Gulf News reported that Abu Dhabi Ports Company had appointed National Bank of Abu Dhabi as its financial adviser following a tender involving several global institutions.

ADPC said in a statement that "NBAD will support ADPC to structure and execute its long term financial strategy as it seeks to deliver the landmark Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone project.

It said that funding is likely to come from a range of sources and may include bilateral and syndicated bank debt, export credit agency finance, Islamic funding and debt capital markets.

Mr Michael Vertigans VP for corporate communications at ADPC said that their contract with NBAD is an ongoing contract. He declined to provide any financial details associated with the contract, citing commercial the sensitivity of such information.

Mr Vertigans also couldn't immediately provide information on how many global institutions had bid for the ADPC financial advisor's role.

KPIZ will begin operations in 2012 and over the long term to 2030 it will comprise 420 square kilometers of prime industrial land organized into vertically integrated clusters for aluminium, petrochemicals, glass, paper and other major sectors.

It will consist of a new, world class multi purpose offshore port and one of the largest integrated industrial zones in the world. Phase 1 of Khalifa Port will open in 2012 replacing Abu Dhabi's existing main port of Mina Zayed.

The new port will have an initial capacity of 2 million TEUs and 9 million tonnes of general cargo. The dedicated EMAL berth will be operational later this year. When all phases are completed, it will have a capacity of 15 million TEUs and 35 million tonnes of general cargo.

(Sourced from Gulf News)