A five-year project for French engineering group Alstom to build an above-ground urban metro line in Baghdad will cost US$1.5 billion and be funded by the French government and banks, Iraqi officials said.

Dubai has hired four local and international banks to raise US$800mn by securitising Salik road toll receipts and will use the proceeds to fund infrastructure projects according to a recent government statement.

The Salalah Bypass will be fully operational in 2011 after a year of construction work has taken place on the US$ 50.6mn high way development in Salalah.

Spanish Group Telvent won a contract from Saudi Oger to implement its traffic management solution on King Abdullah Road, the 6-km highway in Riyadh, reported Trade Arabia.

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) has confirmed today that Belgian company BESIX Group (50 per cent-owned by OCI) has been awarded a US$ 265mn contract to build the North Manama causeway in Bahrain in a joint venture with the Haji Hassan Group. BESIX Group’s share of the contract is approximately US$203mn or 78 per cent of the total contract value.