Oman’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has received nine bids for a contract to build new offices at Alkuwair, near Muscat.

The ministry received bids from nine groups, eight of which were local, for the contract to build new offices for its new Gulf Consulting Commission on 1 March.

The local Al-Nadha al-Omaniah Company submitted the lowest price for the contract, OR4m ($10.4m), which is 4.8 per cent lower than UAE-based Al-Rawaj International Trading & Contracting Company’s offer of OR4.2m.

The other bidders, all local, include Dawood Trading & Contracting group, Arabian Supplies & Contracting, Hasan bin Juma bin Backer Trading & Contracting, Al-Dhaleez International, and the Al-Rawahi International Company.

The contract is expected to be awarded by the end of April, according to a contractor involved in the bidding process.