Muscat: As a follow-up for the establishment of the Khazaen Economic City and the relocation of the Central Fruits & Vegetables Market to Khazaen being finalised, another contract was signed today to include an appropriate consultancy contract for detailed works of the newly relocated market.

The contract was awarded to F&M Middle East Company, a leading international consulting firm in the field of civil and architectural design and project management. The contract was signed by Eng. Salim Suleiman al-Thuhli – the CEO of Khazaen Economic City, and Eng. Hazim Abdulkareem – the General Manager of F&M Middle East Company.

The first phase of the works includes preparation of detailed designs for the infrastructure such as roads, water networks, sewage networks, lighting, protection systems and engineering design for all supporting facilities meant for the newly relocated market. These designs include cold and dry stores, main wholesales halls, truck sales area, shaded areas for sorting and sale of onions and potatoes, agricultural inspection areas, office spaces for operating companies, forklifts servicing, electrical charging stations, vegetables and fruit sorting yards, customs inspection for vegetables and fruits, laboratory for testing agricultural samples under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and multiple gates for entry of trucks.

Speaking on the occasion, Al-Thuhli commented, “We are glad to sign this milestone agreement which will pave the way for shifting the wholesale activities from the existing Mawaleh Central Fruits and Vegetable Market to Khazaen. In addition, the new market will provide the requirements for existing traders and local farmers with various outlets and state-of-the-art supporting facilities.”

Additionally, Abdulkareem echoed Al-Thuhli’s sentiments by stating, ““We truly thank Khazaen Economic City for the trust and we are glad to be part of this large national project. This agreement was preceded by F&M implementation of the overall concept master planning for Khazaen Central Fruits Vegetables Market. We are now heading forward with Khazaen along with their key stakeholders to work on designing this masterpiece according to the international standards and regional benchmark. The objective is to make sure we are delivering a modern market that will accommodate the existing demands and the expected future growth given the modular and flexible design approach of its master plan.”