OCI unit seals $400mn RTA deal

DEAL SEALED: Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) confirmed today that Besix, which is 50%-owned by OCI, has been awarded a $400 million contract to design and build the Al Safooh Transit System in Dubai. (Getty Images)

Cairo-based Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) confirmed today that Besix, which is 50 percent-owned by OCI, has been awarded a $400 million contract to design and build the Al Safooh Transit System in Dubai, in consortium with Alstom.

Besix’s share of the contract is approximately $175 millon.

The contract value represents phase one of the $1.2 billion transit system project from the Dubai government's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA).

Phase one of the project will span 10km with 13 stops and 11 Citadis - a low-floor tram built by Alstom in several European cities - and a total of 402 trams.

The project is expected to enter in to commercial service in 2011 and Dubai will be the first city in the Gulf region to be equipped with a tramway transit system.

Besix, the largest construction company in Belgium, also expects to pursue additional work on phase two which consists of a planned 4km extension with six more stations and 14 additional trams.

Upon completion, the transit system will link Madinat Jumeirah, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence.

OCI was established in 1950 and is now has over 40,000 employees active in more than 20 countries. It is the first multinational Egyptian corporation, and is one of the core Orascom Group companies.

As a contractor it provides engineering procurement and construction services on large, complex and demanding industrial, commercial, water/sewage, transportation, telecommunications, maritime, tourism and railway projects for private and public customers principally in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

OCI also owns and operates National Steel Fabrication Company, the Middle East's largest manufacturer of fabricated steel products. OCI also has investments in manufacturers of glass curtain walling, paints and concrete pipes, and two facility management companies.

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