Qatar plans to treat new Doha port as free trade zone

Qatar plans to treat new Doha port as free trade zone
20 December 2004


Chairman of Customs and Ports General Authority Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, announced Qatar’s plans to build a free trade zone as a part of the new Doha Port. Al Sharq daily reported that that the proposed port is to be constructed over an area of 500 hectares, to be reclaimed from the sea and will be situated at four kilometres east of Doha International Airport. The port will be linked to the mainland via an 8.5km long bridge. The entire of the new Doha port, as well as the airport area, is to be designated as a free trade zone. 

Qatar National Cement Company gets USD 120mn loan. Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) last week signed an agreement on a line of credit worth USD 120mn from a consortium of banks. The consortium comprises of Commercialbank, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Gulf International Bank. QNCC’s Chairman and Managing Salem Butti Al-Noeimi, signed the agreement with representatives of the four banks. Each of the bank lent USD 30mn to QNCC. Al-Noeimi said that funds are to be used for part financing of QNCC’s expansion plans. QNCC operates two cement production lines located in the Umm Bab area having an aggregate annual production capacity of over 1mn tonnes. The proposed expansion will add a third production line, increasing the total capacity to over 2.25Mt. QNCC has already appointed a French firm FCB Ciment, to erect the third line at a cost of USD 160mn. The entire cost of the expansion is estimated at USD 240mn. The economic expansion and the construction boom in the country have led to sever shortage of cement in the country. 

Published under Cement News