DOHA: Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) has announced it signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GLASSGLOBAL, a German consulting firm specialised in providing technical and advisory services to the glass industry worldwide.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the just-concluded Qatar-Germany Business and Investment Forum held in Berlin, Germany.
Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company’s Chief Executive Officer Abdul Rahman Abdullah Al Ansari and GLASSGLOBAL’s Chief Executive Officer, Andre Ommer signed the MoU on behalf of the respective companies.
The agreement aims to establish a general framework for technical cooperation between the two companies to complete the evaluation of the feasibility of a project to produce glass containers in Qatar and to provide technical advice to the project through reviewing and evaluating the technical offers from the equipment suppliers and then participate in supervising the implementation of the project though out commissioning and start-up, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The project has already obtained preliminary approvals and necessary official licenses and currently work is being done to obtain the final approvals required for its implementation. The project is the result of cooperation between QIMC and the Gulf Glass Factory Co. which includes number of Qatari and foreign investors and businessmen.
The QIMC has already cooperated with GLASSGLOBAL in number of studies and consulting services to evaluate both the glass containers and the float glass projects. These services included studying the markets for these products and the possibilities of exporting to number of Arab countries, neighboring countries and other countries of the world. GLASSGLOBAL also provided other technical services including reviewing and evaluating technical offers from equipment suppliers. In addition, QIMC commissioned GLASSGLOBAL to perform the necessary technical analysis on samples of local sand to determine the possibility of using it to produce glass through specialized technical laboratories for this purpose. The results of these studies were positive and encouraging, which is expected to be reflected on the ground through number of projects in the near future.
The project aims to produce glass bottles and various containers used in the packaging of food products (oils, pickles, jams, honey) and beverages (drinking water, soft drinks, juices, dairy). The design capacity of the project is 200 tons per day and is expected to cost about QR230m. The project utilizes local sand as the main raw material and will need natural gas to melt sand and other raw materials.
This project is important and will serve the strategic vision of Qatar and contributes to the development of the national economy and diversification of the industrial base in the country.
The project is the first of its kind in Qatar and will meet the needs of the ongoing growth and development through the provision of glass containers to a number of downstream projects, especially food industries, in addition to supporting the national economy by exporting its products to the world markets.
