Kuwait signs causeway project with Hyundai-led group

Kuwait on Wednesday signed a contract for the long-delayed $2.6 billion (2.04 billion euro) causeway project with a consortium led by South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co, the local partner said. Combined Group Contracting Co. announced on the Kuwait bourse website that the contract for the main bridge of the causeway was signed with the ministry of public works. It said CGCC's share in the 37.5-kilometre (23-mile) causeway project is 21.5 percent, while Hyundai owns the rest. The causeway, to be named after late emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, is to link the capital Kuwait City with the northern Subbiya area, which is to become home to the Silk City project. The $77 billion Silk City aims to revive the ancient Silk Road trade route by becoming a major free trade zone linking central Asia with Europe. The city, on the northern tip of Kuwait on the Iraqi border, will include what could be the tallest tower in the world. When complete in 2030, it will be home to around 700,000 people and is projected to create 450,000 jobs. Subbiya is also a few kilometers (miles) away from a huge multi-billion-dollar container harbour being built on Bubyan Island.