More than 450 leading construction industry experts will be in Doha to attend the annual 'Qatar Projects 2012' conference which opens its doors on Sunday.

The event, to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, will see experts discuss construction and investment opportunities as Qatar prepares for the 2022 World Cup and beyond to fulfill its 2030 vision, said the organisers, Meed events.

Building on last year’s event, Qatar Projects 2012 has been expanded to include more client-led presentations and case study analysis, providing an in-depth look at the mega projects and investment and construction opportunities available, they said.

Increased focus on market research data with detailed sector profiles and forecasts providing invaluable future project information will add a new dimension to the debate with three days of interactive discussion, they added.

More than 55 speakers and over 450 local and international delegates will be attending the four-day conference which runs until February 8.

The event includes keynote speeches by Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, Abdulla Bin Saoud al-Thani, governor, Qatar Central Bank and Dr Khaled Alderbesti, director, Investment Promotion Department, Ministry of Business & Trade.

The first day of the conference kicks off with a one-day Sports Business Forum focusing on strategies and opportunities for developing the Gulf region’s fast growing sports business sector.

“Besides the massive financial outlay, hosting the region’s biggest ever sporting event comes with considerable civil engineering challenges, to upgrade transport and energy infrastructure,” said Edmund O’Sullivan, chairman, Meed Events.

“Qatar is not just planning for the one-million-or-more visitors in 2022, it is clearly focusing on the longer term Qatar Vision 2030,” he noted.

Some of Qatar’s most influential business leaders are being represented at this year’s Qatar Projects event, including Nasser Ali al-Mawlawi, president, Public Works Authority (Ashghal), George Nasra, managing director, IBQ, Remy Rowhani, director general, Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Mohamed Abdah, director of Transportation and Infrastructure Planning Department, Ministry of Municipality & Urban Planning, said O'Sullivan.

Separate conference streams will focus on energy projects covering petrochemicals, power and water, as well as road, rail, aviation, real estate and social infrastructure, he added.

The confirmed list of speakers includes Stephane Michel, managing director, Total EP Qatar; Monjid Abdelmajeed, managing director, Redco Construction – Almana; Jalal Yousef al-Salhi, director infrastructure affairs, Ashghal; Thomas Topolski, VP Transportation Middle East, AECOM; Ivan Bravo, director general, Aspire; Bernardo Gogna, SC director, New Doha International Airport; Abdulsattar al-Rashid, CEO Ras Abu Fontas, Qatar Electricity & Water Company; Geoff Mee, deputy CEO, Qatar Railways Company; Gerrit-Jan Smitskamp, VP Finance, Shell Qatar.

Qatar Projects 2012 is sponsored by International Bank of Qatar and Redco. The official conference partner is Qatar Petroleum and Qatari Diar supported by the Ministry of Business and Trade and Ashghal.-TradeArabia News Service