Dubai World Trade Centre has awarded two contracts totalling more than AED1.2bn ($327m) for the construction of its Expo Village development next to the Expo 2020 site at Dubai South.

Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation has been awarded an estimated AED620m contract for parcels 10 and 11, and India’s Shapoorji Pallonji has been awarded the estimated AED650m contract for the construction of parcels 8 and 9.

The development involves the construction of mid-rise residential towers connected by three-storey podiums.

Parcels 10 and 11 had been awarded to the local HLG Contracting last year. The contract was later removed from the project.

Other work has been awarded at the Expo site this year. The UK’s Laing O’Rourke has been awarded two contracts totaling AED670m ($183m) for construction work on the Wasl Plaza and connecting access tunnel at the Dubai Expo 2020 site.

The Wasl Plaza contract involves building a concrete apron and two main buildings. The first is the Leadership Pavilion that will be used by dignitaries visiting the Expo site, while the other main building is the Media Pavilion. The buildings will be used as four star hotels after the Expo event has been held.

A steel structure that was awarded to the local/Italian Cimolai Rimond Middle East General Contracting will be built on top of the concrete apron.

The access tunnel is also known as the hammerhead road and provides vehicular access into the heart of the Expo site.