The Highest Order

What are the responsibilities of Ashghal in advancing the country?

Ashghal was established as an autonomous body in 2004. It is responsible for delivering and managing infrastructure and public buildings of national importance in order to transform the country, drive socio-economic growth, and enhance Qatar’s position as a developing global destination. Aligned to the Qatar National Vision 2030, Ashghal’s 2011-2018 corporate strategy sets a clear vision and mission, and it aims to develop a more dynamic, responsive, and customer-centric organization. That strategy saw the appointment of consultants who have assisted in starting three key Ashghal programs: the Expressway Program, which will deliver more than 30 expressway projects; the Local Roads and Drainage Program, which will deliver more than 200 roads and infrastructure projects across Qatar in the next five to seven years, and the Inner Doha Re-Sewerage Implementation Strategy (IDRIS), which will upgrade and expand the sewerage infrastructure to accommodate the projected population growth in the south catchment area of Doha. These programs are well underway and making steady progress. Over the last year, the authority has been working to convert roundabouts to signal controlled intersections. In addition, various existing roads are being upgraded across the country to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.

Outside of infrastructure, what are some of the significant projects that Ashghal is currently working on?

Ashghal is not just involved in infrastructure projects of national importance. Its remit also includes a number of buildings projects that serve local communities. Ashghal has been working with the relevant Qatari authorities on significant building projects that include healthcare, educational, and general sector projects. Ashghal is currently constructing educational buildings distributed across the country’s various villages and suburbs. At the start of this academic year, Ashghal completed 13 schools and eight kindergartens in Doha and the surrounding areas. The authority is actively contributing to the development of the healthcare sector with more than seven healthcare centers under construction, in addition to Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City Hospitals Project, which is scheduled for completion in 2015. Back in 2013, we also announced some key projects for construction, including the final concept master plan for Qatar Zoo, which will position Qatar on the global stage.

Ashghal partners with world leading international firms for its projects here in Qatar. What are the requirements for a foreign company hoping to form a partnership?

“Qatar Deserves the Best” is the slogan that Ashghal has adopted as its mantra. The process of selecting contracting companies is done based on certain conditions and criteria that take into account important factors such as quality, safety, expertise, as well as capability and commitment to implementation within the set schedule. Ashghal operates an open and transparent compulsory competitive tendering process whereby tenders are advertised on its website and in relevant publications. With major projects, Ashghal also holds pre-tender briefings to ensure companies are aware of the tender requirements for each stage of the project. Based on the value and scale of the projects, our tendering process includes clear categories for eligibility of companies that can apply. Currently, there are four categories that include eligibility for Qatari companies only, for joint venture companies, non-Qatari companies, and international and local consultants. Ashghal’s requirements for companies to be eligible to tender are determined by value and a quality-based assessment system. We do, and will continue to encourage, all international, regional, and local firms to take part in our project bidding process and share their knowledge, expertise, and technical know-how in implementing some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the world.