GCC project awards jump 20% to $45bn in 2024 first quarter

GCC project awards jump 20% to $45bn in 2024 first quarter

Muscat: Defying regional and global geopolitical challenges, GCC project awards increased by 20.3 percent year-on-year during the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 to reach $45 billion as compared to $37.4 billion during Q1-2023, according to a new report.

“The trend also defies oil production cutbacks which have all weighed on economic growth in the region as seen from IMF’s latest forecast that slashed GCC economic growth forecast for 2024 to 2.4 percent from its previous forecast of 3.7 percent,” the Kuwait-based Kamco Invest said in its latest report.

The consistent elevated trend in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) contract awards underlines the entrenched resolve of GCC governments to see through their diversification projects, as well as state funding support, Kamco Invest said in its GCC Projects Market Update April-2024.

Growth in GCC contract awards was evenly distributed during Q1-2024 as three out of the six countries in the GCC recorded year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in their project’s awards, including two of the largest projects markets in the region, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while the remaining three countries witnessed declines. Saudi Arabia alone comprised more than half of the contracts awarded in the GCC region during Q1-2024 with aggregate awards of $23.5 billion in Q1-2024 against