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  Oman’s Nama PWP tenders consultancy contract

  3 April 2026

  Oman’s Nama Power and Water Procurement Company (Nama PWP) has opened a tender for the provision of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting consultancy services.

  The tender seeks proposals from interested parties to support the utility in assessing its ESG maturity and identifying gaps against the Oman Investment Authority’s ESG guidelines.

  The deadline for firms to submit offers is 10 May.

  According to the tender notice, the selected consultant will develop the required ESG policies, strategy, report and implementation roadmap.

  Nama PWP, part of Nama Group, said the scope of work is intended to support the company’s wider ESG framework as it continues to procure new power and water capacity in Oman.

  The utility also recently opened a tender seeking proposals from qualified law firms to provide legal consultancy services in Oman.

  The selected firms will be included on a panel and engaged on an as-needed basis. They will deliver legal advisory services across a range of matters relevant to Nama PWP’s business.

  The deadline for firms to submit offers is 21 April.

  In March, the state utility released its latest seven-year plan outlining rapid expansion of solar and wind projects.

  It expects the renewable energy share of Oman's power generation mix to increase steadily across the period, reaching 16% in 2028 and 21% in 2029 before rising to 30% in 2030. This compares to about 4% in 2024.

  The pipeline includes a series of large-scale independent power projects (IPPs) scheduled for delivery between 2027 and 2031.

  Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the sultanate is projected to rise from 1.54GW in 2024 to 23.26GW by 2031. Wind capacity is expected to grow from 120MW to 6.75GW, 

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Saudi Arabia seeks firms for food testing labs PPP project

  2 April 2026

  Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities & Housing, in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), has issued an expression of interest (EOI) notice for a contract to develop and operate municipal food safety laboratories under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

  The project will be delivered on an equip, operate, maintain and transfer basis, with a contract duration of five years.

  The EOI was issued on 1 April, with a submission deadline of 15 April.

  The project scope covers the equipping, operation and maintenance of municipal food safety laboratories across five municipalities: Hafr Al-Batin, Northern Borders, Tabuk, Qassim and Al-Ahsa.

  Key objectives include upgrading laboratory equipment, expanding chemical and microbiological testing capacity for food and water products, and enhancing testing accuracy to support laboratory compliance across the value chain. The project also aims to ensure effective knowledge transfer and a structured handover to the relevant municipalities at the end of the contract term.

  NCP said in a statement: “The project is intended to strengthen public health and safety standards for citizens and residents of the kingdom in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, while developing the municipal monitoring ecosystem, optimising food and water testing services, and enabling private sector participation in accordance with global best practices.”

  In October last year, NCP highlighted the scale and diversity of opportunities in the kingdom’s PPP pipeline.

  “At the moment, we have around 200 projects in the pipeline with a total value of roughly $190bn,” said Salman Badr, executive vice president – infrastructure advisory, NCP, during a MEED webinar.

  The projects are spread across 17 sectors. “We have a very sizable programme, and it reflects the breadth of the kingdom’s transformation agenda,” he said.

  NCP was established in 2017. It serves as the central authority and catalyst for designing and implementing privatisation and PPP projects across the kingdom.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
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  Parsons to project manage Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah

  2 April 2026

  US-based engineering firm Parsons Corporation has been awarded a contract by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Club Company to act as project management consultant for the Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah.

  Under the contract, Parsons will support the project during the design stage.

  The sports village will be developed near King Abdullah Sports City and will include Al-Ittihad’s headquarters, academy training pitches and supporting facilities, performance development centres, administrative offices and a range of commercial components.

  The development is being designed in line with Fifa requirements and international best practices, with the aim of strengthening high-performance sports infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

  The latest award follows Parsons’ recent appointment to a 60-month contract by the Public Investment Fund-backed New Murabba Development Company to provide design and construction technical support.

  As part of that role, Parsons will support the development of the project’s downtown area, which will span 14 million square metres of residential, workplace and entertainment space.

  In October last year, Parsons announced it had secured a SR210m ($56m) contract from Diriyah Company. Its scope includes the design and construction supervision of infrastructure works in phase two of the Diriyah project, covering streets, footpaths, open spaces, and civic buildings and facilities.

  In May last year, Parsons also confirmed its appointment as delivery partner for the airside and landside packages at King Salman International airport in Riyadh.

  In a statement, Parsons said it had signed two contracts with King Salman International Airport Development Company. The first covers airfield assets, including runways, taxiways, aircraft parking areas and air traffic control towers.

  The second contract relates to landside infrastructure, including roads, utilities, tunnels, bridges, rail networks and landscaping.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Read the April 2026 MEED Business Review

  2 April 2026

  Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access

  When the first missiles and drones were fired at the GCC on 28 February, the region’s economic story pivoted abruptly, from long-term vision-building to near-term resilience.

  The conflict is now the Gulf’s most consequential economic stress test in a generation. It is challenging the safe haven premium that underpins capital inflows, while disrupting the physical networks that keep the region’s economies running, from energy exports and shipping lanes to airports and tourism.

  MEED editor Colin Foreman asks whether the GCC can sustain investor confidence as energy assets, trade routes, airports and banks absorb the shock. Read more here.

  April’s market focus is on Saudi Arabia, where the Iran war is compounding the logic behind the kingdom’s strategic pivot in its investment plans.

  This edition also includes MEED’s 2026 GCC contractor ranking, in which Chinese firms have surged to the top as Saudi spending cuts and geopolitical risks weigh on GCC construction activity.

  In the latest issue, we explore the region’s evolving arbitration landscape; present exclusive leadership insight from Jacobs on the future of passenger rail in the Middle East; and talk to Leyla Abdimomunova, head of real estate and construction at the Public Investment Fund’s National Development Division, about remaking Saudi construction.

  We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review. 

  

   

  Must-read sections in the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review include:

  > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire

  INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC contractor ranking > Construction guard undergoes a shift

  > LEGAL: Redefining the region’s arbitration landscape

  > QATAR LNG: Qatar’s new $8bn investment heats up global LNG race  

  > INTERVIEW: Leyla Abdimomunova, National Development Division, PIF

  > LEADERSHIP: Shaping the future of passenger rail in the Middle East 

  > SAUDI MARKET FOCUS: 
  > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
  > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
  > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
  > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
  > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
  > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
  > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
  > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

  > MEED COMMENTS: 
  > Iran war erodes LNG’s image of reliability
  > Dubai's real estate faces a hard test
  > Energy resilience matters as much as capacity
  > Drawn-out conflict may shift planning priorities

  > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf index rises amid tensions

  > FEBRUARY 2025 CONTRACTS: Middle East contract awards

  > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects

  > OPINION: The end of the republic and the end of times

  > BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts

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

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  MEED Editorial
• 
  Consultants submit bids for Al-Maktoum airport metro link

  2 April 2026

  

   

  French firm Egis has emerged as the lowest bidder for the design contract for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect with Al-Maktoum International airport’s West Terminal.

  Egis submitted the lowest bid, priced at AED232.6m ($63.3m).

  The other bidders are:

  • Halcrow International (UK): $66.4m
  • Parsons (US): $71.3m
  • Aecom (US): $82.6m
  • Surbana Jurong (Singapore): $106m

  The extension to the line will run for about 3 kilometres (km) and will feature two stations.

  MEED understands that the invitation to bid was issued in January with a submission deadline of mid-March.

  The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.

  The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) awarded the AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) design-and-build contract for the project to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkiye’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom in 2016.

  Dubai’s plans for its metro network do not stop with connecting the extension of the Route 2020 metro line to Al-Maktoum International airport. There are long-term plans for further extensions.

  Other metro projects

  In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had selected US-based engineering firm Aecom to provide consultancy services for the upcoming Dubai Metro Gold Line project, also known as Metro Line 4.

  The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.

  The other metro lines in the pipeline are the Purple Line and the Pink Line, both of which are in the early stages of development.

  Firms are also bidding to update the emirate’s rail masterplan. In October 2025, MEED reported that 10 firms had submitted offers to undertake the project.

  The rail masterplan study will update and modify the RTA’s rail network, which includes the Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram. These plans will support Dubai’s 2040 urban masterplan, which aims for all residents to be within a 30-minute metro or light-rail trip to their place of work. 

  The existing network includes the Red and Green lines of the Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram, which connects Al-Sufouh and Dubai Marina to the metro network. The last rail project to start operations in Dubai was the Red Line extension that opened for Expo 2020.

  There are also existing and planned rail lines connecting Dubai to other emirates that are being developed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail. These include passenger and freight services as well as a high-speed rail connection.

  In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract for the Dubai Metro Blue Line project to a consortium of Turkish firms Limak Holding and Mapa Group and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

  The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Al-Jaddaf, Al-Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as a station in Dubai Creek Harbour. By 2040, daily ridership on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000 passengers. It will be the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek, doing so on a 1,300-metre viaduct.

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  Yasir Iqbal