Bank of Beirut Inaugurates a New Branch in Sohar – Sultanate of Oman

Under the patronage of His Excellence the Governor of Sohar, Sayyid Hilal Bin Bader Bin Ali Al Busaidi and His Excellence the Ambassador of Lebanon to the Sultanate of Oman, Mr. Afif Ayoub, Bank of Beirut hosted a gala dinner on Sunday, March 8th, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new branch in the Sultanate, namely in the region of Sohar.

Bank of Beirut Chairman explained that the opening of Sohar branch embodies the expansion strategy set by the Bank two years ago, upon the inauguration of its first branch in the Sultanate. It is to mention also that Bank of Beirut is working to expand its network in a number of Arab and European countries, seeking thus to be a universal Lebanese Bank in the region.
Source: www.iloubnan.info

Larsen & Toubro shortlisted for $1.4 bn Oman airport

Oman has shortlisted six firms including India’s number one engineering firm Larsen & Toubro, global construction company Bechtel of the US and France’s Vinci for a deal to build a 1.4 billion dollar airport terminal, a tender board official said in Muscat.

Passenger traffic through the Muscat airport, excluding those in transit, increased to about 3.2 million last year, up 18 per cent from the previous year, a leading Omani newspaper has said.

The lowest bidder is a consortium of the local NRI-owned Galfar Engineering & Contracting Company and India’s L&T, the Middle East Economic Digest(MEED) reported last week.

The new project involves building the northern runway, taxiway system, apron, roads, utility buildings and civil works. The new terminal will be connected to the existing terminal by a rail link and the work will be completed by 2011.

The airport formerly known as the Seeb International Airport handles 4.5 million passengers a year but will have a capacity for 12 million passengers once the work is completed. Additional phases could raise the capacity to 48 million passengers a year.

Foreign firms eye $200 mln Oman airport project

The firms bidding for new airport in Oman include India's Larsen & Toubro, South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries and Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction, an official said on Wednesday.

The tender board official said other companies bidding for the Duqm airport project, which is expected to be worth up to $200 million, include France's Thales , India's Dodsal, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Co and Turkey's Makyol.

"We received the bids for the approximately $200 million dollar contract for the Duqm airport for the construction of the airfield and infrastructural projects," the official told Reuters.

Last month Economy Minister Ahmed Mekki told Reuters that the Gulf Arab state was going ahead with a $1.8 billion port project at Duqm as part of its development plan despite the global downturn and expected lower oil income.

Duqm, which will be the site of Oman's second international airport, is also earmarked for other major projects, including a refinery, a shipyard and tourism resorts.

Oman plans to diversify its economy away from oil income dependency, which makes up about 75 percent of state revenue, and is pursuing a number of large-scale infrastructure projects.

Source: in.reuters.com