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Infrastructure

Infrastructure news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Cuisine in India and the Middle East is ‘incomplete without spices’, said Indian minister Piyush Goyal

India-Middle East-Europe corridor to revive spice route

Indian spices and spice products are likely to be the first commercial products to find their way through the new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec), an Indian minister has said. Imec, announced last month at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, aims to integrate railway routes and link ports along a route from India […]

Dubai Islands-Bur Dubai bridge to be ready by 2026

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has signed an agreement with state-owned Nakheel to construct direct entrances and exits from bridges to the Dubai Islands from Bur Dubai.  The Dubai Islands project will have entry and exit points on the Bur Dubai side through a bridge stretching across the Dubai Creek between the Infinity Bridge and […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands at the G20 summit in New Delhi

India-Middle East-Europe transport link announced

World leaders have announced a shipping and rail transportation corridor linking countries across the Middle East, South Asia and Europe at the G20 summit in New Dehli, India, on Saturday. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec) aims to integrate railway routes and link ports along a route spanning from India to Europe, through the UAE, […]

Turkey's Limak will build part of Kuwait's $4.34 billion new airport terminal

Kuwait awards $764m airport contract to Turkish company

Kuwait has awarded a 236 million dinar ($765 million) contract to Turkey’s Limak to build part of a new terminal at Kuwait airport. The Turkish company will build aircraft parking aprons, taxiways and service buildings, Reuters reported, citing the country’s official gazette. The $4.34 billion new airport terminal is likely to triple the capacity of […]

Saudi water agency Global Water Organisation

Saudi water agency seeking global partnerships

A Saudi government body set up this week to address global water challenges hopes to collaborate with other organisations across the world to meet its goals, the kingdom’s environment minister said on Friday.  “The vision for this initiative is not just about creating a research and policy platform,” said Abdul Rahman Al Fadhli, Saudi Arabia’s […]

Gulf India rail port links deal

Gulf and India to discuss possible rail and port links

The US, Saudi Arabia, India and other nations are discussing a possible infrastructure deal that could reconfigure trade between the Gulf and South Asia, linking Middle Eastern countries by railways and connecting to India by port, according to US officials aware of the conversations. The talks, which have also included the UAE and Europe, may […]

Tabreed has partnered with India’s Telangana state government to develop cooling infrastructure for industrial and commercial parks

UAE’s Tabreed to invest $200m in Indian pharma city

The UAE’s National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) will invest $200 million to develop 125,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) of district cooling plants for Hyderabad Pharma City, according to media reports. Tabreed has partnered with India’s Telangana state government to develop cooling infrastructure for industrial and commercial parks, Business Standard, an Indian financial news daily, reported. Tabreed […]

Executives of Orascom and Thales and officials of Egyptian National Railways at the contract signing ceremony

Contract awarded to modernise Egyptian railway

A consortium of Egypt’s Orascom Construction and Paris-based Thales Group has signed a new $323.50 million contract with Egyptian National Railways to modernise the double-track railway. The track, located on the east bank of the river Nile, 115 km from the country’s capital, will link Cairo with Giza and Beni Suef. The project will be […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the new logistics plan will boost partnerships with the private sector. 21 logistics centres are already under construction

Saudi Arabia to build 59 logistics centres by 2030

Saudi Arabia will have 59 logistics centres by 2030, as the kingdom aims to transform itself into a global logistics hub. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the masterplan for the centres as part of ongoing initiatives under the national transport and logistics strategy. The 59 centres will have a total area of more than […]

The number of people employed in Turkey’s construction sector hit 1.973 million between April and June

Construction activity up in Turkey due to earthquakes

The number of construction workers in Turkey increased by 28,000 in the second quarter of the year compared to Q1, as building activity continues at pace following February’s earthquakes. The latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute revealed the number of people employed in the country’s construction sector hit 1.973 million between April and June […]

Electricity in Egypt is cut out during load shedding

Egypt keeps electricity prices unchanged until January 2024

Egypt will maintain current electricity prices for consumers, as it deferred any changes for an additional six months, the cabinet said in a statement. In its weekly meeting, the cabinet decided to maintain electricity prices until January 2024, citing Egypt’s current economic challenges. The government has delayed the scheduled increase in power prices for the […]

Dewa selects Acwa Power to develop $914m water project

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has selected Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund-backed Acwa Power as the preferred bidder for the construction and operation of the AED3.38 billion ($914 million) Hassyan phase one independent water producer (IWP) project. The project is the largest of its kind in the world for water production-based sea water reverse osmosis […]

A construction site in Riyadh. The first half of 2023 marked a high point for Chinese investment in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia first choice for China’s BRI investment

Saudi Arabia remains one of China’s strongest global trade partners, leading Chinese engagement in the construction sector during the first half of 2023, according to the latest Belt and Road Initiative investment report issued by a leading think tank.  Of 45 countries receiving Chinese financing and investment in the first six months of 2023, Saudi […]

Saudi seeks Chinese funding for infrastructure projects

Saudi Arabia is in talks with Chinese banks for potential investment in and development of infrastructure projects. The talks were held between Saudi housing minister Majid Al Hogail and several heads of Chinese banks in Beijing, state-run SPA news agency reported. The minister discussed investment opportunities across a number of Saudi cities with officials from […]

Dewa

Dewa profits fall 20% as financing costs surge

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) reported net profits of AED1.93 billion ($525.46 million) in the second quarter of 2023, down 20 percent from AED2.41 billion a year earlier due to rising financing costs. Revenue rose 4 percent to AED7.29 billion, driven by increased demand for electricity, water and cooling services and higher income from […]

Taxi in UAE caught in flooding

UAE invests in battle against severe flooding

UAE government bodies and residents are working proactively to combat the impact of severe flooding, as climate change leads to increased levels of rainfall. Dubai Municipality said it received more than 100 emergency calls at the weekend as a result of severe weather conditions, and the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has warned that heavy […]

Qatar road

Parsons wins $52m road design contract in Qatar

The Qatar government’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has awarded a contract to US firm Parsons Corporation to deliver engineering consultancy services for a new road and infrastructure framework. The $52 million, six-year contract includes design for roads and infrastructure projects within Doha city. More than half of Qatar’s three million-strong population lives in the capital […]

Saudi electricity

Saudi Electricity profit falls 27% as funding costs rise 

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) reported a net profit after zakat and tax of SAR4.02 billion ($1.07 billion) in the second quarter of 2023, a decline of 27 percent year on year. Revenue stood at SAR19.72 billion in the three months to June 2023, up 1.63 percent from SAR19.40 billion in Q2 2022, the utility provider […]

GCC new schools Gulf education

GCC needs 1,127 new schools by 2027 as enrolment rises

The Gulf will need over a thousand new schools by 2027, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The prediction is based on the total number of students in the GCC growing by 1.6 percent annually to reach 14.2 million by 2027. Growth in student enrolment numbers at K-12 (kindergarten to 12th grade, or […]

Gulf India rail port links deal

Israel plans to link $27bn rail project to Saudi Arabia

Israel will build a 100 billion shekel ($27 billion) rail expansion that will connect its outlying areas to metropolitan Tel Aviv and, in the future, could provide overland links to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The announcement followed a trip by top US officials to Saudi Arabia last week to advance a possible […]

Architecture, Building, Power Plant

Carbon targets deter Middle East power project developers

Developers are becoming increasingly wary of bidding for long-term infrastructure deals in the Middle East because the terms go beyond their own carbon neutral targets. According to industry sources they are particularly struggling to be able to work on projects involving thermal power plants without carbon capture and storage (CCS) because the terms can stretch […]