Affordable housing to infrastructure development

THE GCC is currently witnessing a renewed construction and infrastructure development boom. Reports suggest more than$286 billion-worth of projects will be awarded over the next four years.

The lion’s share will be accounted for in wealthy Saudi Arabia, which is poised to award some $119 billion-worth of projects before 2016. This includes SR250 billion ($66 billion) by the government on affordable housing, with Saudi developers planning to build about260,000 residential units every year through to 2017. The Eastern Province alone will require around 150,000 housing units by 2014.

Bahrain is also accelerating expenditure on affordable housing schemes in addition to new infrastructure developments. Three new cities in East Hidd, East Sitra and Northern Town will be built toprovide approximately 23,000 units by the end of 2016.

Jubran Abdulrahman, managing director of gulfBID organisers Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE), said: “This kind of construction sector spending is unprecedented on a global scale, and is driven by the huge petrodollar revenues the northern Gulf is receiving on theback of high oil prices.

'Against this background, the tremendous response to this year’s gulfBID exhibition from leading players in the sector is an important statement of the value of the construction sector to theeconomy.”