meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Kuwait’s Gulf Centre United sets course for expansion

11 August 2023

This month’s special report on Kuwait includes: 

> ECONOMY: Stakeholders hope Kuwait can execute spending plans
> ENERGY: Kuwait’s $300bn energy target is a big test
> BANKING: Kuwaiti banks enter bounce-back mode

 

Kuwait-based Gulf Centre United Industrial Equipment, which specialises in the fabrication and supply of tailor-made construction equipment, has set its sights on expansion within the country, according to the company’s chief operating officer Majed Yazji.

The equipment the company makes includes rock-crushing machinery, concrete plants and asphalt units. It also acts as an agent, importing equipment made in Europe into the Middle East region.

While Kuwait has seen a dramatic decline in infrastructure project activity over recent years, Yazi is confident that the family business will be able to execute its expansion plans.

Road maintenance

One factor fuelling optimism about the firm’s future is that the country has continued to prioritise road maintenance contracts.                                                                                              

In May, it was announced that a road maintenance project valued at about $800m had attracted 36 contractors.

Prospective bidders included companies from Japan, South Korea, France, China, India, the US and Hungary, according to tender documents.

“This is a very big maintenance project and it gives us confidence there is going to be demand for our services within Kuwait for some time to come,” said Yazji.

There are five asphalt factories in Kuwait and Gulf Centre United Industrial Equipment is engaging with them over the correct way to create long-lasting asphalt that can endure the country’s high temperatures.

“This is a very big contract and it is currently seeing progress, but it remains in its early stages and it is unclear at the moment exactly when it will be awarded,” said Yazji.

“Whichever contractor wins this, it is very likely that we will end up supplying them with services, including fabrication.”

Remediation projects

Gulf Centre United Industrial Equipment also expects to benefit from the large oil remediation projects that are continuing in Kuwait.

Many of these clean-up projects are focused on damage done during the 1990-91 Gulf War and are funded using reparations from Iraq that have been put into a fund by the UN.

These projects have seen good progress over recent years as they are not reliant on budgets being signed off by policymakers.

Political instability is one of the biggest factors in the decline in Kuwaiti infrastructure contract awards over recent years.

Kuwait has had three elections in three years, creating policy uncertainty that has significantly impacted businesses and led to a contraction in the country’s energy sector.

The ongoing Kuwait Environmental Remediation Programme (Kerp) is understood to be deploying about $3.5bn of the reparation funds, cleaning up the damage caused by oil spills related to the war.

Approximately 114 square kilometres of Kuwaiti desert surface was contaminated by the burning of nearly 700 oil wells, which were set on fire by the troops forced into retreat by the US-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Treatments include bio-remediation, whereby bacteria breaks down oil, and mechanical soil washing, which uses machines to separate oil from soil.

Gulf Centre United Industrial Equipment has participated in the Kerp projects by acting as an agent and supplying equipment from overseas to contractors carrying out mechanical soil washing to decontaminate polluted areas.

We are very optimistic about our prospects in Saudi Arabia over the coming years
Majed Yazji, Gulf Centre United Industrial Equipment

Saudi expansion

Gulf Centre United is also expanding regionally. It has already opened an office in Oman and is looking to start operations in Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the project boom in the kingdom.

The company is studying a range of locations in Saudi Arabia, according to Yazji.

These include locations near the Red Sea, the Neom project site and close to Al-Khobar.

Gulf Centre United believes there is scope for carrying out significant work related to the Neom project, which is estimated to be worth $500bn.

“We are expecting to make our final decision on the location for our fabrication yard in Saudi Arabia before the end of the year,” said Yazji.

“We are expecting to see a surge in demand for the type of equipment that we make that screens sand and crushes rock so that it can be used in concrete. We are very optimistic about our prospects in Saudi Arabia over the coming years.

“We are keeping a close eye on plans to build new concrete factories in Saudi Arabia at the moment.”

Gulf Centre United is additionally looking to leverage its experience in supplying remediation equipment in Saudi Arabia, where there are also plans for major remediation projects.

“We have a lot of areas of specialisation that are likely to be very valuable as we ramp up our work in Saudi Arabia,” said Yazji.

Although Yazji is confident that his company will see rapid growth both within Kuwait and regionally, the expansion is unlikely to be easy, given the current business environment.

Between the start of 2020 and the beginning of May this year, Kuwait’s total value of all active oil, gas and chemicals projects declined by 65 per cent, from $67.1bn to just $23.5bn.

Many industry stakeholders say that breaking the political deadlock is essential for reversing the slowdown in activity in the country’s industrial sector.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11037977/main3527.jpg
Wil Crisp

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

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Public Investment Fund backs Neom

    16 April 2026

    Commentary
    Colin Foreman
    Editor

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has backed Neom by including it as one of six strategic ecosystems in its newly approved 2026-30 strategy.

    The future of the $500bn gigaproject had been thrown into doubt following the postponement of the 2029 Asian Winter Games at the Trojena mountain resort, the cancellation of construction contracts – such as the $5bn deal with Italian contractor Webuild for dam works at Trojena – and the slowdown of development at The Line, where tunnelling contracts were cancelled and staff left the project.

    The backing comes as Neom’s operational focus appears to be evolving in response to shifting regional dynamics and global economic conditions. For example, on 15 April Neom posted on its official X account about a new Europe-Egypt-Neom-GCC corridor, describing it as a faster route for time-sensitive goods. It said the corridor combines trucking and ferry services to move goods quickly into the Gulf, adding that importers from several European markets are already using it to reach the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and beyond.

    Powered by Pan Marine, DFDS and regional RoPax services, the initiative is positioned as a way to add flexibility and resilience to regional supply chains. This emphasis on logistics and immediate trade utility suggests a shift away from the more speculative architectural announcements that characterised Neom’s early years, towards activity more directly tied to current market realities.

    PIF’s broader 2026-30 strategy places heavy emphasis on “delivering competitive domestic ecosystems to connect sectors, unlock the full potential of strategic assets, maximise long-term returns and continue to drive the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia”.

    The inclusion of Neom as a standalone ecosystem within the Vision Portfolio suggests that while the project remains part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals, it will be subject to the fund's focus on working with the private sector.

    That means the long-term success of Neom will increasingly depend on its ability to attract external investment and function as a viable economic hub rather than just a state-funded construction site.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16417262/main.jpeg
    Colin Foreman
  • 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