Manama, Bahrain: Shaikh Mohammad Bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of Bahrain's Economic Development Board, hailed the start of construction of the "Friendship Causeway", which will link Bahrain and Qatar, as a boost for Bahrain's role as an ideal access point for international companies to develop their business in Gulf economies.
Shaikh Mohammad said: "The Friendship Causeway will strengthen Bahrain's position as the best place in the Middle East for companies to locate in order to develop their businesses across all Gulf Cooperation Council economies."
Billed as the world's longest marine causeway, construction of the $3 billion project will be one of the most important infrastructure projects in the region.
When the bridge is completed in about four year's time, it will be over 40km of twin carriageway running across 22km of viaducts over the sea and 18km of embankments.
Travel time from Qatar to Bahrain by car is expected to be reduced from four and a half hours to around 30 minutes.
The causeway will also provide a connection for future high-speed freight and passenger rail lines between the countries.
There are also plans to extend the route to link Istanbul, Turkey to Muscat, Oman.