Wednesday 14 / May / 2025
Muscat: Khazaen Economic City (KEC), the master developer of the first integrated economic city in northern Oman, has appointed Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, as a lead consultant for Khazaen’s master planning, design and supervision work, for OMR2.6 million.
“We are delighted to appoint Atkins as the lead consultant for Khazaen. This is a demonstration of our approach of entering partnerships with global firms with a proven track record in delivering truly outstanding projects and also implementing true in country value," Eng. Kalat G. Al Bulooshi, Chairman of KEC said.
"Today’s award of the contracts comes after months of in-depth evaluation and discussions with each of the shortlisted firms. Atkins will lead the concept master plan and detailed master plan work for the project, which is expected to take around six months to complete,” he added.
Atkins’ scope of work includes full consultancy services for the integrated urban planning of the city covering 51.5 million square metres, detailed master plan, environmental assessment, sustainability assessment, engineering designs for infrastructures and utilities, preparation and evaluation of construction tenders for various infrastructure work of the city. The scope of work also includes supervising the implementation of the first phase of the infrastructure of Khazaen.
Al Bulooshi added that the contract is for five years, and can be extended for two additional years upon mutual agreement. The priority will be on completing the engineering and design work of about five million square metres area related to the first phase of the logistics & industrial area, the dry port, the truck terminal project, the central fruit and vegetables market and the central auto market in addition to the head office of Khazaen.
“It is a fantastic for us to be retained to assist Khazaen Economic City. This is an exciting time to be part of the realisation of such an important project in Oman’s economic expansion, and we are looking forward to bringing our projects expertise to this development,” Marco Malpiedi, Atkins’ managing director for Oman, said.
Atkins has expertise in delivering master plans and site designs for a range of major industrial facilities across the region, including Duqm City for Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (Sezad) in Oman.
In March 2018, Oman Investment Corporation (OIC) and the Saudi-based Mohammed Ali Al Swailem Group (Masco) signed the shareholders' agreement to set up KEC as a joint venture for the master development of Khazaen. OIC owns the majority stake in the Omani-Saudi joint venture developing the new economic city in northern South Al Batinah governorate.
Khazaen is the first and only integrated economic city within 60km of Oman’s capital, and the second integrated economic city in the Sultanate of Oman after the Special Economic Zone in Duqm. KEC will offer attractive investment opportunities to develop and set up warehousing, logistics, light and medium industries, large showrooms and markets, hotel, residential and commercial projects, and will provide a significant boost to economic development and job creation in Oman.
KEC is a unique integrated city to be developed over an area of 51.5 million square metres located in Barka, Oman. It will include an inland dry port, logistics facilities, various types of warehouses, truck depots, a free zone with tax benefits, commercial and industrial zones, fruits and vegetable markets, automotive markets, residential/mixed-use areas, recreational and retails areas with world-class infrastructure and outstanding facilities and services. Khazaen will be developed in several phases to become an integrated city, located strategically between Oman’s capital and Sohar free zone.
The city is only 45 minutes away from Muscat International Airport and a 2 hours’ drive away from the Port of Sohar and will have a direct connection to the future railway, making it ideal for multi-modal transportation and integrated city. The city has excellent direct access to major roadways in the North (Batinah Expressway) and the East (Barka-Nakhal Road). The Batinah Expressway connects the city to highways throughout Oman, to the UAE, as well as to Saudi Arabia.
