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MEED February 2023 Webinar: Saudi Arabia 2023 Outlook and 2022 Review

26 February 2023

The webinar focuses on discussing the economic outlook, investment opportunities, and business strategies in Saudi Arabia for the year 2023.

As a MEED subscriber, you will be invited to exclusive monthly webinars on the trending topics in the region’s top sectors.

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Saudi Arabia 2023 Outlook and 2022 Review brings together industry experts, government officials, and business leaders to share their insights and perspectives on the current state and future of the Saudi Arabian economy.

The discussion covers a range of topics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the government’s plans for economic diversification, and investment opportunities in various sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, and renewable energy.

The webinar provides an interactive platform for participants to engage with the speakers, ask questions, and exchange ideas. It also offers networking opportunities for participants to connect with other business professionals and potential partners in Saudi Arabia.

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  • Events put Saudi Arabia on the world stage

    29 July 2026

    Commentary
    Colin Foreman
    Editor

    The Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup will not transform Saudi Arabia’s economy on their own, but the momentum they generate and the international profile they bring underline their importance.

    Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has taken great strides in changing the international perception of the kingdom. Futuristic projects and investment in football and other sports, combined with social reforms such as opening cinemas and allowing women to drive, have helped foster a new image for the country.

    This year, those efforts have been dented as the rest of the world once again sees a region blighted by conflict. Saudi Arabia will need to correct the course of public perception once the conflict draws to a close, and Expo 2030 Riyadh and the 2034 Fifa World Cup are well timed to help the kingdom maintain its modernisation drive.

    Both are truly global events that will attract millions of visitors. More than 40 million visits are anticipated at the Expo, and the World Cup final in Qatar in 2022 was watched by some 1.5 billion people.

    Both are truly global events that will attract millions of visitors

    Locally, the impact has already begun. Flying into Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport from the south, one can clearly see earthworks and infrastructure progressing at the Expo site. To the east of the city, construction work on King Fahd Sports City Stadium is well advanced.

    Expo Riyadh 2030 Company expects the construction phase and legacy development to contribute around $64bn to Saudi GDP and generate some 171,000 jobs. Fifteen stadiums are planned across five cities.

    Construction activity is ramping up. Tendering is starting for the first buildings at the Expo site, including the KSA Pavilion. Meanwhile, work is beginning on more stadiums and other related infrastructure projects that will support the World Cup.

    In the build-up to Expo 2030 and World Cup 2034, construction will be the main event.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17794600/main.gif
    Colin Foreman
  • Read the August 2026 MEED Business Review

    29 July 2026

    Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access

    Saudi Arabia’s biggest event and infrastructure programmes are moving into a new phase of delivery.

    Construction activity at the Expo 2030 Riyadh site is accelerating, with some of the largest packages set to be awarded before the end of this year. Infrastructure works are gathering pace and preparations are intensifying for an event that is expected to reshape the capital long after its six-month run comes to an end.

    At the same time, the lessons emerging from this summer’s expanded Fifa World Cup provide an early guide to the opportunities – and challenges – Saudi Arabia will face as it prepares to host football’s biggest tournament in 2034.

    August’s Market Focus turns to the Maghreb, where four economies are following increasingly divergent paths. While Morocco is benefiting from World Cup-driven investment and a booming tourism sector, Algeria is deploying record public spending, Tunisia is pressing ahead with strategic power investments despite fiscal constraints, and Libya is seeing sustained interest from oil and gas investors undeterred by ongoing political disputes. The report examines what is driving this divergence and where the region’s strongest opportunities now lie.

    This edition also includes MEED’s annual ranking of the Top 50 GCC banks, exploring how regional lenders have demonstrated remarkable resilience through recent geopolitical turbulence, supported by strong funding, capital buffers and government backing.

    In the latest issue, we speak to renewable energy consultancy SgurrEnergy about why developers are increasingly moving beyond standalone solar towards hybrid renewable energy projects that combine battery storage and other technologies to deliver round-the-clock power.

    We also examine how geopolitical tensions, shifting trade routes and supply chain disruption are driving a new wave of global investment in port infrastructure, and consider what Saudi Arabia must do to unlock greater pools of private capital as sovereign funding gives way to a more institutionally financed infrastructure model.

    Finally, we congratulate the winners of the Mena Banking Excellence Awards 2026, recognising the retail, digital and SME institutions that are setting new benchmarks for innovation, customer experience and business banking across the region.

    We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the August 2026 issue of MEED Business Review. 

     

    Must-read sections in the August 2026 issue of MEED Business Review include:

    > AGENDA: Expo 2030 Riyadh construction gathers pace

    > FOOTBALL: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034

    INDUSTRY REPORT:
    Top 50 Gulf banks
    > GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil

    > AWARDS: Mena Banking Excellence Awards reveals retail, digital and SME winners

    > LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection

    > PORTS: Geopolitical risk shapes $513bn of global ports projects

    > INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solar

    > MAGHREB MARKET FOCUS: 
    > COMMENT: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    > GOV'T & ECONOMY: Elections fail to change the Maghreb's political realities
    > PAYMENTS: Morocco’s payments shift remains cash-led
    > OIL & GAS: Morocco strives to work out feasible energy strategy
    > OIL & GAS: Libya’s oil and gas project market has grown by 48%
    > OIL & GAS: Value of Algerian extractive projects more than doubles
    > POWER & WATER: Tunisia drives Maghreb power investment with $1.4bn electricity link
    > CONSTRUCTION: Morocco is bright spot in Maghreb construction
    > CONSTRUCTION: Algeria’s record budget sets stage for construction comeback
    > TOURISM: Morocco tourism hits record highs
    > TOURISM: Tunisia's tourism sector eyes record growth

    > MEED COMMENTS: 
    >     I Squared deal is latest sign of PIF's new playbook
    > Projects market holds its nerve
    > Saudi water sector awaits next catalyst
    > Gulf IWPPs risk becoming a two-horse race

    > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf index maintains growth run

    > JUNE 2026 CONTRACTS: Middle East contract awards

    > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects

    > OPINION: The moving finger of time

    > BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17726746/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Abu Dhabi tenders urban development consultancy deal

    29 July 2026

     

    Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) has issued a tender inviting consultants to bid for an integrated consultancy services contract for upcoming works in the capital.

    The scope includes the provision of integrated consultancy services across two streams – project management consultancy and secondment – covering stormwater, parks, roads and bridges programmes in Zayed City and Mohammed Bin Zayed City.

    The contract duration is two years. Consultants have until 3 August to submit their proposals.

    The project is one of a series of major infrastructure schemes being overseen by DMT in Abu Dhabi.

    Earlier this month, DMT announced the E20 highway expansion project.

    The scheme covers widening the main carriageway from three to five lanes, constructing more than 10 kilometres (km) of new ramps and loops, and building four bridges.

    Works also include 1.5km of internal roads and the addition of eight signalised junctions across Khalifa City and the Zayed International airport precinct.

    The project includes utility works, comprising 62km of stormwater drainage, 37km of irrigation networks and the installation of 485 streetlights.

    Separately, DMT is evaluating bids for a design-and-build contract to construct two bridges serving Hudayriyat Island in Abu Dhabi.

    The scope includes a two-lane bridge connecting 32nd Street to Shakhbout Bin Sultan Street, and a single-lane bridge on 8th Street. It also includes upgrades to signalised intersections.

    Shakhbout Bin Sultan Street is a two-way road with three lanes in each direction, providing access to and from Hudayriyat Island.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17797254/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Geopolitics tests Dubai property with hotels hardest hit

    28 July 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Dubai’s residential market cooled sharply in the second quarter of 2026, and the hospitality sector recorded its steepest downturn in years, according to US-based real estate research firm CBRE’s latest UAE market review. Office and industrial real estate, however, continued to defy a weaker macroeconomic backdrop, the report said.

    The figures, published on 28 July, mark a turning point for a residential sector that has driven much of Dubai’s post-pandemic growth story.

    Transaction volumes fell 29% year-on-year to just under 37,000 sales in the second quarter, down from more than 51,000 in the same period last year.

    Total transaction values dropped even further, to AED88bn ($24bn) from close to AED154bn ($42bn) in the second quarter of 2025.

    Rents have moved into negative territory faster than prices. While sales values were still up 1.9% year-on-year, average residential rents fell 2.6% annually and 6.2% quarter-on-quarter.

    About 18,000 new units were completed in the first half of the year, adding to supply just as demand and transaction activity were softening.

    The contrast with Abu Dhabi is stark. The capital’s residential values rose 21.6% year-on-year, powered by 24.4% growth in apartment prices, while rents climbed a further 3.6%.

    Sales values reached AED32bn ($8.7bn), up 150% on the same quarter last year, with transaction volumes up around 80%.

    Off-plan sales accounted for roughly 83% of deals and 85% of value, underscoring investor appetite for new launches even as Dubai’s own off-plan pipeline slows.

    Hospitality bears the brunt

    The hospitality sector recorded the most pronounced downturn of any asset class tracked in the review. Regional geopolitical disruption weighed heavily on international travel demand and airline operations through the first half of the year, with UAE-wide hotel occupancy down 27.7 percentage points year-on-year to June and revenue per available room (RevPAR) down 31.8%, according to CoStar data cited in the report.

    Dubai absorbed the sharpest declines, reflecting its greater reliance on international visitor flows, while Abu Dhabi held up comparatively better on the strength of domestic demand and events-led tourism.

    Operators have responded with staycation packages, domestic tourism campaigns and refurbishment programmes aimed at protecting market positioning ahead of an anticipated recovery in international arrivals.

    Office and industrial hold strong

    Away from housing and hotels, the picture is markedly different. Dubai office rents rose 13% year-on-year, with prime rents up 16% and occupancy at about 94%, as demand concentrated in DIFC, Tecom and DMCC continues to outpace the delivery of new Grade A stock.

    Abu Dhabi’s office market performed even more strongly, with rents up nearly 16% and occupancy at 96%, driven by ADGM-based financial services firms including hedge funds.

    With less than 300,000 square metres (sq m) of new office space due between 2026 and 2027, both emirates face a supply squeeze that is likely to sustain rental growth into next year.

    Retail occupancy remained resilient at about 98% in Dubai and 95% in Abu Dhabi despite softer tourism flows and shifting consumer spending, with Dubai rents up around 3% year-on-year.

    A new wave of retail supply is in the pipeline, led by Al-Khail Avenue in Dubai and the first phase of Saadiyat Grove in Abu Dhabi.

    Industrial and logistics stand out

    Underpinned by government-led localisation programmes, the UAE industrial exports reached AED262bn ($71bn) in 2025, with Operation300bn and Make it in the Emirates (MIITE) continuing to draw manufacturing and logistics investment.

    Abu Dhabi secured AED48.5bn ($13.2bn) in commitments through MIITE alongside new logistics agreements at Kezad. At the same time, Dubai recorded strong rental growth across Dubai Industrial City, Dubai Investments Park and National Industries Park.

    CBRE now forecasts a marginal UAE GDP contraction of 0.04% for 2026, reflecting disruption to trade, tourism and aviation, though it expects a strong rebound in 2027 as regional conditions normalise.

    READ THE JULY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Stress test for Gulf aviation; Mixed performance as country outlooks diverge in the Levant; GCC tourism sector pivots from crisis to recovery mode.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17792437/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Ashghal tenders northern Smaisma infrastructure consultancy

    28 July 2026

     

    Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has issued a tender for consultancy services related to infrastructure development in the northern Smaisma area.

    The tender was issued on 19 July, with a bid submission deadline of 8 September.

    The scope covers construction supervision consultancy services for package seven (A and B).

    According to local media reports, the scope of package seven A includes the airstrip road, the coastal road and connections to the existing Al-Khor Expressway, spanning an area of about 18.5 kilometres.

    Ashghal floated the main contract tender for this package in March, as MEED reported.

    The contract duration is four years from the start of construction.

    Package seven B includes foul sewer infrastructure, drainage networks and road development works spanning more than 1.3km.

    The latest tender follows Ashghal’s announcement of contract awards for 12 new projects, with a total value exceeding QR4.5bn ($1.2bn).

    According to a notice published on its website, these include six building projects, most notably the redevelopment of Hamad General Hospital, with a contract value of about QR1.1bn ($301m).

    Other projects awarded include the construction of a post office building in Al-Thumama; renovation works at the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club and the Qatar Equestrian Federation; and the implementation of Phase 4 of the Al-Uqda Equestrian Complex development.

    In the roads and infrastructure sector, four projects have been awarded, led by packages one and two of the road and infrastructure development works in Izghawa and Al-Thumaid.

    The awards also include a landscaping project and an air-conditioned walkway at Qatar University, as part of broader public-facilities improvement initiatives.

    UK analytics firm GlobalData forecasts that Qatar’s construction industry will expand by 4.3% in 2026, supported by investments in renewable energy and transportation infrastructure.

    Meanwhile, the Planning & Statistics Authority reports that Qatar’s construction value-added grew by 6.6% year on year in the first half of 2025.

    GlobalData also expects the industry to grow at an average annual rate of 4.6% in 2027-29, supported by investment in construction, energy and infrastructure projects.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17791590/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal