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  Jordan to build cross-border railway

  27 August 2025

  Jordan will develop a railway network that will connect it to neighbouring countries, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh told local media.

  Shehadeh said the project is part of the second phase of Jordan’s Economic Modernisation Vision 2033.

  He added that under the first phase of the Economic Modernisation Vision (2023-25), Jordan launched 512 projects aimed at stimulating growth and improving public services.

  The second phase of the roadmap will span 2026 to 2029. During this phase, the country plans to undertake major infrastructure projects.

  The Economic Modernisation Vision – Amman’s flagship vehicle for its reform proposition – aims to increase average real income per capita by 3% a year, create 1 million jobs and more than double the country’s GDP over 10 years. The programme calls for the private sector to take the lead, accounting for 73% of the total $58.8bn of required investment.

  To realise the vision, a large pipeline of public-private partnership (PPP) projects is required, covering areas such as water desalination, school construction, clean energy, green hydrogen, transport improvements and road construction.

  Jordan is also developing several major infrastructure projects, most on a PPP basis. The most prominent is a phosphate railway line being developed in partnership with the UAE’s Etihad Rail.

  A detailed study on the railway alignment and requirements for handling potash and phosphate is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with main contract tenders to follow early next year.

  In September last year, Etihad Rail announced it had signed a $2.3bn memorandum of understanding with Jordan’s Transport Ministry and local firms to develop the project on a build-operate-maintain basis.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
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  October deadline set for Abha airport PPP bids

  27 August 2025

  

   

  Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Holding Company (Matarat) and the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) have extended the tender closing date to mid-October for a contract to develop and operate a new passenger terminal building and related facilities at Abha International airport.

  MEED understands that the previous bid deadline was in late June.

  In early March, the clients held one-on-one meetings with prospective bidders in Riyadh, as reported by MEED.

  The companies prequalified to bid for the contract are:

  • GMR Airports (India)
  • Mada TAV: Mada International Holding (local) / TAV Airports Holding
  • Touwalk Alliance: Skilled Engineers Contracting (local) / Limak Insaat (Turkiye) / Incheon International Airport Corporation (South Korea) / Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair & Partners, Lebanon) /  Obermeyer Middle East (Germany/Abu Dhabi)
  • VI Asyad DAA: Vision International Investment Company (local) / Asyad Holding (local) / DAA International (Ireland)

  Located in Asir Province, the first phase of the Abha International airport public-private partnership (PPP) project will expand the terminal area from 10,500 square metres (sq m) to 65,000 sq m.

  The contract scope includes a new rapid-exit taxiway on the existing runway, a new apron to serve the new terminal, access roads to the new terminal building and a new car park area.

  Additionally, the scope encompasses support facilities, including an electrical substation expansion and a new sewage treatment plant. 

  Construction is scheduled for completion in 2028.

  The project will be developed under a build-transfer-operate (BTO) model and involves designing, financing, constructing and operating a greenfield terminal.

  This will be the kingdom’s third airport PPP project, following the Hajj terminal at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport and the $1.2bn Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina.

  Higher capacity

  According to Matarat, Abha airport’s capacity will increase to accommodate over 13 million passengers annually—a 10-fold rise from its current 1.5 million capacity.

  Once completed, the airport will handle more than 90,000 flights a year, up from 30,000.

  The new terminal is also expected to feature 20 gates and 41 check-in counters, including seven new self-service check-in kiosks.

  The BTO contract duration is 30 years.

  The existing terminal, which served 4.4 million passengers in 2019, will be closed once the new terminal becomes operational.

  Matarat’s transaction advisory team for the project comprises UK-headquartered Deloitte as financial adviser, ALG as technical adviser and London-based Ashurst as legal adviser.

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  READ THE AUGUST 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

  Gulf heads into a new era of aviation; Maghreb’s resilience rises despite global pressures; GCC banks expand issuance amid demand

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA 1: Middle East invests in giant airports > AGENDA 2: Broader region upgrades its airports > AGENDA 3: Global air travel shifts east > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Syria wrestles fragile security situation > GCC BANKS: Gulf banks navigate turbulent times > BANKING: Strategic planning enters a new era of volatility > CONSTRUCTION: Soudah Peaks outlines project construction plans > INTERVIEW: SETS leads Saudi heritage preservation charge > LEADERSHIP: From plastic leakage to leadership in the Gulf > MAGHREB MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb pushes for stability

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

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  Yasir Iqbal
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  Kuwait tenders major wastewater consultancy

  27 August 2025

  Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has issued a tender for consultancy services covering the study, design, operation and maintenance of two wastewater purification and treatment plants.

  The plants will have capacities of 400,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) and 60,000 cm/d.

  The scope includes the preparation of standard tender documents and all associated pumping lines. 

  The deadline for submitting bids is 31 August, and the duration of the contract is 18 months. 

  Conditions require firms to have designed at least three wastewater treatment plants, with a capacity of no less than 150,000 cm/d in the past 10 years. Each project must have had a consultancy services contract value of at least KD1.5m ($5m).

  Kuwait has been expanding its wastewater treatment capacity in recent years through projects such as the Umm Al-Hayman wastewater public-private partnership, which has an initial capacity of 500,000 cm/d.

  In August, MEED reported on the lowest bidder for phase two of a seawater desalination plant in Doha, Kuwait.

  This is part of Kuwait’s broader programme to expand water production capacity and reduce reliance on thermal desalination methods.

  Interested firms can obtain documents from PAHW’s headquarters in South Surra for a non-refundable fee of KD500 ($1,600).

  Bidders must provide an initial guarantee of KD50,000 valid for 90 days. The final guarantee will be equal to 10% of the total contract value.

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Lowest bidder emerges for Oman Burj Al-Sahwa project

  27 August 2025

  

   

  The local subsidiary of Austrian firm Strabag has submitted the lowest main bid for the construction of the Burj Al-Sahwa roundabout and its associated roads in Muscat, Oman.

  According to the results published by the Oman Tender Board, Strabag submitted a main bid priced at RO201m ($522m).

  The other bidders were:

  • Galfar Engineering & Contracting: Main bid – $632m; Alternate bid – $320m
  • Sarooj Construction Company: Main bid – $871m; Alternate bid – $124m

  The tender for the main contract was initially issued in January this year. Technical bids were opened in May, followed by the opening of commercial bids on 20 August.

  UK analytics firm GlobalData expects the Omani construction industry to grow at an average annual rate of 4.2% between 2025 and 2028, driven by investments aligned with the Oman Vision 2040 strategy. Under this strategy, the government plans to allocate RO20bn ($52bn) to the tourism sector and aims to attract 11 million visitors annually by 2040. 

  The commercial construction sector is projected to expand by 1.4% in real terms in 2024, followed by an average annual growth rate of 3.6% between 2025 and 2028, supported by a rebound in tourism and growth in wholesale and retail trade activities.

  

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
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  Tecnimont installs key equipment at Project Harvest site

  27 August 2025

  Italian contractor Tecnimont has announced the completion of the first phase of heavy equipment installation at the under-construction blue hydrogen and blue ammonia production facility, known as Project Harvest, in Abu Dhabi.

  Abu Dhabi is set to become a major producer of blue hydrogen and blue ammonia when the complex, which is being developed as part of the first phase of the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, becomes operational in 2027.

  A joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group) subsidiary Fertiglobe, South Korea’s GS Energy Corporation and Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Company is the main stakeholder in Project Harvest, which will have an output capacity of 1 million tonnes a year (t/y).

  The joint venture awarded Tecnimont the main contract, estimated at $500m, for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the blue ammonia production project in May 2024. Construction began the following month.

  In a post on , Tecnimont said that installation of the main ammonia converter – weighing over 700 tonnes – along with other major equipment, was completed on 22 July using a 1,600-tonne crawler crane.

  “Thanks to strategic planning and early preparation of the foundations, most of the equipment was positioned directly upon arrival, minimising handling and optimising time and resources,” Tecnimont said on 26 August.
   
  “More than a technical feat, this milestone opens up new work fronts across the civil, underground and steel structure phases, accelerating the path towards the next project objectives,” the Milan-headquartered and listed contractor said in its post.

  Project Rabdan

  While EPC works continue on Project Harvest – the first phase of the Taziz blue hydrogen and blue ammonia complex – Fertiglobe has delayed the final investment decision (FID) on the planned second phase, known as Project Rabdan.

  The Rabdan complex is intended to use natural gas supplied by Adnoc – Fertiglobe’s parent company and majority shareholder – to produce up to 1 million t/y of low‑carbon liquid ammonia, also known as blue ammonia.

  Also located within the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, the Rabdan facility will have the capacity to produce 192,000 t/y of blue hydrogen and 892,000 t/y of nitrogen for supply to a local offtaker.

  In its Q2 and H1 2025 financial results announcement, Fertiglobe stated that it had decided to “rephase Project Rabdan”.

  Fertiglobe CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy told MEED in May that he expected the FID for Project Rabdan to be reached in 2026.

  Photo credit: Tecnimont via 

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  Indrajit Sen