Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee (CTC) has approved the award of a KD304m ($1.1bn) contract to a joint venture of Arab Kuwait Contractors Company and Egypt’s Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company) to build the Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah hospital in Surra. It is one of the largest building projects in Kuwait.

CTC approval is the final step needed by the government before a formal contract award can be made.

The tenders committee received bids from four groups in July. The other bidders were the local Combined Group Contracting Company with Beijing-based China Railway Construction Group Company; the local United Gulf Construction Company with China Gezhouba Water & Power (Group) Company; and the local Al-Hani Construction & Trading Company with Turkey’s Metag Insaat Ticaret (MEED 15:7:09).

The ministry originally tendered the contract in 2008. The joint venture of South Korea’s Posco Engineering & Construction and the local Syed Hamid Behbehani & Sons submitted a low bid of KD319m. The ministry approved the venture’s bid in February. According to the ministry, a decision to retender the contract was made later on because construction costs had fallen significantly.