UAE Leads 2012 Middle East Construction Contracts

Overtaking Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates is now home to the leading Middle East construction market: a position it's not held since 2008.

In 2012, some $16bn worth of UAE construction contracts were awarded - four per cent more than in Saudi Arabia. That's according to information released by accountants Deloitte and among last year's most prominent UAE build contracts was that for Abu Dhabi International Airport's Midfield Terminal Building. This was won by a consortium comprised of Arabtec Construction, TAV, Consolidated Construction Company and others.

As Deloitte officials point out, now-rectified delays were a key factor in the UAE's 2012 construction contacts success. "The expectation with this data was that Saudi Arabia would top the list in terms of the value of contracts awarded but in the end that just wasn't the case for 2012", explained Deloitte's Cynthia Corby. "Many of the major contracts there have not yet been awarded or were awarded in 2013. Meanwhile, in the UAE, 2012 saw a backlog of contracts delayed by the financial crisis finally awarded."

Saudi Arabia's major construction contract was the Masjid Al-Haram mosque expansion project. Once enlarged, the mosque will be able to accommodate a staggering one million worshippers, up from its current capacity of 600,000.

Middle East Construction Markets

Behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Qatar claimed the third spot in Deloitte's Middle East construction markets listings. Here, contracts worth a shade over $10bn were signed in 2012. It was followed by Kuwait where, last year, the construction contracts total ran to $8bn.

In Qatar's case, infrastructure spending is forecast to exceed $150bn in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which Qatar is hosting. In Kuwait, meantime, transport-related build programmes were represented in over three-quarters of its 2012 construction projects.

In related news, US engineering firm Bechtel has announced that it's establishing a Global Centre of Engineering Excellence in the Middle East. "This area is an area of boom when it comes to the rail and infrastructure business," Bechtel's Amjad Bangash commented. "We think our rail business in this area alone is projected to grow at about 16 per cent over the coming few years compared with globally, where it is growing at around 9 per cent."

Image copyright Basil D Soufi - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons