CEO of Manateq, Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi.
The Economic Zones Company- Qatar (Manateq) is overwhelmed by the huge response it has received from the investors and businesses who have expressed interests to invest in its various projects, especially for the newly announced Birkat Al Awamer Logistics Park land plots, said a top official of the state-owned company, yesterday.
Manateq recently launched new plot leases in its Birkat Al Awamer Logistics Park, designed for investors. The 9.4 million sqm park - one of five logistics projects being developed by Manateq - is designed to appeal to companies wanting to build their own facilities through providing them comprehensive solutions that will allow them to build warehouses or workshops, commercial showrooms, offices, and staff accommodation all in one piece of land.
“We are really surprised and overwhelmed to see the number of applications that we have received from serious investors within three days of the opening. It is really a very good number which is expected to grow further as we are still open to ensure that all potential investors are able to submit their applications. We will give enough time before reviewing them to decide how it goes,” the CEO of Manateq, Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi, told The Peninsula in an exclusive interview.
Speaking to this newspaper by telephone, Al Kaabi, added: “Qatari economy is robust and has showed its resilience despite the challenging environment. This is reflected from the investors’ response and their confidence on the economy which is diversifying rapidly. Manateq will soon review the market capacity and gaps.”
He also said that Manateq has already leased out more than 3 million square metres (sqm) of space for open yards to a number of good investors. And if needed Manateq, which oversees the development of several logistics parks and industrial complexes, will open tender for the second phase of open yard based on market requirements.
Currently the economic zones developer is focusing on logistics such as Birkat Al Awamer (Sector 8), and once the land allocation is finalised, investors will be given sufficient time to finish the construction of warehouses to provide additional facilities to the market.
According to a latest tweet, the total number of investors in various projects of Manateq has increased to over 2,530 and still growing fast and steadily.
This reflects that Qatar has remained resilient and continued to be on the spotlight of investors.
Qatar has been one of the most attractive destinations in the region for the local and global investors as a result of various factors which include world-class infrastructure like airports and seaports, roads and highways, and easy access to finance, coupled with improvements in the ‘ease of doing business’ and business-friendly legislations.
“Most of the investors in Manateq projects are from the logistics and other services providers such as fabrication and others. In addition, we have GWC, one of the leading logistics services providers in the region, which is currently developing a big project spread over an area of about 1.5 million square metres. The work is going on in full swing, and most of the facilities in this project are in the finishing stages,” said Al Kaabi in his concluding remarks.
