Saudi projects valued at $956 billion

The current value of the Saudi projects market stands at $956 billion, local media said quoting MEED GCC Projects Index. According to the report, the Saudi projects market was the sole one to have registered a decline among the GCC projects market at 0.1 percent during August 2013 due to the cancellation of a petrochemical project.
Kuwait and Bahrain registered the highest rate of the GCC projects in the week ending on Aug. 13 at 0.6 percent, the report said.
The GCC project index registered a marginal increase of 0.2 percent in mid-August when the value of the overall projects reached $3.1 trillion where the value of projects market increased in each country with the exception of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, according to the report.
The Riyadh Metro (mini-rail) project ranked first as the biggest contract for the month of July in the Middle East region valued more than $22 billion, or two-thirds of the region's overall projects whose cost is worth $31.6 billion, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom topped the region's countries in the volume of projects to be awarded at a value nearing $600 billion, followed by the UAE at $350 billion and Kuwait with $150 billion.
The projects sector in the GCC countries is predicted to witness another buoyant year in 2013 where the value of projects to be awarded is estimated to hit $1.35 trillion by the year-end compared to $730 billion last year, the local media said quoting data released by MEED.
An earlier report by MEED said the GCC is predicted to award over $50 billion worth of contracts in the oil, gas and petrochemical projects in 2013, almost double the $27 billion expected to be awarded this year.
Arab News
2 September