Transportation leaders to chart path for road building at the annual summit

Being held from 25-27 February at Grand Hyatt Doha, the event serves as a breeding ground for fresh ideas and new solutions to boost the movement of people, goods, and economies at a time when GCC road spending between 2011 and 2015 is at a record estimation of $58bn.

"Roads are the soul of urbanisation. This summit revisits that premise and encourages key industry leaders to engage in stimulating, knowledge-sharing discussions both on a strategic and technical level," said Ashley Phillips, Conference Director, IQPC, the organisers.

The three days of the summit feature in-depth technical presentations and unique case studies to review solutions to the current challenges the industry is facing, interactive panel discussions and one comprehensive workshop.

Some of the key speakers at the summit include Ademola Illori, Advisor to Traffic Department, Ministry of Interior, Qatar; Dr Maher Abouseif, Advisor to the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Bahrain; Dr Khaled Shaaban, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering, Qatar University; Abdul Ghaffar Chaudhry, Chief Engineer, Strategic Planning Department, Strategy and Corporate Governance, Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai; Akin Adamson, Director, TRL Middle East; Abraham Akkawi, Head of Infrastructure, Earnst & Young MENA, among many others.

Over the course of interactive sessions and panels, the participants will take away practical strategies on building partnerships for funding, planning and designing for seamless inter-modal transportation, alleviating traffic congestion, eliminating gridlock through effective travel demand management with particular focus on the GCC and Qatar.

Qatar's on-going major road projects include national highways (Salwa International) to expressways (Ras Laffan to Mesaieed), crossings (Doha Bay), interchanges (Al Khor) and freeways.

"This is an event especially curated for the transport authorities, developers, contractors, design consultants and solution providers to seize the seemingly ubiquitous opportunities that currently exist in the industry," said Ashley Phillips, Conference Director, IQPC, which is playing a lead role in bringing various industries in Qatar together through its events.

The third edition of the Annual Road Planning, Design and Construction Middle East enjoys the support of leading industry organisations, including: amv networks, AEC Illuminazione, Al Shulah Lighting (Associate Sponsor), RUUD Lighting (Innovative Lighting Sponsor), Binas Baya Energy (Lanyard Sponsor), Scandinavian Business Council Qatar and Italian Business Council Qatar,ISOCARP, ITS Arab (Endorsing supporters), Polaris, Trading and Contracting, Moonlight Turkey, Mitas Pole Industries, BBE LED, Al-Hodaifi Recycling and Huesker (Exhibitors).