The local First United General Trading & Contracting Company has submitted the low bid of KD74.5m ($267m) for the contract to build the new Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) tower in Kuwait City.

First United was the lowest bidder out of seven groups that submitted prices for the tender. The local contractor’s bid was marginally lower than the KD74.9m bid submitted by the joint venture of the local Mohammed Abdulmohsin al-Kharafi & Sons and China Railway 18^th Bureau Group.

The local Ahmadiah Contracting Company submitted the third lowest price of KD77.7m. This was followed by the KD81.3m bid submitted by a joint venture of the local Combined Group Contracting Company and the UAE’s Arabtec Construction.

The other bids submitted were:

• KD81.6m – Consortium of Al-Bahar Construction General Trading & Contracting Company (local)/ Rizzani De Eccher (Italy)/Six Construct (Belgium)
• KD84.5m- Consortium of Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company (local)/ Al-Habtoor Leighton (Australia/UAE)
• KD89m - Sayed Hamid Behbehani & Sons (local)

The proposed new headquarters building is a 220-metre-tall tower located in the centre of Kuwait City. It will include an auditorium and other public facilities in a six-storey podium. The structure will cover a total area of 130,000 square metres.

The building was designed by the local KEO International Consultants, which was awarded the design contract in 2007, fending off competition from five international design firms.

The KIA project is the second financial tower planned for construction in Kuwait City. The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is preparing to build a new 300-metre-tall headquarters building. The 70-storey tower will be located in the Sharq area of Kuwait city. The project is being developed by the National al-Shaab Real Estate Company.

The tower has been designed by the UK-based architecture firm Foster & Partners. Bahrain-based Projacs International has been appointed project manager and the local SSH International is providing consultancy services on the development. Piling work on the project began in December.