Finance & Funding

Kuwaiti construction firm Mudeer Contracting Company (Mudeer) is carrying out the five-year contract to operate and maintain a 25km causeway connecting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The US$44.8 million contract commences in October 2014. Mudeer’s contract also includes operating and maintaining the border control facilities between the countries. The King Fahd Causeway provides and important connection between the countries, carrying over 8 million vehicles in 2013.

In Poland the tendering process is underway for a new dual carriageway project. The project is for another stretch of the S3 dual carriageway, which will link the cities of Legnica with Bolkow. The 36km dual carriageway project will be divided into two sections and the work also includes the construction of service areas. The tenders have to be received by 19th September 2014. The dual carriageway will be of importance to Poland’s industrial output as Legnica is home to some of the country’s larger mining o

The Philippines is setting major targets for road development in coming years. A planned budget of US$2.59 billion has been set for infrastructure in the city of Luzon for 2015. And the Department of Public Works and Highways plans to pave some 32,227km of the country's national roads by 2016, with only 83% so far having been paved. Some 64.3% of the department's budget will be for repair and construction of highways. Other spending will be allocated for the development of 410km Mindanao road network, which

Plans are in hand in Macedonia for the new highway that will run from Bar to the Serbian border. The Macedonian Government recently held talks with Chinese construction company CRBC with regard to the project. The Chinese contractor is commencing construction once a loan from China’s Exim bank is fully secured. Meanwhile over the border in Serbia, the Ministry of Transport has said that 2014 will see some 60km of new major roads opening to traffic. In 2015 work on another 210km of roads will commence in the

The Cambodian Government is benefiting from several financial packages aimed at improving the country’s road network. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a financial support package worth a total of US$118 million that will be used for the Rural Roads Improvement Project II in the country. The package comprises funds from several sources, with a grant worth $5.4 million from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and another grant worth $6.67 million from the Australian Government of Australia. It incl

A series of major road projects in Guatemala now look set to go ahead. A US$340 million loan from the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) will most likely fund work to widen the 131km Mayuelas-Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla route to four lanes. A final decision on the financial package required for this project is due in September 2014. Meanwhile the tender process is opening for a 100km stretch of road running through El Rancho, San Agustin Acasaguastlan, El Progreso to Mayuelas, Gualan, Zacapa. Th

Plans are moving forward in Paraguay for several key projects. The Costanera II road project will be put out to tender at the end of 2014. The project is likely to cost in the region of $100 million. Also due to go out to tender is the project for a new bridge linking Paraguay with neighbouring Brazil, which is expected to cost some $172 million. And in a loan of $134 million will pay for improvements to the Pilar-Alberdi road, costing $120 million, and the Puente Remanso Castillo-Puerto Falcon road in Para

The project to construct a connecting road between the South Luzon and North Luzon expressways in the Philippines now looks set to be delayed. The US$409 million contract previously awarded to a joint venture comprising Philippine National Construction Corp (PNCC) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC), has been withdrawn for unspecified reasons. The country’s Department of Public Works and Highways says that the contract has been returned to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for new

In Sri Lanka work is planned for a major highway upgrade project. The work will see a 151.3km stretch of the A5 highway being widened and improved in a deal worth some US$140 million. The work is being planned by Sri Lanka’s Government and is for the stretch of A5 between Badulla and Chenkaladi. Improvement work on the Peradeniya-Badulla section of the A5 highway has now been completed and this latest project is the next phase of the A5 upgrade. The project is being partly financed by the OPEC Fund for Inte