Private sector to bag 70% of Qatar World Cup projects

Qatar’s private sector is in line to be awarded 70 percent of all projects related to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the country’s Chamber of Commerce boss revealed.

In an interview with Arabian Business Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said preparations were underway to roll out several contracts that would give a huge boost to the banking, tourism and construction industries.

"It is expected in the framework of the size of the projects that will be implemented and the nature of where they project construction related to the construction sector and infrastructure projects, the Qatari private sector can acquires about 70 percent of these projects," he told the magazine.

The total cost of staging the event is estimated at US$70bn, with the key infrastructure to be built in several phases. Close to US$7bn of this is set to be spent on housing and education for the thousands of new workers expected to move to Qatar over the next ten years.

Some of the initial big projects include a new national rail system, a new metro in Doha, a deepwater port and a causeway connecting Qatar and Bahrain. There will also be 12 new football stadiums constructed.

Although he did not give specific numbers, an International Bank of Qatar report last year suggested around 90,000 hotel rooms will be needed by 2022, compared to 12,000 today.