In its zealous efforts to build the whole empire on the back of robust growth in the Oil sector, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries had since the late 90’s and early 2000, consistently and progressively initiated numerous projects to move away from a predominantly oil based economy to a balanced state, boasting developments across several regions, with real estate and construction activities ranking one amongst its top priorities.
The construction market within the GCC countries is expected to exhibit favourable growth prospects in the coming years. A key driver of growth will be the considerable state spending on social infrastructure projects - 80 per cent of which is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. This, in turn is likely to spur growth in the other segments of the construction sector, in particular buildings and energy.
The major spending by the GCC countries, to meet the increase in demand stemming from a healthy rise in population, has also acted as a weapon to combat the economic slowdown and diversify into non-oil based growth for long run sustainability. Overall in 2010, construction contracts worth a total of US$ 207 billion were awarded in the GCC region, with buildings, energy and infrastructure projects accounting for 42 per cent, 39 per cent and 19 per cent shares, respectively.
Projects awarded to numerous contractors in the construction sector comprising of developments in Infrastructure, Energy and Building sectors had witnessed a steady growth until mid 2008 whilst 2009 and 2010 had borne the brunt of the government and investors cautious approach due to the global economic depression. As per the project schedules on 31st May 2011, the year 2012 is expected to witness a substantial growth in terms of main building contractor awards for the GCC countries combined. Accounting for a lion’s share of 52 percent, Saudi Arabia had awarded construction contracts worth US$107,390 million in 2010 followed by UAE with US$ 43,247 million representing a 21 percent share. The respective main contractor award figures for Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain for the year 2010 were US$23,578, US$19,039, US$10,834 and US$3,881. The regional governments have initiated massive large scale developments in its infrastructure, economical, industrial and educational projects to revamp the facilities and services provided in their countries to enhance business opportunities and reduce public debt.
Saudi Arabia has led the transformation in the GCC construction market scenario in recent years with plans to develop six economic cities and other major development schemes. Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 soccer World Cup is also expected to speed up the regional construction programme and boost property prices, with contractors expected to flock to the Gulf States to snap up projects worth billions of dollars.
A significant proportion of projects, almost to the tune of 47 percent of the project value have been put on hold in UAE as of May 2011 in the aftermath of the economic slowdown; the proportionate figure for Saudi Arabia though is just 11 percent. Notwithstanding the larger markets, growth in construction activities across the comparatively smaller countries of Qatar and Bahrain is expected to witness steady growth with Qatar in 2012 likely to record a significant growth over 2010 in terms of contracts awarded albeit on a smaller base compared to that of UAE. Similar growth patterns are seen in Kuwait and Bahrain each experiencing a moderate growth phase.
Within the GCC Construction pie, almost 64% of the total value of projects falls under the Buildings classification. Please note Buildings classification comprises of Buildings as well as Industrial projects. The proportionate percentage for Energy and Infrastructure remained at 22 percent and 14 percent respectively across all countries in GCC.
Backed by its extensive experience in keeping track of construction projects across all regions of Middle East, the team at Ventures Middle East had provided a brief top level overview of the construction sector across GCC regions in this report. To pre-order a copy of the study, please contact mail@ventures-me.com.
