Saudi Arabia Leads Contract Awards in GCC

Saudi Arabia Leads Contract Awards in GCC

Saudi Arabia topped the GCC project awards, which improved during the year's second quarter despite global economic challenges caused by supply chain problems and higher oil prices primarily driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Higher crude oil price was the most significant contributor to inflation numbers across countries, including in the US, where it contributed around 200 bps to the 9.1 percent inflation during June-2022.

A recent report on the GCC project market update by Kuwait-based KAMCO showed that the total value of GCC contracts awarded increased by 11.7 percent year-on-year during Q2 in 2022 to reach $22.8 billion, compared to $20.4 billion in Q2 of 2021.

Saudi Arabia and Oman reported higher contract awards during the quarter that offset a dip in awards in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE.

Saudi Arabia, the GCC's largest projects market, recorded the biggest y-o-y increase in the value of contracts awarded during Q2-2022, which reached $16.5 billion in 2022 as compared to $9.3 billion in Q2-2021.

The contracts awarded as part of the $500 billion Neom project boosted the Kingdom's project awards during the quarter.

According to MEED, three out of the ten most significant contracts awarded in the Kingdom during Q2-2022 were from the Neom project. Comparatively, the