MEED reported that the Oman Tourism Development Company has formally broken ground on its convention and exhibition centre project on the outskirts of Muscat.

Mr Wael al Lawati CEO of Omran said that "We have completed many important stages of the design and planning work for the centre and we are delighted to have started work on site. We have been given an ambitious timeline to complete the first phase of the project but as we showed with the site for the Asian Beach Games, we can rise to the challenge."

The first package is for the construction of the 3,000 capacity convention centre, and the second is for a 25,000 square meter exhibition hall, car parking and energy centre. The third package is for the construction of a five star hotel and the fourth is for infrastructure work. This will include the construction of site roads and the provision of utilities.

Omran awarded the local Al Awazi International an OMR 2.7 million contract for the site preparation and enabling works package for the convention and exhibition centre project in October 2010.

Earlier in the year, UK based RMJM was awarded the main consultancy contract, which involves design and engineering work for the project. Canada's Hanscomb & Company saw off competition from eight other consultants to win the quantity surveying contract for the development.

(Sourced from www.meed.com)