Four companies are competing to secure a lucrative contract for master planning and design work of Khazaen, a new 51km² city in northern Oman.
Master developer Khazaen Economic City (KEC) LLC said four consultants were still in the running to win its tendered contract.
Atkins, Parsons International, KEO International Consultants, and F&M Middle East Consulting Engineers make up the shortlist.
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KEC’s tendered contract includes integrated urban planning of the new city, Khazaen, as well as consultancy and engineering design for infrastructure and utilities, preparation of tenders, and analysis of construction proposals.
The winning company will also need to supervise Phase 1 of infrastructure development.Â
The contract will be awarded in June, according to the chairman of KEC, Kalat bin Gholoum al-Balush. He said the first priority would be completing engineering and design work for a dry port, Phase 1 of a logistics and industrial area, a fruit and vegetables market, as well building the Khazaen headquarters.
Khazaen will be in northern Al Batinah South Governorate, within 60km of Oman’s capital city, Muscat. It will not, however, but the first integrated economic city in the country, following the establishment of the Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZAD) in 2011.
The megaproject is being developed by a joint venture between Oman Investment Corporation (OIC) and Saudi Arabian contractor Mohammed Ali Al Swailem Group who set up KEC as the master developer of Khazaen.
OIC owns a majority stage in the Omani-Saudi venture.
