Read the May 2023 MEED Business Review
28 April 2023
| Download / Subscribe / Guest programme |
As Neom morphs from a desert dream into a strategic market in its own right, contract awards on the futuristic Saudi gigaproject are soaring.
The Line and other developments at Neom awarded $13.6bn of contracts in 2022, more than established markets such as Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The total for 2023 is expected to be even higher.
MEED's latest issue takes an in-depth look at the challenges and opportunities presented by Neom.
Although work on site is still in the early stages, it is already the world’s largest piling project, with more than 4,500 piles reaching down to a depth of 57 metres driven so far, which at times has meant 60 piles installed a day. MEED editor Colin Foreman visited the site recently and reports on the progress here.
Delivering such a large volume of work is a major challenge for the construction industry, and the issues involved, particularly securing resources, have been well documented.
However, there has been little discussion regarding the unique potential that this magnitude presents.
David Heron, Neom's director of industrialised design and construction, tells MEED why Neom offers the chance to fix a broken construction industry.
The May 2023 issue of MEED Business Review also includes an 18-page special report on the UAE, and finds Abu Dhabi on a winning spree of economic projection- and recession-defying growth.
For the second year running, the UAE is headed for robust economic growth against a backdrop of far gloomier global and regional average growth projections.
Our upstream report on oil developers, meanwhile, reveals who the top 10 national Mena oil companies are and how much they plan to spend on capacity-building. It also highlights why, for international oil firms, there is no place like Iraq.
We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the May 2023 issue of MEED Business Review.

Must-read sections in the May 2023 edition of MEED Business Review include:
> AGENDA: Neom becomes real-world building project
> THE LINE SITE REPORT: World’s largest piling project shifts to The Line’s marina
> NEOM INTERVIEW: Neom to fix construction
> CHINA: Belt and Road woes could benefit the Gulf
> CREDIT SUISSE FALLOUT: GCC banks navigate demise of Credit Suisse
> OIL DEVELOPERS REPORT:
Capacity building spurs regional upstream spending
No place like Iraq for international oil firms
> UAE MARKET FOCUS: UAE growth defies the global gloom
> MEED COMMENTS:
Trojena dams face countdown to make it snow
Dubai returns to the iconic with Candy towers project
Mena countries’ generation priorities diverge
Cashing in on decarbonisation in Saudi
> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market underwhelms in April
> MARCH 2023 CONTRACTS: Region enjoys promising upswing
> INTERVIEW: Carbon Engineering in regional carbon capture talks
> INTERVIEW: Stadiums can be contractor busters
> LEADERSHIP: Shaping future cities by learning from the past
> MARKET SNAPSHOT: Top Mena contractors
> OPINION: A century of errors for the Middle East
> BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
-
Consortium signs PPA for Taweelah C power plant3 June 2026
-
-
Syria to tender gas plant contract3 June 2026
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Aramco and Emerson partner for corrosion management3 June 2026
Saudi Aramco has entered into a partnership with US-based industrial automation provider Emerson to jointly develop corrosion management systems.
As part of the corrosion research and development collaboration, Aramco will “combine its expertise and intellectual property with Emerson’s advanced corrosion solutions to digitalise and transform corrosion management”, Emerson said in a statement.
For Aramco, corrosion management is a strategic priority that is closely linked to operational performance, safety and environmental stewardship. Continuous corrosion monitoring can replace labour-intensive and potentially hazardous manual inspections while providing a reliable stream of digital data to support decision-making and asset integrity management.
The collaboration builds on the companies’ existing relationship. In May, Emerson announced the deployment of an artificial intelligence-driven optimisation system for Aramco.
The current phase of that initiative focuses on expanding a hybrid modelling approach for hydrocracker units across Aramco’s operations. The expansion is expected to improve model accuracy while demonstrating the scalability and robustness of the AI-driven optimisation strategy across the company’s asset base.
Emerson has steadily expanded its presence in Saudi Arabia over the past 16 years. Key milestones include the opening of facilities in Jubail, Dammam and Dhahran, as well as the launch of a manufacturing hub at King Salman Energy Park (Spark) in 2024.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17091834/main4428.jpg -
Iranian drones hit Kuwait International airport’s Terminal 13 June 2026
Kuwait International airport was struck by a fresh wave of hostile drone attacks on 3 June. The drones caused significant structural damage to Terminal 1 and wounded several individuals.
Brigadier General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, official spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, blamed the strikes on “criminal Iranian aggression”. He confirmed that the injured had been evacuated for medical care and stated that the armed forces remain in a state of complete readiness to secure the state.
The incident is the third major drone strike on the hub in recent months. On 1 April, a drone strike hit fuel tanks managed by Kuwait Aviation Fuelling Company, sparking massive fires. On March 28, another multi-drone raid severely damaged the airport’s primary radar systems.
The airport is being expanded with the construction of a new terminal, and works on the project are expected to be completed by 2027. It consists of three packages.
These are:
- Package 1: Main works – $4,329m
- Package 2: Multistorey car park building, connection roads, bridges and landscaping works – $550m
- Package 3: Aircraft parking, runways and service buildings – $950m
Turkiye’s Limak Holding is executing the main works.
The terminal building was designed by Foster+Partners and Gulf Consult.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17089683/main.gif -
Consortium signs PPA for Taweelah C power plant3 June 2026
Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has confirmed it has signed a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with a developer consortium for the Taweelah C independent power producer (IPP) project.
The agreement, which will run through to 2050, was signed with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company (Saudi Arabia) and Sembcorp Industries (Singapore), the utility said in a statement.
Taqa will own a 60% stake in the project, with the international consortium holding 40%. The ADX-listed company will also own 40% of the project’s operations and maintenance company, while the international consortium will own 60%.
Last month, MEED exclusively revealed that the winning consortium had been selected for the project, with the PPA initially expected to be signed in mid-May.
It is understood that China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) will be the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
The combined-cycle gas turbine plant will have a capacity of about 2.5GW. It will be located at the Al-Taweelah power and desalination complex, about 50 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi city.
Taweelah C is part of Ewec’s wider programme to support the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative and the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035.
Ewec plans to raise solar power capacity to 18GW and wind capacity to 2.6GW by 2035, while reducing the carbon intensity of its power generation by more than half compared with 2019.
The Taweelah C IPP is now expected to start commercial operations in 2029. The facility had previously been scheduled to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2028.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17089163/main.jpg -
Local contractor wins Oman water transmission contract3 June 2026

Local contractor Al-Jesr United has won the main engineering, procurement and construction contract to reinforce Oman’s Sur water transmission system.
The contract, awarded by state-owned utility Nama Water Services (NWS), forms part of a project to improve the reliability of potable water supply to Sur, a coastal city about 200 kilometres southeast of Muscat.
The scheme, estimated to cost $80m, is designed to strengthen the network’s resilience during peak-demand periods and emergencies.
The scope of work includes upgrading the pumps at the Sur DP Pump Station with variable frequency drive units and replacing ductile iron pipes and fittings within the facility. It also covers about 17km of new transmission pipelines.
According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, at least five local firms submitted commercial bids for the contract, which was tendered in August 2025.
These include:
- Al-Jesr United
- Al-Rafaa Trading & Contracting
- Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trading
- Professionals Trading
- Sarooj Construction Company
In June 2024, NWS awarded a $1.3m contract for the project’s design and construction supervision to Muscat-headquartered Ibn Khaldun Almadaen Engineering Consultants.
Sur is home to one of the sultanate’s key desalination plants, which supplies potable water to communities across eastern Oman.
The water transmission project will support network expansion in areas such as Al-Aigah and Ahiae, as the existing ductile iron pipeline serving Wilayat Sur is no longer sufficient to meet current and future demand.
Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2026 and take about two years to complete.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17088454/main.jpg -
Syria to tender gas plant contract3 June 2026

Syria is preparing to tender a project to rehabilitate the Conoco gas plant in Deir ez-Zor province in the east of the country within the next 10 weeks, according to a document published by the US-Syria Business Council.
The gas plant was reclaimed by Syria’s military during an offensive in January this year.
It is Syria’s largest gas plant, but is severely damaged and cannot be operated in its current condition.
Before the country’s civil war, it processed 13 million cubic metres of gas a day.
The US-based companies ConocoPhillips and Novaterra signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Syria Petroleum Company (SPC) to restore the facility in November last year.
Syria is currently in the midst of a push to ramp up oil and gas production and establish itself as a regional energy hub.
Earlier this year, Yousef Qiblawy, chief executive of SPC, said that his organisation was aiming to double national oil production before 2027 and boost output to 800,000 barrels a day by the end of 2029, not including offshore production.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17088320/main.jpg