meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Kuwait poised for renewed project activity

29 August 2023

This month’s special report on Kuwait also includes: 

> POLITICS: Stakeholders hope Kuwait can execute spending plans
> ECONOMY: Kuwait enjoys sustained non-oil growth
> ENERGY: Kuwait’s $300bn energy target is a big test
> POWER & WATER: Warming erodes Kuwait’s power and water reserves
> BANKING: Kuwaiti banks enter bounce-back mode
> INTERVIEW: Kuwait’s Gulf Centre United sets course for expansion

 

Higher oil prices are usually the signal for GCC oil exporters to open their wallets and engage in some crowd-pleasing project spending. This was certainly true for Kuwait in 2014, 2015 and 2016, when contract awards activity in the construction and transport sectors soared close to $27bn.

However, the situation is notably different in 2023, due to the country’s long-running political impasse between its parliament and executive body disrupting decision-making.

After witnessing two consecutive years of positive growth in 2020 and 2021, Kuwait’s overall project activity dropped significantly.

The construction and transport projects market saw a decline of about 40 per cent in 2022 to settle at just under $1.7bn as a result of fewer project awards. 

So far this year, the country has awarded $1.2bn-worth of contracts in the construction and transportation sectors.

Construction contraction

Construction was the second-largest projects sector in Kuwait last year, with about $627m of contract awards in 2022. In 2023 so far, there have been awards worth about $440m, setting the year on a similar trajectory. 

Both of these figures are well below the $1.8bn average annual awards between 2018 and 2022, or the $4bn average annual spend in the five years before that. 

As with other project sectors in Kuwait, construction is a victim of a significant curtailing of public project spending in the country as planned schemes have been caught up in the political infighting over expenditure and debt.

The pipeline of planned and unawarded construction projects in the country meanwhile stands at about $22.9bn, with $8.7bn-worth of projects under study, $6.6bn in design and $7.6bn in the bidding phase.

The largest projects are two dredging and reclamation schemes being carried out in anticipation of future developments. The first of these is a $900m scheme under the Ministry of Public Works to prepare the way for phase one of the Mubarak al-Kabeer port development, and the second is a $675m reclamation project as part of Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) North & South Kuwait Revegetation Project.

There is also a $400m villa construction project in prequalification as part of phase two of KOC’s Mina al-Ahmadi Township redevelopment scheme. 

Public projects worth $1.4bn are in the design stage as part of the development of Sabah al-Salem University’s medical campus. These include a hospital and colleges for medicine and dentistry. 

Among the latest projects added to the pipeline are the $8bn-worth of planned real estate developments in the Neutral Zone that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share. 

In July, Gulf Coast Real Estate Development Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, received bids from companies to provide project management consultancy services and invited firms to bid for another contract covering cost consultancy services.

Transport traction

The transport sector had the strongest project activity in Kuwait in 2022, with more than $1bn-worth of awards. This beat the average annual awards total of $800m from 2018 to 2022. 

In 2023, there have also been awards worth $800m year-to-date, without accounting for awards in the last four months of the year. The largest projects were for road works and surfacing, led by a $370m scheme for road infrastructure works as part of the Sabah al-Ahmad residential project under the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW).

There are about $28bn-worth of planned transport projects in Kuwait. Of these, about $22.9bn are still in the early stages, $2.3bn in design and $2.8bn in the bidding phase.

The largest project in the bidding stage is a similar road infrastructure project for PAHW, but this time a $1.3bn contract as part of the South Saad al-Abdullah housing scheme. 

Also in the bidding phase is a $550m project for the preparation of four rest stops and mixed-used developments along Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah Causeway – a project directly under the Council of Ministers General Secretariat.

There are also 10 tenders from the Ministry of Public Works, worth $726m-$792m, for road and bridge maintenance and stormwater upgrade works in several parts of the country, including the capital city, Hawally, Farwaniya, Jahra and Mubarak al-Kabeer.

In total, between the construction and transport sectors, there are $4.7bn-worth of projects past the prequalification stage and at either the bid submission or bid evaluation stage. 

If even half of this value is awarded, 2023 could become the best year for general contractors since 2018. Much of this value is bound up in very large projects, however, and will rest on the resumption of major schemes that in turn could require the go-ahead from parliament.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11103323/main.gif
Yasir Iqbal

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Algeria opens bidding for water treatment plant

    15 April 2026

     

    State-owned Cosider Pipelines, part of Algeria’s public infrastructure group Cosider, has issued a tender for the construction of a demineralisation plant in In Salah in Algeria.

    The contract covers the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a plant with a treatment capacity of 62,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

    The tender is open to local and international companies specialising in the design and construction of demineralisation and reverse osmosis desalination plants.

    The bid submission deadline is 26 April.

    The project will be located at In Salah, a key industrial area in southern Algeria, where treated water supply is important for both municipal and industrial use.

    Cosider said that individual bidders must demonstrate that they have completed at least one reverse osmosis demineralisation or desalination plant with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres a day or more.

    They must also show an average annual turnover of at least AD1bn ($7.7m) for their five best years over the past decade.

    For consortium bids, all partners must share full responsibility for the contract, while the lead company must meet the technical and financial requirements.

    Recent projects

    In 2023, MEED reported that Riyadh-based water utility developer Wetico had won two contracts to develop water desalination plants in Algeria.

    Societe Algerienne de Realisation de Projects Industriels (Sarpi) awarded the contract for the El-Tarf desalination plant, while Entreprise Nationale de Canalisations (Enac) is the client for the Bejaja facility.

    Both plants were commissioned in 2025, each with a production capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

    Separately, Wetico was the main contractor on a third plant commissioned last year. The Cap Dijinet 2 seawater desalination plant in Boumerdes province covers 18 hectares and also has a capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

    Like many countries, Algeria is facing pressure on resources due to longer and more frequent droughts. Seawater desalination is seen as a key driver of the government’s strategy to guarantee drinking water supply.

    According to previous reports, the government is planning to build up to six additional plants by 2030.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16404325/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • WEBINAR: UAE Projects Market 2026

    15 April 2026

    Webinar: UAE Projects Market 2026
    Tuesday, 28 April 2026 | 11:00 GST  |  Register now

    Agenda:

    • Overview of the UAE projects market landscape
    • 2025 projects market performance
    • Value of work awarded 2026 YTD
    • Impact of the Iran conflict on the projects market and real estate, assessing supply chain disruptions, material cost inflation and war risk premiums
    • Key drivers, challenges and opportunities
    • Size of future pipeline by sector and status
    • Ranking of the top contractors and clients
    • Summary of key current and future projects
    • Short and long-term market outlook
    • Audience Q&A

    Hosted by: Colin Foreman, editor of MEED 

    Colin Foreman is editor and a specialist construction journalist for news and analysis on MEED.com and the MEED Business Review magazine. He has been reporting on the region since 2003, specialising in the construction sector and its impact on the broader economy. He has reported exclusively on a wide range of projects across the region including Dubai Metro, the Burj Khalifa, Jeddah Airport, Doha Metro, Hamad International airport and Yas Island. Before joining MEED, Colin reported on the construction sector in Hong Kong.

    Click here to register

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401868/main.gif
    Colin Foreman
  • Saudi Landbridge finds its moment in Gulf turmoil

    15 April 2026

    Commentary
    Yasir Iqbal
    Construction writer

    The strategic case for the Saudi Landbridge has never been more urgent. SAR’s appointment of Spain’s Typsa as lead design consultant, reported by MEED this week, is more than a procurement milestone. After two decades of delays, it reflects how the long-deferred project has become a strategic necessity.

    The conflict reshaping the Middle East has made that necessity more immediate. Red Sea transits are costly and unpredictable. The Strait of Hormuz carries risk no insurer can fully price. Saudi Arabia’s most valuable exports, including crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals and industrial goods, move almost entirely by sea through routes that are no longer reliably secure.

    The kingdom sits between two coastlines with no rail link connecting them. That gap is now an economic exposure.

    The $27bn project addresses it directly. More than 1,500 kilometres of track, anchored by a 900km railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, will provide direct freight access from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea, with upgrades to the Riyadh-Dammam line and a new connection to Yanbu.

    Together, they create what Saudi Arabia has never had: a continuous land corridor linking Gulf industrial ports to Red Sea export terminals, entirely within its own borders.

    The commercial implications are substantial. Aramco’s downstream output, Sabic’s chemicals, and the manufacturing clusters of Jubail and Yanbu gain flexible access to both coasts.

    Exporters targeting Europe and the Americas load at Jeddah; those serving Asia pivot east to Dammam by rail, on demand, without Hormuz risk or Red Sea freight surcharges.

    No neighbouring economy has that optionality. The network also underpins a broader economic ambition. Connecting Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Jubail, Yanbu, King Abdullah port and King Khalid airport by rail positions the kingdom as a genuine logistics corridor between East and West. 

    With design now under way and construction tenders expected imminently, the Landbridge is closer to reality than at any point in its troubled history. Regional disruption did not create this project. But it has made the argument for it unanswerable.

    MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

    > 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

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401567/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Indian firm selected for Saudi sewage treatment project

    15 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company is understood to have recently selected Indian contractor VA Tech Wabag as its preferred bidder for a contract to expand a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Al-Majmaah in Riyadh Province.

    The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package for the Al-Majmaah STP has an estimated value of $65m.

    The scope includes the construction of sewage treatment plant units, a pumping station and an effluent surplus line. It also covers the installation of a Scada system, supervisory control systems and associated facilities.

    As MEED understands, six bids were submitted last year, including from local firms Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies, Al-Rafia Contracting, Civil Works Company, Saudi Sdn Water & Energy and Washnah Trading & Contracting.

    The project forms part of Saudi Arabia’s broader push to expand treatment and reuse infrastructure under Vision 2030, particularly across the Riyadh region.

    MEED recently revealed that NWC had awarded an EPC contract for the latest phase of its long-term operations and maintenance sewage treatment programme.

    The contract to build and upgrade sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of about 440,000 cubic metres a day was awarded to a consortium led by China’s Jiangsu United Water Technology.

    Elsewhere, a joint venture of Kuwait-based Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding and Wabag is awaiting the formal contract award for phase two of Kuwait’s Doha seawater desalination plant project.

    The firms submitted the lowest bid of $373.2m for the project last year.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16401155/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • SAR extends phosphate rail track deadline

    15 April 2026

     

    Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has extended the bid submission deadline to 26 April for a multibillion-riyal tender to double the tracks on the existing phosphate transport railway network connecting the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

    The new tender – covering the second section of the track-doubling works and spanning more than 150 kilometres (km) – was issued on 9 February. The previous bid submission deadline was 15 April.

    The new tender follows SAR receiving bids from contractors on 1 February for the project’s first phase, which spans about 100km from the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

    The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, new utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track. It also includes support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

    The tender notice was issued in late November, with a bid submission deadline of 20 January 2026.

    Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

    MEED understands that these two packages are the first of four that SAR is expected to tender for the phosphate railway line. Other packages expected to be tendered shortly include the depot and systems packages.

    In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track along the North Train Freight Line and construct three new freight yards.

    Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southward to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

    Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase the network’s cargo-carrying capacity and facilitate increased industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

    State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16400986/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal