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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) has partnered with German consulting firm Glassglobal to study the feasibility of setting up a plant to manufacture glass containers in Qatar.
A first-of-its-kind in Qatar, the project aims to produce glass bottles and various containers used in the packaging of food products like oils, pickles, jams, honey and beverages like drinking water, soft drinks, juices and dairy.
According to an agreement signed between the two countries on the sidelines of the Qatar-German Business and Investment Forum in Berlin, the design capacity of the project is 200 tonnes per day and is expected to cost about QR230 million.
The project will utilise local sand as the main raw material and will need natural gas to melt sand and other raw materials.
Glassglobal, a consulting firm specialised in providing technical and advisory services to the glass industry worldwide, has already cooperated with QIMC in a number of studies and consulting services to evaluate both the glass containers and the float glass projects.
Signed by Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company CEO Abdul Rahman Abdullah al Ansari and Glassglobal CEO Andre Ommer, the agreement aims to establish a general framework for technical cooperation between the two companies to complete the evaluation of the feasibility of a project to produce glass containers in Qatar and to provide technical advice to the project through reviewing and evaluating the technical offers from the equipment suppliers and then participate in supervising the implementation of the project though out commissioning and start-up.
The project has already obtained preliminary approvals and necessary official licenses and currently work is being done to obtain the final approvals required for its implementation.
The project is the result of cooperation between QIMC and the Gulf Glass Factory, which includes number of Qatari and foreign investors and businessmen.
"This project is important and contributes to the development of the national economy and diversification of the industrial base in the country. It will meet the needs of the ongoing growth and development through the provision of glass containers to a number of downstream projects, especially food industries, in addition to supporting the national economy by exporting its products to the world markets. The project will provide jobs for 140 from various disciplines," QIMC has said in a statement.
