Arab Contractors quits Egypt’s Airport City project bid

Egypt-based leading construction firm, Arab Contractors has decided to withdraw from a competition to implement infrastructure works on Egypt’s Airport City project, said its first vice chairman citing the failure to secure a banking finance.

Sayed Farouk told Amwal Al Ghad that Arab Contractors was in talks in the past few months with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s biggest state bank, to arrange a loan to fund the project, without disclosing the amount of required funds.

NBE was supposed to lead a banking consortium to secure the necessary finances for Arab Contractors in order to carry out the infrastructure works. However, the required funding was too large that led to freeze the loan talks, Farouk added.

On space of 10 million square metres, the Airport City project is set to be established around Cairo International Airport. Supported by the World Bank, the project is to entail nearly 4 square miles of touristic, trade, entertainment and medical facilities, all to be built to meet strict environmental standards, and is anticipated to create 30,000 direct jobs upon completion in 2020.

The Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN) has stipulated that the winner is required to carry out the utilising works on the project as well as to secure the necessary finance, which shall be paid over 8 years.

EHCAAN launched a tender for the implementation of infrastructure works of the Airport City Project using the EPC Finance system. It has determined a two-year schedule for the winner to finish utilisation and comprehensive infrastructure works.

Last September, Arab Contractors besides four other firms obtained the Terms of Reference (TOR) on the tender for executing project’s infrastructure that extends from Ring Road to Cairo Suez Desert Road.