A general view of the exterior of the Hamad International Airport. The projects planned and under way are more about meeting the Qatar National Vision 2030 than hosting FIFA 2022 World Cup, according to Meed Projects.

Driven by FIFA 2022 and Qatar National Vision 2030, the country’s “active projects market” has been estimated at $285bn, according to Meed Projects.

The regional projects tracker said for Qatar’s project market, the outlook from now to 2020 is extremely strong.

“Although much of this has been attributed to its successful bid to stage the FIFA 2022 football World Cup, the reality is that the projects planned and under way are more about meeting the country’s National Vision 2030 than hosting the international sporting event,” Meed Projects said.

Significant investments have gone into Qatar’s transportation and shipping infrastructure, including the construction of the Hamad International Airport, the New Doha Port and several megacities such as Lusail and Msheireb.

Additionally, the railway network project, estimated at $35bn, entails plans to extend shipping railways by 325km, and to connect Qatar’s rail networks to those of the other Gulf countries.

Currently, Meed said, some $2.7tn worth of projects are planned or underway in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, laying the foundations for the long-term, sustainable development of the region that will support the ambitions of the GCC’s future generations.

Meed aims to support these ambitions by recognising the best achievements of the region’s projects industry through its annual “Meed Quality Awards for Projects” run in association with Mashreq. “The hunt is on to find the Gulf region’s project of the year,” Meed said.

Now in its fifth year, the Meed awards have established themselves as the “leading stamp of quality and achievement for companies operating in the GCC projects sector.”

Previous winners of the coveted Meed Quality Project of the Year include the Burj Khalifa (UAE, 2011), Pearl GTL project (Qatar, 2012), Concourse A – Dubai International Airport (UAE, 2013), and Bahrain Petroleum Company’s Install Refinery Wastewater Treatment Plant Project (Bahrain, 2014).

“The awards not only recognise the construction element of project delivery but also consider the value and quality of a project throughout its entire life cycle, from the design concept through to engineering and construction and its wider contribution to society and to the environment,” said Richard Thompson, Meed editorial director.

Central to the success of the awards has been the authority provided by the core values of integrity, trust and transparency associated with Meed, it said.

“The judging process evaluates and recognises the key organisations behind successful project completion across the GCC – including contractors, engineers, architects, consultants, developers and project owners. We are delighted to partner with Meed for the third year to recognise the highest quality projects in the region,” said Julio Armando de Quesada, group head, (corporate banking), Mashreq.

Qatar’s Baytna – the country’s first Passivhaus Project, jointly owned by Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), Barwa Real Estate Group (BRE) and Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp (Kahramaa), and nominated by ETA Star Engineering & Contracting, received the 2014 Award for Innovation.

The awards programme will recognise projects completed between January 2013 and December 2014 across several categories, including oil and gas project of the year, industrial project of the year, power and water project of the year, leisure and tourism project of the year, transport project of the year, social infrastructure project of the year, building project of the year, sustainable project of the year, award for innovation and small project of the year.

Meed Projects Website: http://www.meedprojects.com/