The “flooding of the port basin” at the Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at the New Port Project in Mesaieed has set a milestone as it facilitates maritime industry activities at the zone.
The high-profile event at Mesaieed yesterday was attended among other dignitaries by HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti and HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani.
The Port Basin at the Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone has been established to the north of the Hamad Port as part of the Economic Zones Company (Manateq).
The Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone will be providing additional marine facilities to the Hamad Port.
The basin of that economic zone is 1.6km long, 500m wide and 10m deep, in addition to a 150m-wide entrance canal. The quay of the basin is around 4,000m long.
Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company and Boskalis Westminster Middle East Company started working on the project in the third quarter of 2013 at a cost of QR1.3bn.
“The flooding of the canal of the Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone is one very important stage on the project, which will contribute to facilitating maritime industry activities at that zone,” said HE al-Sulaiti, also the chairman of the Hamad Port Project Steering Committee.
“The wise leadership and comprehensive vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the close follow-up of HE the Premier and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani are the main reasons for delivering this project ahead of schedule, at a cost below the initial estimations,”  al-Sulaiti added.
The minister stressed that economic zone projects would contribute to ushering in new levels of economic diversification and boosting the growth of the private sector and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).