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Board Selects Induni-Ferrovial as General Contractor for New WIPO Construction

Geneva, August 27, 2003
Press Releases PR/2003/351

Internationally renowned construction firm, Induni-Ferrovial (www.induni.ch and www.ferrovial.com), on Monday, August 25, 2003, won a bid to serve as general contractor for the construction of a new administrative building and a conference hall to extend the premises of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. The general contractor will execute the construction of the building work. A nine-member selection committee, made up of representatives of WIPO member states and co-chaired by the Ambassadors of the Netherlands and Pakistan to the United Nations in Geneva, H. E. Mr. Ian de Jong and H. E. Mr. Shaukat Umer, respectively, decided to select Induni-Ferrovial, on the condition that negotiations with WIPO on financial and technical matters are successful.

In September 2002, member states approved the building project which has a budget of Sfr190.5 million. Member states entrusted the Program and Budget Committee, a sub-body of the WIPO General Assembly, to oversee the project, in particular with regard to the finalization of the technical design. This Committee has also been responsible for establishing a consultation process between interested delegations and the WIPO secretariat in order to validate financial projections.

Building permits were received from the Geneva authorities on September 20, 2002. Construction work is expected to start in October/November 2003 and is estimated to last approximately 42 months. Once completed (target date 2007) the Organization will be able to re-group its staff, which currently occupies office space in nine different buildings in Geneva, in a single building complex, just off the Place des Nations.

Process for the Selection of a General Contractor

In November 2002, invitations for the submission of an Expression of Interest in the project were advertised in a number of major international newspapers (Le Monde, El Pais, The Economist, The Herald Tribune), as well as the Tribune de Genève and the Neuer Zurcher Zeitung and the Internet. This information was also sent out to permanent missions of WIPO member states in Geneva. Sixteen construction companies from eight countries expressed an interest. After an initial round of assessments by a team representing the WIPO building division and the procurement and contracts service, a short-list of nine companies was made. The criteria for the selection of the short-listed companies included the degree of experience in the Swiss and/or international construction markets; the availability of references in the area of the construction of buildings, in particular office buildings and conference facilities; the level of generated activities; and creditworthiness and financial situation.

In March 2003, a tender document was issued to the nine short-listed participants. In June 2003, WIPO received four proposals and five letters of regret from the short-listed contenders.

The Selection Board met on Monday, August 25, 2003, to consider the four firms for the role of general contractor. Representatives of the secretariat, Architect Behnisch, Behnisch & Partners (the winning architect of the new building project) and an external consultancy, Honegger and Muller, were present in the meeting.

The Selection Board, on the basis of technical and financial evaluations made by the secretariat and the external consultancy, unanimously selected Induni-Ferrovial as general contractor for the WIPO new building, subject to successful negotiations on a number of technical and financial matters.

In addition to the Co-Presidents, the Selection Board included representatives of group coordinators of WIPO, namely, H. E. Mr. Sergei Aleinik (Belarus), Mr. Zou Jianhua, (China), Mr. Alejandro Solano Ortiz (Costa Rica), H. E. Mr. Edsel T. Custodio (Philippines), Mr. J. S. de Calheiros Da Gama (Portugal), Mr. Petru Dumitriu (Romania), and H.E. Mr. Love Mtesa, (Zambia).

For further information please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section Section at:

  • Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
  • Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
  • Email: publicinf@wipo.int.
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