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Zubair Corporation allies with Tefirom
Zubair Corporation, an Omani business conglomerate, and Tefirom, a Turkish multi-national business group, signed a strategic alliance on April 13 with aims to develop a portfolio of business opportunities estimated at $500 million, particularly in renewable energy, construction, water management, natural gas and manufacturing sectors. As a result, they announced a co-development of wind-based projects for renewable energy in Turkey and Oman. The alliance was signed after six months of negotiations and would give both parties advantage in market presence, execution tools, know-how and skills across different sectors. The two companies are to create separate joint venture companies for each project and may introduce other partners depending on the merits of the project.
Arab fund will allocate $359 million in loans and grants
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), a Kuwait based pan-Arab institute, announced in early April its plans to finance various development projects within the MENA region. AFESD, which consists of 22 member countries, will support Arab infrastructure ventures by providing $359 million to recipient governments and organizations; 95 percent of the allocated amount will go to Morocco, Sudan, Djibouti and Yemen in the form of concessionary loans. The remaining 5 percent will be granted to Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, as well as the Arab Thought Forum and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture. Of the outstanding loans, Morocco will receive the highest amount: $190 million to build a new highway, followed by Sudan, which will receive $104 million to complete the construction of a sugar refinery. Djibouti and Yemen will receive $31 million and $24 million, respectively, to modernize transportation networks and update flood protection infrastructure. Grants are expected to be handed to the Arab Open University in Egypt ($1.7 million) the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in Jordan ($764,000) and civil action societies in Lebanon.
$6 billion for Iraqi railways
Iraq plans to build and renovate six major railway lines in order to restore the country’s infrastructure. The most important line consists of a loop around Baghdad, which will be able to transport 23 million passengers per year and carry 46 million tons of goods. This project will run more than 1,243 kilometers of tracks across the country and cost $6 billion, with expected completion by the end of 2014. The Iraqi government is planning to construct the project in partnership with the private sector on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. Consequently, the authorities must find international investors to finance the project and launch construction. Investors will benefit from the returns for the coming 20 to 50 years. This railway will eventually be linked to the planned Gulf Cooperation Council railway network, slated for completion in 2017, covering 2,000 kilometers from the Kuwait-Iraq border to Oman.
