Saudi Arabia has projects worth $250 bln in pipeline: report

Saudi Arabia has a pipeline of over $250 billion worth of projects for which main construction contracts are yet to be awarded, accounting for 39 percent of total unawarded projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to a recent report by MEED.

The Kingdom’s energy sector has the biggest pipeline of unawarded project contracts at nearly $82 billion – about 33 percent of the national total, the report said.

The construction sector is the second biggest segment at 29 percent, and the transport sector third is at 27 percent.

Power, construction and transport together account for about $225 billion of contracts yet to be awarded, almost 89 percent of the total value of contracts in pre-execution stage.

“This report confirms that, despite the challenges we have seen over the past two years as a result of the fall in oil prices, Saudi Arabia continues to be the biggest and most important market in the region,” Richard Thompson, editorial director at MEED, said in a statement.

The Saudi construction industry has suffered in the wake of lower oil prices, as the government held back payments and suspended fresh contracts as it worked on rebalancing the economy and steering it away from oil revenue.

However, after a year of uncertainty in 2016 as Saudi Arabia formulated its response to lower oil prices, the country will start delivering on its promises this year, the report said.