The Pearl-Qatar awards Parsons International detailed engineering design contract

Notes and media contacts

ABOUT THE PEARL-QATAR
This US $2.5 billion offshore, Riviera-style man-made island, covering 400 hectares of reclaimed land, is Qatar's first international real estate venture, the largest real estate development in the country and the first to offer freehold and residential rights to international investors. It will create some 63 kilometres of new coastline.

The Pearl-Qatar's name and location, on a former pearl diving site, leverages the country's traditions, and strong historical and cultural ties to the sea - it is an island rediscovered.

The Pearl-Qatar will eventually house 30,000 residents in an up-scale, multi-cultural residential community which will be a secure and exclusive island retreat bringing the ambience and lifestyle of the Mediterranean to the heart of Arabia.

The four-phase development comprises 10 distinct districts to be developed over five years, with the first investors expected to take up residency in 2006. The Riviera Arabia themed districts will house three luxury hotels, four marinas, with combined mooring for over 700 boats, and 60,000 square metres of luxury retail and restaurant space.

The Pearl-Qatar is being built 350 metres offshore the West Bay Lagoon area of the country's capital, Doha. Whilst offering an exclusive retreat, the island will also be closely integrated with, and have easy access to, the capital's thriving community.

Dredging work for The Pearl-Qatar is currently underway; the project is due for total completion in 2009.

The Pearl-Qatar is being developed and promoted by United Development Company (UDC), Qatar's largest private sector shareholding company.

ABOUT UNITED DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (UDC)
The Pearl-Qatar's developer, UDC, is the country's largest private sector shareholding company with a mission to identify and invest in long-term projects that contribute to Qatar's growth and provide good shareholder value. The company was established in 1999, with an authorized share capital of QR 500 million (US $140 million), and listed on the Doha Securities Market in June 2003.

UDC's target areas of interest include: infrastructure, energy-intensive industries, hydrocarbons downstream, real estate, construction and environment-related businesses. UDC established the Qatar Dredging Company - a joint venture with the State of Qatar and Belgium's Dredging International - and formed Qatar Cool, a district cooling company, in association with Tabreed of the United Arab Emirates. UDC is also a partner in Al-Seif Company Ltd - a joint venture with Qatar Petroleum to develop a plant to produce linear alkyl benzene (LAB), which is the main feedstock for detergent manufacture. The plant will have a production capacity of 100,000 tons a year. UDC has also invested in the Al Khaleej Formaldehyde Company.

UDC's founders, who at launch held 45% of the shares, are among Qatar's most successful investors and developers. A large number of Qatari and GCC investors are shareholders in UDC.

ABOUT THE STATE OF QATAR
Centrally located in the Arabian Gulf, the peninsula state of Qatar, with 17.9 trillion cubic metres, has five per cent of the world's proven natural gas reserves. Qatar is the richest Arab nation with a per capita income of US $30,000 per annum.

Eighty per cent of the Qatari population, which is now approaching one million, is based in and around the capital, Doha.

Qatar has strong historical and cultural ties to the sea. Pearl fishing was the traditional mainstay of the economy until oil and gas took over around 50 years ago. Although pearling is no longer a key economic driver, it has left a legacy of skills, stories, music, art and poetry that is a source of identity and pride for Qataris today.

Qatar has growing inbound tourism ambitions with The Qatar Tourism Authority targeting tourism arrivals of 1.25 million in 2005 and Doha International Airport is undergoing huge expansion and new build to cope with anticipated increased passenger traffic. When completed in 2015, the new airport will be able to handle around 50 million passengers a year.

Central to the international promotion of Qatar is the country's flag carrier Qatar Airways - now one of the world's fastest-growing international airlines. Currently serving a growing route network throughout Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Sub-Continent and Asia, the airline plans to serve more than 60 destinations by 2005 and have a fleet of 52 Airbus aircraft by 2008.

Qatar, already host to annual ATP tennis tournaments and PGA golfing events, is fast making a name for itself on the international sporting arena and, in 2006, will host the Asian Games.

The Qatari government has a pro-business stance on foreign investment and is encouraging the growth of the country's private sector, stimulating progress with an active privatisation programme.

*Source: Ministry of Economy and Commerce, State of Qatar

For further information:
Barbara Saunders, The Pearl-Qatar.
Tel: +974 4463406
Mobile: +9714 50 6253327

Or Fouad Kassem, MCS/Action, Dubai Media City
Tel: +9714 390 2960
Fax: +9714 390 8161

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