Saudi Arabia’s construction sector, the largest in the Middle East, has grown by an average 4% annually over the past five years and is expected to peak at 275 billion Saudi riyals ($73 billion) in 2024, the Gulf Kingdom’s top contactor has said.

Zakaria Abdul Qadir, Chairman of the Saudi Contractors’ Authority (SCA) said Saudi contractors have largely benefited from mega projects launched by the government within Vision 2030 economic diversification scheme.

But Abdul Qadir stressed that Saudi construction firms need to bolster their financial capabilities to be able to execute large projects, most of which have been grabbed by foreign companies over the past years.

“Saudi Arabia is witnessing a project boom thanks to Vision 2030 which includes several major projects...as a result, the contracting sector in the Kingdom has recorded strong performance, with an average growth of 4% over the past 5 years,” Abdul Qadir told SCA’s quarterly magazine the “Contractors.”

“We expect the sector to continue growing at that rate until 2024, when it is projected to reach 275 billion riyals and maintain its position as the second largest component of GDP after the oil sector,” he added.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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