By IANS,
Dubai : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to have its seventh international airport with the emirate of Ajman planning a new facility spread over 60 million square feet.
The Ajman government has revealed plans of the airport, to be constructed in the Al-Manama area of Ajman, with the capacity to handle at least one million passengers per year and a minimum of 400,000 tonnes of cargo.
A presentation of the proposed Ajman International Airport was given at the court of Ajman ruler and Member of UAE’s Supreme Council Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi.
The project will be implemented by an international consortium led by Spanish corporation Grupo Inmobiliario Whitelake.
The other companies include Grupo Rayet, Grupo Dublin, ICTS Europe, Steel Law, Booz Allen Hamilton, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Cyrrus, Tetravol, Planet Cluster, Amnah Company, and the UAE-based Fakhruddin Group.
Adjacent to the airport facilities, several residential and commercial properties will be developed to provide the highest quality of living for the thousands of employees of the airport and those associated with the airport operations or other investments in the airport area, according to reports.
As of now, the UAE is served by five international airports – Dubai International Airport, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Sharjah International Airport, Ras Al Khaimah International Airport and Fujairah International Airport.
The sixth, Dubai World International Airport, slated to be the world’s largest airport is under construction in the Jebel Ali area near here.
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Abu Dhabi to have world’s largest chemicals complex
The UAE capital Abu Dhabi is set to have the world’s largest chemical industrial complex by the year 2013.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) and Borealis/Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) on behalf of Chemaweyaat, an initiative of ADIC, and the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The new Chemicals Industrial City will be built in the Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ), which is strategically located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
“The location of this large scale petrochemical complex is a major milestone for the development of the industrial cluster at the Khalifa Industrial Zone,” Ahmed Al Calily, chief executive and managing director of Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) was quoted as saying.
The first project to be located at the Chemicals Industrial City is Chemaweyaat Complex 1. It is expected to be the world’s largest fully integrated grassroots complex with a total production of around seven million tonnes per annum of olefins, aromatics, oxide and ammonia derivatives.
Chemaweyaat Complex 1 is expected to be complete by 2013.
“Chemaweyaat as an anchor tenant will attract additional investments from all parts of the supply chain and will create a viable chemical and petrochemical cluster,” Al Calily said.
“This will deliver valuable collective benefits to the port and the industrial zone.”
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UAE key driver of Middle East construction boom: research
With projects worth $931 billion currently under way, the UAE is a key driver, along with Saudi Arabia, of the $2.8-trillion Middle East construction boom, according to new research.
Research by database company Proleads, which monitors regional construction projects across all industry sectors in the Middle East, shows that there are now 3,339 projects estimated to be worth in excess of $2.8 trillion under way in the region, the bulk of development taking place in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE is firmly at the centre of the hectic construction activity in the region, according to a press release issued by PMV Exhibition which is dedicated to manufacturers and suppliers of plant, machinery and construction vehicles.
There are currently 1,248 projects worth $931 billion under way in the Emirates which is home to more than 35 percent of the heavy equipment available worldwide, while 25 percent of the world’s tower cranes are in use in Dubai.
“A massive wave of projects in the GCC, Egypt, Iraq and Libya has turned the region into the world’s biggest market for plant, construction machinery, vehicles and equipment, demand for which is expected to grow by up to 20 percent over the next four years,” the statement added.