Doha: Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC) and Qatar Fuel Additives Company (Qafac) have signed a contract worth QR6m.Under the contract GWC is to provide Qafac with storage of chemicals and ordinary goods. According to a statement reported on the Qatar Exchange website yesterday, the term of the call-off contract will be three years, and stipulates that GWC is to workout terms for Qafac’s data storage and records management services.
Drake wins $113m Louvre contract
DUBAI: Dubai contractor Drake and Scull International has won a DH415m ($112.99m) contract from the main developers assigned to build a branch of France’s Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi. Drake said yesterday that the mechanics, engineering and plumbing contract was awarded by a joint venture led by Dubai-based Arabtec Holdings. Abu Dhabi plans three museums near its downtown area as part of a drive to develop itself as a top tourism destination and diversify its economy beyond oil. The other two museums are a branch of the Guggenheim of the United States, and the Zayed National Museum. The plan for the Abu Dhabi Louvre calls for “a complex of pavilions, plazas, alleyways and canals, evoking the image of a city floating on the sea”. Hovering over the complex will be a 180-metre dome inspired by traditional Arabic architecture.
Egypt’s pound firms up marginally
CAIRO: Egypt’s pound strengthened marginally yesterday on both the official and black markets. Black market dealers were offering to buy dollars for about 7.14 Egyptian pounds and sell them for 7.16 pounds, compared with rates of 7.14 and 7.18 pounds on Thursday, one currency trader said. The central bank meanwhile sold $38m at a currency sale yesterday with a cut-off price of 6.9752 Egyptian pounds per dollar versus 6.9757 pounds at its sale on Thursday, the bank said. The bank had offered $40m. The pound weakened on the black market early this year as far as 8.05 per dollar after foreign reserves were drained by a plunge in foreign investment and tourism.
UK manufacturing activity jumps
LONDON: Britain’s economic recovery got another boost yesterday when a survey showed manufacturing grew much faster than expected, adding to a run of data that questions the Bank of England’s cautious outlook on growth. The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) jumped to 57.2 last month from 54.8 in July, its fifth straight month of expansion and a two-and-a-half-year high. Sterling hit a two-month high against the euro while British government bond yields soared to two-year highs.
Agencies
