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A consortium led by French construction company Vinci has won a $3bn contract to design and build a bridge between Qatar and Bahrain, a report said.

The agreement was signed earlier yesterday by Director of Legal Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry Dr Ahmad Hasan Al Hammadi and Pierre Berger, Chairman of the French construction company, Vinci Group.

The Qatar-Bahrain Causeway will be designed and built by Vinci Construction Grands Projets, in a consortium with QDVC, a joint venture between Vinci and Qatari Diar, Hochtief AG and CCC, reported Forbes.com.

Middle East Dredging Company, or Medco, another Vinci unit, will also share in the contract, the report added.

Construction is scheduled to take 51 months, following a nine-month study period, report said, without specifying when work on the project would begin.

Earlier a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry on establishing of a joint insurance company named Al Takaful Qatari-Bahraini Insurance Company.

The MoU was signed by Chairman of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem Al Thani and Chairman of Bahrain Chamber of Trade and Industry Dr Issam bin Abdullah Fakhro.