Big congratulations to our colleagues in the Middle East who prepared and won the bid of the Zayed City Schools project in Abu Dhabi and handed it over to the team currently executing it, because they were awarded the MENA Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year 2022 at the IJGlobal Awards last week!
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) awarded the public-private partnership project to a consortium led by BESIX and Plenary back in 2022. The contract covers the design, procurement, construction, financing, commissioning and 20-year operations and maintenance of three new school campuses with an aggregate capacity of 5,360 students in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed City. By combining our expertise as an industrial equity provider with our engineering, procurement, and construction skills, we can ensure the project is completed on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.
The IJGlobal Awards celebrate and recognise outstanding infrastructure projects of which the transaction was closed in the previous year. Projects are evaluated based on criteria such as innovation, execution, sustainability, financial structure and social impact. The Zayed City Schools PPP, which reached its financial close in July 2022, received the MENA Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year award for 2022.
“Winning an IJGlobal Award is a significant achievement, especially in the highly competitive and complex infrastructure market we find ourselves on today. As we celebrate this remarkable accomplishment together, and continue working on this ground-breaking project, join me in thanking all those involved for their dedication, determination, and enthusiasm, as well as their embrace of innovative ideas and pursuit of excellence, sustainability, and social responsibility.” – Nico De Koning, Head of PPP Tenders & Asset Management.
Construction on site has started during the third quarter of 2022 and will be completed in August 2024, with schools opening in September 2024.
On the picture, from left to right: Mohamed Badr El Din, Lennert Rasking, Nawara Msallati & Romain Kao