The world's top three builders plan to bid for the $750 million high-profile contract to build the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, as the emirate gears up to become a cultural centre of the Middle East, a UAE daily reported. Citing senior officials, the newspaper said on Friday that Balfour Beatty of Britain, Murray and Roberts of South Africa and Leighton of Australia could face competition from local rivals including Dubai-based Arabtec and National Projects and Construction (NPC) of Abu Dhabi. The Guggenheim is being developed by the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) as part of the cultural district on its Saadiyat Island development. The tourism body on Thursday invited international firms with annual sales of more than $1 billion to pre-qualify for the project being designed by architect Frank Gehry. Grahame McCaig, general manager of Dutco Balfour Beatty, the local unit of Britain's biggest builder, told the newspaper that the museum's unusual design could be challenging to build. “Therefore, it would be advantageous for us to hook up with one of the larger subcontractors for some of the packages,” he said. Abu Dhabi is investing billions to develop cultural attractions with projects including the Louvre Abu Dhabi to boost its tourism appeal as it seeks to diversify its economy. Tom Barry, the chief executive of Arabtec Construction, the UAE's largest construction firm, said the company has “had some discussions” with the TDIC about the contract to build the Louvre, also part of the cultural village. Arabtec had submitted a bid in May. The shortlist for the Louvre contract is expected to be finalised shortly. TDIC has invited building firms to submit pre-qualification documents for the Guggenheim by Oct. 15. Contractors will go through a pre-qualification process before a shortlist is drawn up.
