A collection of 119 multi-purpose commercial plots has been offered to investors by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce  (MEC) in the new logistic project areas in Al Wakrah, Birkat Al Awamer and Aba Seleel.
The MEC’s Technical Committee to Stimulate Private Sector Participation in Economic Development Projects announced in a statement yesterday that the parcels of land would be offered to investors to open showrooms, commercial shops, clinics, banks, restaurants, parking lots and similar facilities to develop various commercial sectors in these areas.
This is also part of the committee’s commitment to hand over plots in the three areas for investors to start the construction process, which was announced last week. Operations of the logistic projects are set to start in mid-2018.
The logistic projects, located in southern Qatar, are considered among the largest contributing to the country’s economic development.
They are strategically located within close proximity to Hamad Port, Mesaieed industrial area and the Orbital Expressway that will support the varied developments and businesses in the projects.
The parcels of land are distributed as follows: Wakrah 28 plots; Birkat Al Awamer 89 plots and two plots in Aba Saleel.
The committee pointed out that the commercial plots have several advantages, such as immediate handover of the land to start construction, comprehensive infrastructure, fixed rent rate of QR8.33 per sq m a month (with a 5% increase rate every three years), long-term lease contracts for up to 30 years and the rent to be paid every six months after the first year of land allocation and strategic location.
Specifying the steps and stages for applying to invest in this project, the committee said the first stage starts with submitting the request, accompanied by the commercial registration of the investor, a clear work plan for the project and land development, copies of the owners’ IDs and an approved  bank cheque as guarantee for the allocation sum depending on the category of the area.
Applications are sent online by filling in the information of the company and submitting an e-request at www.manateq.qa
The other steps include selecting the size of the land according to the designated categories, agreeing on the conditions of the lease and booking contract and uploading the required document in the proper way. When the process of application is accomplished successfully, the applicant will receive a confirmation message on his registered e-mail. However, such a message is no confirmation of approval of the application which is subject to the recommendation of  specialists who would evaluate the proposal.
The  bank guarantee has to be in the form of a cheque with the sum for land allocation issued in the name of Economic Zones Company (Manateq). The deadline for submitting the guarantee is 2pm on February 2, 2017. Failure to submit the cheque would lead to the cancellation of the application.
The second stage is the allocation process, where the applications will be reviewed to determine their eligibility and check their number against the available plots. Following this, applicants will be informed whether they have been selected for  a public draw that will be held to select the wining companies. There will be also an additional draw to select a spare applicant for each plot in case there are more applicants.
The winners will be announced through the Manateq website and the media.
The logistic projects have a total of 1,968 pieces of land in the three areas. They include 119 commercial plots for the service of the area in general and the workers there in particular. It is expected that the commercial areas would employ around 180,000 people, most of whom would be living there once the project is completed.

Related Story