Description
UAE projects market and outlook
The UAE has more than $650bn of projects planned or underway, making it the second largest projects market in the region after Saudi Arabia. Of this, about $141.6bn of projects are currently in execution, with a pipeline of about $513bn of projects in planning or pre-execution. Perhaps the only thing the UAE lacks is new construction projects, which, for many years, were the country’s hallmark. Also, the downward slide in the real estate sector has been a disaster for many of the country’s largest contractors.
In terms of future projects, the construction sector is the largest, with about $365bn-worth of projects in the tender, design or study phase. This is followed by the oil and gas sector, which has more than $60bn-worth of contracts in various stages of pre-execution.
Furthermore, Dubai’s recently announced $7bn public private partnership (PPP) programme, including healthcare and education schemes, is another sign of emerging new business opportunities for contractors.
Expo 2020
With the launch of Expo 2020 Dubai on 1 October 2021, the UAE has finally delivered on a soft power project eight years in the making. At a time of global uncertainty, it is a visible symbol of the brand that Dubai has built up over the decades as the home of big projects and even bigger dreams.
However, the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the UAE has created more difficulties for the organisers. As the latest wave of Covid-19 (Omicron variant) threatens to dampen Expo 2020’s ambitious plans, which once involved drawing in crowds of 25 million visitors, extending the Expo beyond 31 March 2022 may appear to be a practical solution for Dubai but may increase overall operational expenses.
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