Related Articles

• 
  Saudi Arabia attracts $32bn in FDI inflows

  26 September 2025

  

   

  Saudi Arabia attracted SR119bn ($31.7bn) in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in 2024, marking a 24% increase from the previous year. This updated data from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) reveals a revised figure that is 37% higher than the initial estimate, according to Bloomberg, and signals renewed investor interest, even as inflows remain short of the government’s $100bn annual target for 2030.

  Analysts view this revision as a turning point in investor sentiment. “This shows that inflows are no longer tentative but part of a sustained trend, marking one of the kingdom’s strongest years on record,” said Hamzeh Jalal B Al-Gaaod, Mena analyst at TS Lombard.

  Sector focus

  The manufacturing sector led FDI inflows with SR35bn ($9.3bn), accounting for 29% of the total. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade (including vehicle repair) and construction, each accounting for 15% of the share at SR18bn. Financial and insurance services also represented a significant share, totalling approximately SR14bn (12%). This distribution aligns with Riyadh’s efforts to expand industrial capacity, strengthen supply chains and deepen financial services as part of its Vision 2030 diversification programme.

  Source markets

  The UAE remained Saudi Arabia's top source of FDI for the fourth consecutive year. Inflows from the US and Germany more than tripled compared to 2023, while Hong Kong’s contribution surged to $2bn, marking a tenfold increase year-on-year. In contrast, investments from France and Spain declined. 

  Outflows ease

  Saudi outbound investment declined sharply in 2024, falling 74% year-on-year, according to Gastat. The decline indicates that foreign investors are more willing to commit capital locally. 

  “The breadth of capital sources highlights the global reach of Saudi’s reforms, and the sharp fall in outflows shows investors are choosing to invest locally rather than leverage Saudi capital abroad,” Al-Gaaod said.

  Political dynamics have also influenced sentiment. Al-Gaaod noted that Trump’s endorsement of the Gulf states helped re-ignite investment flows from abroad, reinforcing the perception that Saudi Arabia is a safer long-term destination.

  Reform dividend

  Recent regulatory changes have also strengthened Saudi Arabia’s investment environment. A unified investor framework now covers both domestic and foreign firms, featuring simplified registration procedures and expanded investment incentives. Restrictions have been eased in sectors such as renewable energy, technology and logistics, opening the market to a wider range of international players. 

  These changes are intended to lower entry barriers and support the government’s long-term diversification goals. Al-Gaaod noted that the streamlined framework and new incentives are not merely symbolic; foreign investors are now visibly more comfortable in committing capital.

  Diversification push

  Beyond regulatory change, investment is flowing into priority sectors aligned with Saudi Arabia’s diversification goals. In the automotive industry, Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed Saudi electric vehicle (EV) firm Ceer is developing the kingdom’s first electric vehicle brand and aims to begin production in 2025. Additionally, PIF and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group announced a $500m joint venture in 2023 to build a Saudi EV plant, expected to be completed in 2026 with an annual capacity of 50,000 units.

  In the energy sector, Aramco and BlackRock (via Global Infrastructure Partners) announced an $11bn investment in the Jafurah midstream gas network, which will supply the power needed for manufacturing and large-scale data centres. The mining sector is also expanding, with plans for lithium processing, battery production and metals development to secure clean energy supply chains.

  This trend is regional as well. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is shifting its focus from green hydrogen and ammonia to data centres, reflecting a shift in ESG and renewable energy investment strategies. Al-Gaaod stated that this reflects a new role for hydrocarbons: “Energy is still a driver, but now it powers industry and infrastructure rather than serving only exports, a change reflected in projects from Jafurah to Masdar.”

  Looking ahead

  Saudi Arabia is gaining traction in attracting international capital, with inflows approaching previously achieved record levels. While the $31.7bn recorded in 2024 is still below the government’s $100bn annual target for 2030, growing market confidence, sectoral diversification and policy reforms suggest sustained momentum. 

  Preliminary data shows $6.4bn in inflows during Q1 2025, indicating continued activity. The upcoming wave of foreign capital is expected to focus on technology and digital infrastructure, with over $80bn in artificial intelligence and data centre projects already announced.

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  MEED’s October 2025 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > GOVERNMENT: Riyadh confronts rising regional chaos
  > ECONOMY: Riyadh looks to adjust investment approach
  > BANKING: New funding sources solve Saudi liquidity challenge
  > OIL & GAS: Aramco turns attention to strategic projects
  > GAS: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait accelerate Dorra gas field development
  > POWER: Saudi Arabia accelerates power transformation
  > WATER: Transmission projects drive Saudi water sector growth
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction pivots from gigaprojects to events
  > TRANSPORT: Infrastructure takes centre stage in Saudi strategy

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Sarah Rizvi
• 
  Binghatti prices inaugural $500m green sukuk

  26 September 2025

  Binghatti Holding has priced its first green sukuk, raising $500m in a three‑year Regulation S issuance that was more than four times oversubscribed.

  The sukuk, issued as part of a $1.5bn trust certificate issuance programme, was priced at a profit rate of 7.75%, about 416 basis points above the prevailing three‑year US Treasury yield.

  The orderbook exceeded $2bn, and about half of the demand came from outside the UAE, the company said.

  The transaction marks Binghatti’s inaugural green bond issuance and will finance a portfolio of eligible projects under the company’s Green Financing Framework. The sukuk will be listed on the London Stock Exchange and on Nasdaq Dubai.

  Joint global coordinators on the transaction were Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, JP Morgan and Mashreq. The joint bookrunners included Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ajman Bank, Arqaam Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Rakbank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Warba Bank.

  Binghatti is rated Ba3 by Moody’s and BB‑ by Fitch, both with stable outlooks.

  Previous issuance

  Binghatti Holding raised $500m through a five-year senior unsecured sukuk issuance over the summer under its $1.5bn trust certificate issuance programme. It drew orders exceeding $2.5bn – an oversubscription of five times. Priced at a profit rate of 8.125%, or 418 basis points over the five-year US Treasury benchmark, the sukuk achieved significant tightening from an initial price guidance of 8.500%.

  In the first six months of 2025, Binghatti launched seven new developments and delivered five, contributing to a total of 15 project handovers over the past 18 months. The company now has a development backlog worth AED12.5bn and a project pipeline exceeding AED70bn, encompassing some 20,000 units across 30 active sites.

  Projects are concentrated in prime locations such as Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle and Meydan. The developer is also building a series of branded residential towers in partnership with luxury brands including Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz and Jacob & Co.

  Binghatti’s development pipeline was recently bolstered by the acquisition of a 9 million-square-foot land parcel in Nad Al-Sheba 1. The site will become the company’s first masterplanned community, with a projected development value of over AED25bn.

  

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  Colin Foreman
• 
  Kuwait to tender Dorra gas plant before year-end

  26 September 2025

  

   

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  State-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) is on track to tender its project to develop an onshore gas plant next to the Al-Zour refinery before the end of the year, according to industry sources.

  The planned onshore gas processing facility will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.

  In July, MEED reported that KGOC had set the project in motion by launching an early engagement process with contractors for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender.

  The contract for the front-end engineering and design (feed) was awarded to France-based Technip Energies and has now been completed, sources said.

  The proposed facility will receive gas via a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being developed in a separate project by Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) – a joint venture of KGOC and Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company (AGOC).

  The KGOC onshore gas processing facility will be located near the Al-Zour refinery, which is owned by another KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic).

  A 700,000-square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility and discussions about survey work are ongoing. The site will potentially need to be shored, backfilled and dewatered.

  Shoring involves installing supporting structures to prevent the ground from collapsing or shifting.

  Backfilling involves filling holes or voids on the site to provide stability, while dewatering is the process of removing excess water from the site.

  The planned onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

  Dorra offshore gas field

  The Dorra gas field was discovered in 1965 and is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

  MEED reported in September 2023 that Aramco and KPC had selected Technip Energies to carry out pre-feed and feed work on the Dorra offshore field development project.

  The original feed work for a project to develop the field was performed more than a decade ago; however, changes in technology required the engineering design to be updated before the project could reach a final investment decision.

  Since the discovery of the field, a geopolitical tussle over ownership of the asset has hampered its development.

  Iran, which calls the field Arash, claims that it partially extends into its territory and that Tehran should be a stakeholder in any development project.

  Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the Dorra field lies entirely in the waters of their shared territory, known as the Neutral Zone or Divided Zone, and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim.

  In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim over the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting between Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in Riyadh.

  

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  Wil Crisp
• 
  Acwa Power consolidates power sector dominance

  26 September 2025

  

   

  This package also includes: GCC enters pivotal year for IPPs

  ---

  Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power has tightened its grip on the top position in MEED’s 2025 GCC Power Developer Ranking, extending its lead over international competitors as new projects and equity stakes lifted both its net and gross capacity to record levels.

  The latest index includes a survey of 140 privately owned and financed power generation plants in the six GCC states, including those with attached water desalination facilities. 

  These plants have a collective gross electricity generation capacity of about 152.1GW. This includes 31 new schemes for which the contracts were awarded between September 2024 and August 2025. With a total combined gross capacity of 39.7GW, these awards involve 15 solar farms, five wind farms and 11 gas-fired power plants.

  Strong lead

  At the top of the ranking, Acwa Power’s net capacity has climbed to 28.1GW in 2025, in a 70% increase on the 16.5GW reported last year. Its gross capacity has also surged by nearly 70%, rising from 45.4GW in 2024 to 76.1GW in 2025 – triple the gross capacity of the company’s closest competitor. 

  Underlining the extent of its dominance in the GCC market, Acwa Power now holds more equity than the rest of the region’s top 10 developers combined. This reflects the central role it is playing in Saudi Arabia’s power and water transition.

  The bulk of Acwa Power’s capacity gains in 2025 are tied to awards for several large-scale renewables projects made directly under the state-owned Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP). These include the 3GW Humaji and Bisha solar plants, the 2GW Starah wind power development, two 2GW solar plants at Afif, a 2GW facility at Khulais and the 1GW Shaqra wind power project. 

  All were advanced under the PIF’s direct procurement framework, with each of the projects listing Acwa Power as the lead private shareholder. Together, they account for more than 15GW of capacity, representing most of Acwa’s year-on-year growth and reinforcing its privileged position as the PIF’s strategic partner for renewables delivery.

  Acwa Power’s surge has been driven not only by new capacity additions with the PIF, but also by acquisitions that expanded its regional footprint. In February, the company agreed to purchase French firm Engie’s stakes in key assets including Kuwait’s Al-Zour North independent water and power project (IWPP) and several plants in Bahrain, adding more than 4.6GW of gas-fired power to its portfolio. 

  That transfer of assets also explains the fall in Engie’s reported capacity this year. The developer yet retains second place in the ranking, despite a drop in net capacity from 8GW to 6.5GW and no new awards in the region for the second year running.

  Acwa Power now holds more equity than the rest of the region’s top 10 developers combined

  Market shake-up

  The shifting fortunes of other international players show a market where some developers are consolidating while others are slipping back.

  Japan’s Marubeni has sustained modest growth, taking its net capacity to 4.6GW, enough to keep its position rather than significantly closing the gap.

  France’s EDF, by contrast, is a standout performer among international utilities, having grown its net capacity by more than 1GW to exceed 3GW. New equity in Saudi Arabia’s Taiba 2 and Qassim 2 combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) projects, together with the Al-Ajban solar plant in Abu Dhabi, all contributed to the positive year for the firm. EDF has now risen up the rankings for two years in a row.

  South Korea’s Kepco meanwhile increased its net capacity by nearly 180% to 2.8GW, alongside the near tripling of its gross capacity to 9GW – catapulting the firm directly into the top five. This came from fresh stakes in combined-cycle projects in Saudi Arabia, broadening its role in the kingdom beyond previous partnerships.

  Japan’s developers were less dynamic, yet they remain a key part of the top tier. Jera added more than 700MW in equity to reach 2,540MW net capacity. Mitsui held steady and Sumitomo climbed modestly with this year’s net capacities at 2,537MW and 2,245MW respectively. 

  Their marginal gains do not quite match the leaps made by EDF and Kepco, but are enough to keep them secure among the region’s elite power developers.

  The strong rise of other local companies in 2024 has partly been maintained. Both Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros and Aljomaih have increased their equity to more than 2GW for the first time, supporting their rankings with stakes in major Saudi solar and CCGT projects.

  Ajlan’s presence has been boosted by its role in round four of Saudi Arabia’s NREP, where it took a stake in the 700MW Yanbu wind independent power project (IPP), in addition to further involvement in gas-fired capacity. 

  Aljomaih, meanwhile, added to its long-standing shares in the Taiba 2 and Qassim 2 CCGT plants through participation in round five of the programme, which awarded the 300MW Rabigh 2 solar IPP. Both firms have sustained their positions with incremental gains rather than significant expansion.

  This reshuffle means that China’s Jinko Power, which had held 10th place last year with 1.3GW, has dropped out of the top tier after securing no new contracts.

  The fall in Engie’s equity and the relatively flat performance of Japanese firms highlights how Acwa Power’s aggressive growth has shifted the regional balance. 

  From a competitive standpoint, Acwa Power’s dominance is now such that it holds more than four times the net capacity of Engie, in second place. 

  This concentration of capacity with a single developer raises questions about market dependency, though it also reflects Saudi Arabia’s strategy of leveraging a domestic champion to deliver large-scale power assets at speed.

  Future growth

  The GCC power sector continues to be shaped by three main factors. 

  Renewables remain the backbone of new capacity additions, with solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind projects continuing to define the region’s energy transition. 

  Gas-fired baseload capacity is still essential to balance intermittent supply from renewables and is increasingly being tied to carbon-capture plans. 

  Local private participation, which surged in 2024, has in 2025 been more about consolidation, with regional developers holding positions rather than climbing further.

  In 2025, new project awards were dominated by renewables, with more than 17GW of solar capacity and nearly 4GW of wind, but gas-fired plants still accounted for over 18GW, reflecting the region’s continued reliance on dependable baseload power.

  The outlook for power tariffs remains mixed. While the record-low solar PV tariffs seen in previous rounds are less likely to be repeated, recent contract awards still underline the region’s competitiveness. 

  Rising financing costs and pressure on engineering, procurement and construction capacity are weighing on pricing and timelines, although falling commodity costs may help to keep tariffs lower than in other parts of the world. For gas-fired
  projects, turbine supply chain constraints continue to add cost pressure. CCGT projects with carbon-capture elements are likely to carry premiums compared to conventional schemes.

  If the large-scale PIF projects and the Engie acquisitions are stripped out, Acwa Power’s 2025 growth looks far less dramatic. Its expansion would have been limited to schemes such as the Hajr and Marjan gas-fired projects, adding only about 5GW of capacity. The developer would still lead the GCC market, but its margin over international rivals would be much narrower, and its year would have looked more like steady progress than the exceptional leap that has defined it.

  However, with Saudi Arabia set to procure up to 20GW a year of renewables and gas-fired capacity under the NREP, Acwa Power’s lead is likely to widen further in the coming years. 

  International competitors will remain present, but the scale of national programmes and Acwa Power’s position as a domestic champion look set to define the market’s shape. For now, 2025 marks the year Acwa Power moved from being a strong leader to an almost unassailable one in the GCC power developer rankings.

  GCC enters pivotal year for IPPs

  

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Kuwait launches Chinese chemicals partnership

  26 September 2025

  Kuwait’s state‑owned Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) has officially launched its partnership with China’s Wanhua Chemical Group and signed a new agreement with the firm.

  The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation and seek new bilateral investment opportunities, according to a PIC statement.

  The latest MoU builds on a formal joint-venture agreement signed in April.

  Under the terms of the April agreement, PIC invested $638m to acquire a 25% equity stake in Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Petrochemical Company.

  The April deal is Kuwait’s largest investment in China’s petrochemical sector. It includes industrial units in Yantai that specialise in products such as propylene oxide and acrylic acid, and is aimed at diversifying Kuwait’s high‑value product portfolio and strengthening its presence in Asian markets.

  Wanhua Petrochemical (Yantai) was established on 20 April 2015 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wanhua Chemical Group.

  The latest agreement was signed while a delegation of Kuwaiti officials visited China.

  As part of the visit, the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al‑Ahmad Al‑Jaber Al‑Sabah, and Sheikh Nawaf Al‑Sabah, chief executive of state‑owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), met Liu Bin, China’s assistant foreign minister, who delivered a written message from President Xi Jinping.

  Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah also met the chairman of the Chinese oil and gas enterprise Sinopec Group.

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  Wil Crisp