The Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi announced that it has received bids from three international consortia competing for the 25 year concession to upgrade, finance, operate and maintain the Mafraq - Ghweifat Highway.The Highway, which stretches 327 km from Mafraq to the border at Ghweifat, provides the only access to the Western Region, including the industrial centre of Ruwais and several important tourist destinations.The project is the first transport-related public private partnership (PPP) project to be undertaken in the GCC. It will see the highway widened to four lanes in each direction (three in the less-trafficked portions near Ghweifat) and upgraded to meet world's best standards in highway design, safety, communications and services to users.Once completed, the winning consortium will be responsible for maintaining and operating the upgraded highway while meeting stringent performance standards relating to safety, availability and quality for a period of 25 years.Payment to the Consortium will be via a series of equal payments spread over 25 years. These ongoing payments will be subject to deductions for failure to meet the prescribed performance standards and will ensure the consortium remains accountable for the operational performance of the road over the 25 year period.This PPP payment method differs significantly from the more traditional approach where the contractor is paid in full as construction is completed, and has little or no involvement or accountability for the operational performance of the road over the long term.The Department of Transport carried out an extensive international search to identify the world's best companies in the fields of infrastructure financing, design, construction and operations to deliver the project.From this search ten international Consortia, or groups of companies, were invited to submit statements of their qualifications. Following a detailed and extensive evaluation a shorter list of consortia was identified as having the strongest financial and technical delivery qualifications and invited to submit detailed proposals for the project.CCCC-MTD consortium which consists of:1- China Communications Construction Company (Lead) - China2- MTD Capital Bhd - Malaysia3- Ghantoot Transport - UAEIRTIBAAT consortium which consists of:1- Macquarie Capital group Limited (Lead) - Australia2- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC - UAE3- Al Jaber Transport & General Contracting LLC - UAE4- N.V. Besix SA - Belgium5- Mouchel Middle East Limited - UAE6- Transfield Services International Pty Ltd - AustraliaMafraq Motorway Group (MMG) consortium which consists of:1- Strabag Societas Europaea (Lead) - Austria2- Joannou & Paraskevaides (Over Seas) Ltd - UK3- J&P Avax S.A. - Greece4- Saif Bin Darvish - UAE5- Egis Projects SA - France