June 11, 2014          
 
Singapore, Oman US$120 million aquaculture joint venture seeks Chinese contractor

The Omani and Singaporean partners behind a US$120 million project to build an integrated aquaculture farm and township in Oman have chosen China Wuyi Company as contractor for the project.

The 500-hectare project, to be located in Qurun, is owned by Arabian Marine Development Llc, a joint venture between Arabian Marine Development, Bank Sohar and Singapore's Lim Shrimp Organization.

Lim Shrimp is also the manager and operator of the project, dubbed Qurun Aquapolis.

China Wuyi is listed on China's Shenzhen stock exchange. The contract, signed on April 27, represents a value of US$69.45 million, said the company.

Under the agreement, China Wuyi will build the ponds, irrigation system, staff housing, administration buildings, processing plant, cold storage, feed mills, hatchery, pumping station, executive housing, farm stores, warehouse, social facilities, sporting facilities, landscape, guard house, waste water treatment, and other amenities.

The project has a timeline of 21 months, including three for mobilisation, and 18 for construction.

High tech aquaculture technology used by the farm will be transferred to the Omani market within five years.

The farm expects to produce about 4,000 tonnes of shrimp and 2,000 tonnes of sea cucumber annually, which will be processed and exported to the Gulf States, the European Union and Japan.