The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) announced today the signing of main sponsorship contracts for the 18th Gulf Engineering Forum which will be hosted by Doha for the second time from first to the third of March 2015, under the slogan "Basic Infrastructure projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council".
The forum will be organized by Qatar Society of Engineers (QSE) in cooperation with Ashghal.
The press conference was attended by Engineer Nasser bin Ali Al Mawlawi, Ashghal President and Chairman of the forum, and Ahmad Jolo, President of Qatar Society of Engineers and Vice President of the Forum, in addition to a number of the society's board members and representatives from the companies sponsoring the forum.
The conference included the announcement of additional details about the forum and the accompanying exhibition's program, in addition to highlighting the sponsorship categories and benefits.
The sponsorship contracts announced during the press conference demonstrated a high level of participation and interaction from prominent local contracting and construction companies; namely, the participation of 'Bin Omran Trading and Contracting' and 'Boom Construction' as platinum sponsors, 'Qatar Building Company' as a golden sponsor, 'Qatar Rail' as a silver sponsor, and 'Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company', 'Qatari Diar' and 'Amana Qatar Contracting' as a bronze sponsors.
Additionally, a number of companies contributed as co-sponsors; namely, Midmac Contracting, Rasgas, Bojamhoor Trading and Contracting, Qatar Cool, Marbu Contracting, UrbaCon Trading and Contracting, and last but not least 'United Construction Establishment' contributed as a associate sponsor.
On this occasion, Ashghal President stressed the importance of the forum and the critical significance of its timing as it coincides with the time period in which the country is witnessing rapid growth in infrastructure and transportation projects; consequently enhancing Qatar's Achievements in this field both regionally and internationally and attracting major regional and international companies.
The President went on to add that "the timing of the 18th Gulf Engineering Forum, which coincides with the massive boom in the construction and development of sustainable infrastructure projects in Qatar and the Gulf countries gives this forum an added value which will yield significant benefits, notably the skills, experiences, and ideas brought forward by the participants. Moreover, the participants will in turn benefit from Qatar's leading experience and vision through which it aims to achieve, in a record time, a real boom in construction and a radical development in its infrastructure.
 In a related context, Eng. Ahmad Jolo, President of the Qatar Society of Engineers and Vice President of the Forum stated that the forum is a golden opportunity to exchange ideas and visions. He noted that the forum is expected to witness a large participation by leading companies, Gulf Engineering Societies and decision makers in the infrastructure and transportation field in the GCC. He also added that speakers from all participating countries will discuss 28 work papers.
The work papers discussed at the Forum address a number of important topics common to the GCC countries. Those topics are related to the infrastructure and the most important challenges faced by those countries as well as the major developments, projects, and achievements experienced by those countries in recent years. The main topics presented in the work papers are: early delivery of electricity and water, best practices in infrastructure management, global experience in providing human resources to engineering projects, technical and professional development for engineers.
It is worth noting that an initial press conference was held to announce that Doha will be hosting the 18th Gulf Engineering Forum. The conference discussed the Forum's main topics in addition to shedding the light on the engineering exhibition which will be held on the sidelines of the forum and will bring together various engineering companies and institutions sponsoring and participating in the event. These companies and institutions, each according to their specialty, will offer state of the art technology in transportation and infrastructure projects, in addition to providing appropriate solutions to the challenges and obstacles faced in implementing projects, and share their previous experience in the development of infrastructure.
During the Forum, an announcement will be made regarding the two prized of Gulf Engineering Union in excellence and innovation in its fourth session under the slogan "basic infrastructure projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council" in cooperation with the Gulf Engineering Union. The Price aims to highlight the GCC joint engineering work and achieve the goals of forums and raise the spirit of competition, innovation and excellence in various fields of engineering work.
QSE said that a special panel has been formed to review the two Gulf Engineering in Excellence and Innovation prizes. QSE also stated that the panel includes two of its members, the Secretary General of the Gulf Engineering Union, two assisting members from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in addition to an external panel member.
The engineering panel has screened the awards nominations, and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were amongst the nominated countries. The prize is awarded to legal personalities represented in the Gulf engineering institutions, and the prize will be granted to the best project designed by a legal personality in the engineering service sector, as long as the projects is already constructed or under construction or was approved for construction.
The GCC Engineering Forum is held annually in one of the GCC countries. Last year it was held in the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar has already hosted in 2008. The main topics of the forum this year focuses on a number of themes including; transportation, green specifications for infrastructure, providing raw materials for engineering projects, in addition to providing human resources for engineering projects and best practices in projects management.