GCC to Float USD 25bn Rail Project Tenders

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The Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to float a public tender for the GCC’s proposed $25 billion regional railway network in the first quarter of 2010. Mohammad Bin Obeid al Mazroui, the GCC assistant secretary general for economic affairs, told the UAE daily Al Ittihad on Saturday that no more than five companies would be considered for the project. He added that either one company would undertake the whole project or several companies would work on the project in a partnership.

Construction on the 2,117km long railway line, expected to boost regional trade and tourism, will commence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and extend to Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.

Al Mazroui said that project managers anticipate the railway to be functional by 2017. According to a Kuwait Financial Centre report published last week, GCC nations will invest $109 billion in this project alone over the next decade in their effort to alleviate chronic traffic congestions. The reported also projected additional investments in other regional railway projects.