PTB signs contract for Kuwait railway project

Kuwait\'s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) signed Wednesday evening a contract involving KD 2.49 million (some USD 6.40 million) with a global consortium to provide consultancy services to Kuwait Railroad Project for 16 months. The project is part of the planned Gulf railway network aiming to kink the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states together, PTB Chairman Adel Al-Romi told reporters after the signing ceremony. \"The network will subsequently link the GCC members to Yemen in the south and to Europe in the north,\" he noted. \"The private sector in Kuwait will play a major role in the development of the project as part of its active participation in the mega infrastructure projects. A shareholding company will be established with the private sector being a strategic investor in the project with costs more than KD 250 million, \" Al-Romi revealed. The consortium, including Booz Company, a global consulting firm, will work out a detailed study on linking Kuwaiti harbors to Kuwait International Airport through the railway with a view to realizing the economic development plan and revitalizing the trade exchanges with the countries of the region, he added. Established under Decree No. 146 of 2008, the PTB considers governmental projects and unsolicited proposals forwarded by the Higher Committee to identify potential developmental projects that can be implemented by establishing a partnership between both the relevant public entity and interested parties from the private sector in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 7 of 2008 to regulating all Public Private Partnerships (PPP) projects in the State of Kuwait