BY SATISH KANADY
DOHA: Qatar will soon have a ‘China Town’ in Al Wukair near Al Wakra as a large number of Chinese expatriates are set to arrive here with the opening of the massive Dragon Mart at the Barwa Commercial Avenue.
A leading developer is busy with plans to build a dedicated ‘village’ in Al Wukair for the Chinese community to live in, sources told The Peninsula yesterday.
There already are some 6,000 Chinese expatriates based in Qatar, according to sources at the Chinese Embassy here.
And an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 more Chinese men and women are expected to join as staffers in over 200 shops and retail outlets to be opened at the Barwa Commercial Avenue later this year.
Most of them would arrive in the country with their families.
“A highly reputed developer is already working on our plans. The proposed ‘township’ will have Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, playgrounds, recreation clubs and salons,” a senior executive of Qatar Dragon Mart
Group said.
The Qatar Dragonmart Chinese Community, described as ‘China Town’ by the Group, will be managed by Qatar Dragonmart Property Management Co.
The ‘township’ will be large enough to accommodate 3,000 residents with all the facilities.
It is expected to become the largest gathering place for Chinese in Qatar, the executive said.
Apart from the community town, the Qatar Dragonmart is also developing a huge ‘logistics village’ with a total area of 200,000 square metres that would have various warehouses such as a common warehouse, vertical warehouse, constant temperature warehouse, cold stores, special purpose warehouse, a large distribution centre and a dormitory area which could accommodate 500 workers at a time.
The ‘logistics village’ will also have an outdoor container yard, a separate outdoor platform which can accommodate more than 100 engineers, parking facilities for heavy vehicles, equipment repair centre and a distribution processing centre, in addition to a huge ‘supply chain facility’ to support the Dragonmart’s regular customers.
The Peninsula
