Qatar’s decision to set up a Central Planning Office (CPO) for its World Cup infrastructure programme is an important step in ensuring that it is able to build all that is required to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

The CPO will report to Qatar’s municipality and urban planning minister and will play a key role in co-ordinating all of the major construction work planned in the country.

With more than $60bn-worth of construction projects planned over the next decade, it is important that Doha creates a responsive and accountable planning committee that is able to effectively co-ordinate the required infrastructure projects. The vast size and complexity of the construction programme means thorough planning is paramount.

Doha has also been busy appointing consultants and project managers for some of the major components of the planned infrastructure. The UK’s Turner & Townsend, for example, has been awarded the project management consultancy contracts for the Doha metro project and the high-speed passenger line for Qatar’s national rail network.

Together, these moves will please the region’s construction sector. After an initial period of optimism when Qatar won the right to host the event in December 2010, contractors have been left disappointed this year as the construction market remained flat. The imminent creation of the CPO means that the first batch of projects is fast approaching.