineering Corporation (China)
  • Sichuan Road & Bridge Group (China)
  • China Road & Bridge Corporation (China)
  • Kalpataru Projects International (India)
  • China Overseas Engineering Group (China)
  • Bymaro (local)
  • Consolidated Contractors Company (Greece)
  • Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc / Travaux Generaux de Construction de Casablanca (local/local)
  • Beijing Urban Construction Group (China)
  • Sogea Maroc (local)
  • Mabetex Group / Mabco (local/local)

  The terminal is expected to be ready in time for the 2030 Fifa World Cup, which Morocco is co-hosting alongside Portugal and Spain.

  In May, MEED reported that ONDA had awarded an estimated MD294m ($29m) deal for enabling works on the new terminal.

  According to local media reports, the contract was awarded to local firm Societe de Travaux Agricoles Marocaine.

  In January, Morocco’s Transport & Logistics Minister, Abdessamad Kayouh, said that the study to expand the airport’s capacity was nearing completion.

  The project is part of Morocco’s MD42bn ($4.3bn) plan to expand key airports in anticipation of increased passenger flow for the 2030 football World Cup.

  In April, Morocco announced that it will also build a new airport in Casablanca in preparation for the tournament. 

  Morocco plans to upgrade several airports, including those in Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir, increasing their respective capacities to 7 million, 16 million and 7 million passengers annually.

  There are also plans to add a new terminal at Rabat-Sale airport, raising its capacity to handle 4 million passengers, and to increase the capacity of Fez airport to 5 million passengers annually. 

  The new terminal at Mohammed V International airport will be connected to a high-speed train network that will link Kenitra to Marrakech.

   

   

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  Yasir Iqbal