There will be further opportunities for UK firms to win work on the 420km2 Khalifa Port and industrial zone in Abu Dhabi, the company behind the project said this week.

Tony Douglas, the former Laing O’Rourke chief operating officer who is now chief executive of Abu Dhabi Ports Company, said: “We have let many of the big contracts but there are still many to go. And each of the port’s industrial clusters [hubs for industries including steel, glass and pharmaceuticals] will have a range of tenants looking to establish processing plants, which are huge projects in their own right.” Atkins, Halcrow and Scott Wilson are among the firms working on the scheme, which is two thirds of the size of Singapore. Phase one will open at the end of 2012.

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