FCC, the citizen services company, is currently evaluating contract offers worth 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in Bahrain and Oman, said a report.

FCC's chief executive Juan Bejar made the announcement during his trip to Oman and Bahrain this week.

Meeting government officials and business leaders, he said that FCC wants to become a loyal partner in the development of infrastructure in these countries, utilising the company's experience in transport systems and water systems, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Through the offers in Bahrain and Oman, FCC is looking to strengthen its position in the Middle East, where it recently won a contract to build a section of the Doha metro red line in Qatar.

Last month, an FCC-led consortium also commenced work on the Riyadh metro where it is building lines 4, 5 and 6 of the 6 billion-euro project.

In Bahrain, Bejar underlined the importance of infrastructure and citizen services such as refuse collection and water management for the kingdom's economy, and highlighted FCC's interest in developing all types of infrastructure.

FCC Aqualia, the company's water division, is bidding for three projects which are currently in the prequalification phase.

Two of these projects are in Bahrain and one in Oman.

In Bahrain, the biggest project FCC Aqualia is bidding for is the design, construction and 10-year operation of the Tubli water treatment plant.

One of the projects in Oman is the design, construction and 20-year operation of a desalination plant in Salalah.

The second project is the five-year operation and maintenance of the smaller Majis desalination plant in Sohar.

In Oman, FCC has already pre-qualified for the Diba-Lima-Khasab highway project, valued at 500-million-euro, in the Straits of Hormuz zone.

In addition, FCC has just formed a consortium with an Indian company and a local Omani company in order to present an expression of interest for the construction of a railway project.

The first 250km section of the project is valued at 720m euros.

FCC has extensive experience in the Middle East. It has been operating since 2011 in Saudi Arabia, where FCC Aqualia optimised Riyadh's water supply network (6,000 km).

This was the first water management contract granted to a Spanish company in the Middle East, said the report.

A few months later, FCC Aqualia was awarded another contract, this time to operate and maintain the sewers and sewage treatment system in eastern Abu Dhabi.

FCC also has offices in Qatar, where it is currently building two pedestrian walkways as well as phase II development of the Barzan camp residential area in Al Wajba, 15km from the Doha.-TradeArabia News Service