Abu Dhabi Ports Co., the state-run harbor operator, has hired banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC to work on plans for refinancing debt taken out to build the Khalifa Industrial Zone.
The company intends to change short-term loans into longer- term financial instruments once construction is completed, Executive Vice President Khaled Salmeen Al Kawari said today in an interview in Seoul, where he is attending a forum. First Gulf Bank is also among the international lenders working on funding facilities, he said.
Construction of the 26.4 billion dirhams ($7.2 billion) first phase of the Khalifa Industrial Zone is 75 percent complete and on target to open in the fourth quarter of 2012, Al Kawari said. The 417 square-kilometer (161 square mile) development, designed to become a hub for manufacturing, logistics and trade, will account for 15 percent of the emirate’s non-oil economy within 20 years, he said.
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