Event to be Held at Ritz Carlton DIFC

Dubai-UAE: 17 March, 2011 - MEED, the Middle East's premier business intelligence provider, today announced the presentation ceremony for the first MEED Quality Awards for Projects, an independently-judged excellence recognition competition for projects completed in the GCC, will be held in Dubai.

To be held on 22 March at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the event will witness the crowning of winners from the GCC countries. Key government officials and representatives from leading private sector enterprises in the region will attend the gala ceremony.

Projects nominated for MEED Quality Awards are required to demonstrate excellence in economic and social master-planning, architecture and design, as well as engineering, construction and sustainability. This year, the 'Building Project of the Year' category and the 'Transport Project' are sponsored by Technical Middle East and Cadillac respectively.

Edmund O'Sullivan, Chairman, MEED Quality Awards for Projects, said: "We are looking forward to meeting with all the winners, in addition to the elite judges panel and our partners during the event at the Ritz-Carlton DIFC. We truly believe the 32 winning projects across the GCC represent outstanding achievements worth celebrating and reflect the region's extent of professionalism and industry maturity."

Winners of the national awards have been recommended by members of the MEED Quality Awards Projects judging panel. The judges are independent professionals representing each GCC state.

For more details on the MEED Quality Awards for Projects, please visit www.meedawards.com.

Background information
The 32 winning projects across the GCC which have qualified for the MEED Quality Awards for Projects:

Oil & Gas (4 winners)

  • Bapco refinery gas desulphurisation project

  • Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) facility upgrade and relocation of underground pipelines

  • Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) Burhan West and Harmal fields pipeline project

  • Mobile production unit for offshore oilfields for Talisman Energy, Norge AS and built in Abu Dhabi

Industry (1 winner)

  • Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) line 1-3 cranes, rails and power conductors replacement project

Power and water desalination (3 winners)

  • Mesaieed Power Company 2,000MW Mesaieed A independent power plant (IPP)

  • Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) power supply grid for high-rise towers in the West Bay of Doha

  • Meydan City Corporation substations at the Nad Al Sheba race track in Dubai

Water and water reuse (3 winners)

  • Public Authority for Electricity & Water Al Ghubrah 5 million gallon-a-day (g/d) mobile water treatment plant in Oman

  • Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu seawater cooling pump station in Jubail

  • Dubai Municipality Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant

Sustainability (2 winners)

  • Environmentally-friendly labour camp in Dubai for Waagner Biro

  • Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) carbon dioxide recovery plant in the Hidd, Bahrain

Transport (4 winners)

  • General Organisation for Sea Ports Khalifa Bin Salman Port & Industrial Area at the Hidd, Bahrain

  • The Directorate General of Civil Aviation for Kuwait Shaikh Saad General Aviation Terminal, Kuwait

  • Road & Transport Authority (RTA) Dubai Metro Red Line, Dubai (joint winner UAE)

  • RTA Garhoud bridge, Dubai (joint winner UAE) 

Leisure & Tourism (5 winners)

  • Ministry of Public Works Kuwait National Library

  • Omran Al-Musannah Sports City for the Asian Beach Games site, Oman

  • Touristic Investment Company Grand Hyatt Resort in Doha

  • Aldar Properties Ferrari Experience, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi (joint winner, UAE)

  • Tourism Development Investment Company (TDIC) Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort & Spa, Liwa, Abu Dhabi (joint winner, UAE) 

Social (4 winners)

  • Ministry of Public Works Kuwait National Library

  • American School of Doha expansion programme

  • Technical & Vocational Training Corporation Technical College at Medina

  • EHL Management services City Hospital, Dubai 

Buildings and mixed developments (6 winners)

  • Commercial Real Estate Company Al Tijaria Tower, Kuwait

  • BankMuscat corporate headquarters building, Muscat

  • Qatar Foundation's Qatar Science & Technology Park, Doha

  • Technical & Vocational Training Corporation's Technical College at Medina

  • Emaar Properties Burj Khalifa, Downtown Dubai (joint UAE winner)

  • Emaar Properties The Address, Downtown, Dubai (joint UAE winner)

The judging panel

The judges for the MEED Quality Awards for Projects are:

Bahrain: Abdul Majeed Al-Gassab, President of the Bahrain Society of Engineers
Kuwait: Dr Matar-Ali Almutairi, Kuwait University, Kuwait Society of Engineers
Oman: Sulaiman Al-Hudhaili, Secretary General of the Oman Society of Engineers
Qatar: Ahmad Jassim Al-Jolo, Chairman of the Qatar Society of Engineers
Saudi Arabia: Ghazi Alahmadi, Secretary General of the Saudi Council of Engineers
UAE: Rashad Bukhash, Director of the Architectural Heritage Department at Dubai Municipality, representing the Society of Engineers (UAE)

-Ends- 

About MEED:
For over 50 years, business leaders have been relying on MEED to give them a wealth of factual, unbiased business information that they need to be successful. The MEED brand represents an unrivalled portfolio of high calibre business information products, online services and premier networking events.

For further information, please contact:
Edmund O'Sullivan
Chairman,
MEED Quality Awards for Projects
Tel: 00 97150 559 2217.
Email: edmund.osullivan@meed-dubai.com

Mathilda Saad
JiWin Public Relations,
An APCO Worldwide Company
Tel: +9714 361 3879 (direct)
+97150 699 9890
Fax: +9714 388 8001
Email: mathilda.saad@jiwin.ae  

Rishi Talwalker
JiWin Public Relations,
An APCO Worldwide Company
Tel: +9714 361 3572 (direct)
+97150 911 0865
Fax: +9714 388 8001
Email: rishi.talwalker@jiwin.ae

© Press Release 2011