Chinese construction company to build tallest building in Djibouti

DJIBOUTI - Chinese construction giant China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) on Thursday laid foundation stone to build its Djibouti headquarter.

The new 23-storey twin-towers, worth $70 million, will be the tallest structure in the horn of African country once completed.

Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Chinese Ambassador to Djibouti Fu Huaqiang, and president of CCECC Yuan Li together with other senior Djibouti officials took part in the foundation stone laying ceremony on Thursday at CCECC's office in the red sea city of Djibouti.

The building, which will rest on 42,000 square meters, will involve 480 apartments serving as SOHO (Small Office, Home Office), a complete set of modern office facilities, conference rooms, dining rooms, gymnasium, basketball stadium and swimming pools, and 260 parking lots.

Yuan Li, president of CCECC, said on the occasion that the twin-tower building would provide excellent living and working space for international business people.

"It will be a new landmark of Djibouti," he said.

It was indicated that the project would generate job opportunities for over 2,000 personnel during construction, and over 1,000 jobs when put into operation.

Referring to a memorandum of understanding signed with Djibouti government, Yuan Li said that his company will also experiment land reclamation in nearby sea side areas and test the impact of artificial islands on surrounding marine ecology.

"This aims to provide science-based demonstration and technological preparations for the development of an urban complex on the eastern coast, called The Wings of Djibouti," he added.

Since its first appearance in Djibouti in 1981, CCECC has so far undertaken over 100 projects including the Industrial and Commercial High School of Djibouti, the Hassan Gouled Stadium, the Llyad Market, and just recently the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway.