According to Reuters, Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, plans to offer the first tender for its railway and metro system in the next three months. Preliminary designs had already been prepared, said Abdullah al-Subaie, managing director of the Qatar Railways Company. Subaie said the total cost of the Qatar railway project will reach US$ 35.7 billion and that more than 1.2 million tonnes of iron would be required for the project. There will be a total of 100 stations in the project. He did not give details about the size of the contracts, but said they would include a tender for digging tunnels and setting up stations for the network. Subaie said work on the system would start with the metro and its first phase will be ready by 2021, one year before the soccer World Cup. The entire project would be completed by 2026. Qatar's copious natural gas reserves have turned it into an economic powerhouse and the world's richest country per-capita, and driven its bold ambitions. The tiny Gulf Arab state has allocated 40 percent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects. These include $11 billion on a new international airport, $5.5 billion on a deep-water seaport and $1 billion for a transport corridor in the capital, Doha. It will spend $20 billion on roads. The world's top liquefied natural gas exporter, spared by popular unrest sweeping the Arab world, plans to spend over $125 billion in the next five years on construction and energy projects. Subaie said he urged Qatari companies to build partnerships with international firms to work on the construction of the project.

According to Al Wasat newspaper of Bahrain, construction work of the causeway is expected to start before the end of 2011 and conclude in 2015. The total cost of Qatar-Bahrain Causeway, one of the longest bridges in the world, is likely to be in the tune of $5bn, which will be the largest amount of money spend on any causeway. Construction plans were delayed many times for new designs and amendments were introduced to the project. The causeway starts from Askar village located in the eastern side of Bahrain Island to Ras Ishairij in Qatar. The total cost is between $ 4,5-5,0bn and expected to rise to $5,5bn to meet the cost of new designs, construction materials and other development projects. Qatar-Bahrain causeway is of 40km length including four vehicle lanes and two railways. Consortium of Al Diyar Real Estate Company, Vinci Grand Projects, French Contracting Company, German Hochtief Company, Consolidated Contractors International Company in Greece and Middle East Dredging Company, will be in charge of construction work, the daily said. The causeway construction will help achieve economic integration and sustainable development between the two states. More investments from Qatar in terms of real estate and stock market will be attracted to revive business and development of eastern and south-east areas in Bahrain.