KSA construction development rates to speed up over 2012-13

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/z7jtd4/saudi_arabia_infra) has announced the addition of the "Saudi Arabia Infrastructure Report Q3 2012" report to their offering.

Saudi Arabia's already buoyant construction sector was given a further boost in 2011, after a flurry of contracts worth US$71.2 billion were awarded. This is a trend we expect to continue in the short term, thanks to the government's vast infrastructure investment scheme, which is aimed at staving off public discontent.

The Sectors To Watch Are:

-One of the most dynamic sub-sectors in Saudi Arabia has been power plants and transmission and distribution (T&D), with the US$80 billion, ten-year investment plan for electricity infrastructure (2008-2018) having led to significant activity in the energy sector.

-Huge investment into the social infrastructure sector is in the pipeline, in part to appease the populace. Both the SAR1.44 trillion (US$385 billion) Ninth Development Plan (2010-2014) and social benefit packages worth a total of US$130 billion, announced in response to protests in which swept the Middle East during 2011, are heavy on social infrastructure spending.

-Transport is also booming, especially rail infrastructure - with US$24 billion of projects under way or in the pipeline. The Haramain High Speed Railway has taken centre stage, with the final contract for the project (worth US$1.4bn and awarded to the Spanish Al-Shoula consortium) awarded in July 2011. Attention should now turn to the SAR26 billion (US$7 billion) Saudi Landbridge project, an east-west rail line that will link Jeddah and Dammam.

-The annual Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) places intense pressure on the Saudi infrastructure framework, especially airports - with an estimated 1.9mn visitors entering the country to make the pilgrimage. In Q411, the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) secured US$2.3 billion of funding from a syndicate of local and international banks, led by the Gulf International Bank (GIB), for the expansion and development of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.