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Expo 2020 set to tender more than £2.3bn in contracts

31 Jan 17 Construction contracts worth AED11bn (£2.38bn) will be tendered this year for Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The announcement follows the appointment of Orascom-Besix in the final quarter of 2016 to develop the Expo site’s infrastructure.

Expo 2020 Dubai will award 47 construction contracts in 2017 as gather pace. The construction contracts for 2017, which are open to local, regional and international businesses, include the third and final infrastructure package for the event’s support areas, including car parking.

Other key awards for the year ahead include the construction of the three ‘thematic districts’ that will host the majority of the pavilions. Public areas will also be tendered as too will the design, development and delivery of all temporary architecture and infrastructure required to stage the event.

The Expo 2020 Dubai eSourcing Portal includes details of upcoming tender opportunities, as well as announcing contracts already awarded. These will range from smaller contracts to larger, multi-billion-dirham opportunities.

“We are committed to working with leading businesses from across the world in order to deliver an exceptional event of this scale, on time and on budget,” said Reem Al Hashimy, UAE minister of state for international cooperation and director general of the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau. “This is particularly true when it comes to the development of the physical site, which will live on long beyond 2021 to become an anchor for the UAE’s developing knowledge economy in Dubai South.”

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She added: “But just as importantly, the non-construction contracts to be procured this year will allow us to spread the investment made in the Expo as far as possible and enable local, regional and international businesses of all sizes to be part of what will be the most inclusive and international event in Expo history.”

An Orascom-Besix joint venture was appointed at the end of the year to develop the “deep infrastructure” at the Expo site in Dubai South. Once complete, the site will cover 4.38 square kilometres and host up to 300,000 people a day between October 2020 and April 2021. The contract includes irrigation and sewerage, pipes and cabling, roads, electrical and water, and telecommunications ducting.

Expo 2020 Dubai vice president of real estate and delivery Ahmed Al Khatib said: “While 2016 was an important year for design, 2017 is when the momentum of construction will really build, ahead of international participants beginning work on their pavilions in 2018.”

He added: “These important contracts will help us meet our target of completing the majority of construction with a year to go before Expo 2020 Dubai opens its doors in October 2020, providing the opportunity for all-important readiness testing.”

Early works on site are now complete, with more than 4.7 million cubic metres of earth moved. The first infrastructure contract, covering the deep infrastructure of the non-gated Expo area, including the Expo Village, was awarded to Tristar Engineering & Construction in July 2016.

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