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Saudi Arabia’s Roads General Authority (RGA), the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) and the Aseer Development Authority have confirmed that 69 firms expressed interest in bidding for a contract to develop and operate the Asir-Jizan highway project.

The project is one of four planned highway schemes in the kingdom’s privatisation and public-private partnership (P&PPP) pipeline.

The companies that have expressed interest in the project comprise local and international investors, consultants, developers and contractors.

They are:

1. Abdul Ali Al-Ajmi Company (local)
2. Ajlan & Bros Holding Group (local)
3. AlBawani (local)
4. Al-Gihaz Holding (local)
5. Al-Jaber Contracting (local)
6. Al-Yamama Company for Trading & Contracting (local)
7. Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting (local)
8. Alkobraish Investment and Construction (local)
9. Asr Taqa Contracting (local)
10. Asyad Holding Company (local)
11. Awj International Contracting (local)
12. Buhur for Investment (local)
13. Buna Al-Khaleej Contracting (local)
14. Esnad Elturuq General Contracting (local)
15. GCLA Engineering Consultancy (local)
16. Mada International Holding (local)
17. Modern Building Leaders (local)
18. Mohammed Ali Al-Swailem Trading & Contracting (local)
19. Mowah Company (local)
20. Najd Roads Contracting (local)
21. Nesma & Partners (local)
22. Nesma Company (local)
23. Rio Arabia for Contracting (local)
24. Safari Company (local)
25. Samama Company for Operation & Management (local)
26. Samaya Investment Company (local)
27. Saudi Binladin Group (local)
28. Saudi Pan Kingdom Company (local)
29. Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting Company (local)
30. Twaik M. Al-Otaibi for Contracting (local)
31. Urbas Middle East (local)
32. Vision International Investment Company (local) 
33. Abdrn Investcorp Infrastructure Investments Manager (Cayman Islands)
34. Acciona (Spain)
35. AK Consulting Engineers (USA)
36. Alghanim International (Kuwait)
37. AtkinsRealis (Canada)
38. Bouygues Batiment International (France)
39. China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
40. China Railway 18th Bureau Group (China)
41. China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China)
42. Combined Group Contracting (Kuwait)
43. Contrax International (UAE)
44. Edgenta Arabia (Malaysia)
45. Egis (France)
46. Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait)
47. Hyundai E&C (South Korea)
48. IC Ictas (Turkiye)
49. Innovative Global Group (Australia)
50. Kalyon Insaat (Turkiye)
51. Kasktas Arabia (Turkiye)
52. Kolin Insaat (Turkiye)
53. Lamar Holding (Bahrain)
54. Larsen & Toubro (India)
55. Limak Group (Turkiye)
56. lntertoll lnternational Holdings (Netherlands)
57. Makyol (Turkiye)
58. Mapa Construction (Turkiye)
59. Metallurgical Corporation of China (China)
60. Mota Engil Europe (Portugal)
61. Onur Group (Turkiye)
62. Pak Yatırım (Turkiye)
63. Pini Group (Switzerland)
64. Plenary Group (Australia)
65. Salfo Engineering & Management (Greece)
66. Samsung C&T (South Korea)
67. Sichuan Road & Bridge Group (China)
68. Tamasuk Holding Company (Saudi Arabia)
69. WeBuild (Italy)

More than half of the companies that submitted an expression of interest (EoI) are headquartered in Saudi Arabia.

The rest of the companies are headquartered in China, Europe, the US, South Korea, Turkiye and other Middle Eastern countries.

The 136-kilometre Asir-Jizan highway will have three lanes in each direction, including six intersections, 57 bridges totalling 18km and 11 tunnels measuring 9km. The project starts at Al-Farah in Asir and extends to the Red Sea through Jizan.

The contract type is design, build, finance, operate and maintain, and the contract duration is 30 years.

The EOI notice was issued on 20 February, and the deadline for submission was in March.

Saudi PPP plans

MEED previously reported that Saudi Arabia had announced a P&PPP pipeline that includes 200 projects across 17 sectors.

This P&PPP pipeline aims to attract local and international investors and ensure their readiness to participate in the schemes tendered to the market.

The initiative comes as the kingdom strives to increase the attractiveness of its economy and raise the private sector’s contribution to GDP.