Register for MEED’s 2023 construction summit
21 February 2023
After several challenging years, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) construction industry is starting a new era of spending.
The need to meet the expectations of growing populations is driving investment in transport infrastructure, housing and power and water capacity. At the same time, governments are investing in industrial, digital and logistics capacity to support the growth and diversification of the regional economy.
Inspired by powerful national visions, construction spending is surging across the region, led by huge masterplan developments in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq. But as well as new opportunities, the surge in activity also raises new challenges.
MEED’s Mena Construction Summit 2023 examines the trends, opportunities and challenges for construction companies and their suppliers in the Middle East.
Decarbonisation agenda
New factors are reshaping how projects in the Middle East are planned, delivered and operated.
In November 2022, Egypt hosted the 27th instalment of the UN climate change summit, Cop27. This year, from 30 November until 12 December, the UAE will host Cop28. Decarbonising the economy is at the top of the regional policy agenda and is set to transform project delivery in the region.
As the biggest consumer of raw materials, generating between 25-40 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, the construction industry is vital in the drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Mena Construction Summit 2023 examines what the decarbonisation agenda means for the Middle East construction industry and discusses ways to reduce the carbon footprint of its people, plants and materials.
Smart construction
Covid-19 has turbocharged the digitalisation of the region's construction industry, and project sponsors and construction clients today expect digital data and smart technology to drive efficiency, safety, sustainability and whole life-cycle profits.
Technologies such as 4D and 5D building information modelling (BIM), digital twins, cloud-based project controls, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 3D printing, internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics are no longer ‘nice to haves’. They are essential to be competitive.
The Mena Construction Summit 2023 explores how new technology is transforming project delivery and redefining design and construction, while at the same time reducing waste and environmental impact.
At the heart of the Middle East construction community
After a successful third edition of the summit in 2022 that boasted over 1,000 attendees representing the biggest regional construction companies, the fourth edition of the Mena Construction Summit continues to support the construction ecosystem for smart and sustainable cities and help firms change their operational dynamics.
Bringing together key players from across the construction value chain, the event will showcase some of the latest research and innovations driving improvements in productivity, quality, reliability, cost-savings, waste-reduction and energy efficiency and how you can employ these methods in your projects.
Join us in person for the fourth edition of the Mena Construction Summit on 7 June 2023 as we explore the many ways of using innovation and technology to construct sustainable buildings of the future. An immersive agenda with interactive panel discussions, fireside chats and keynote presentations will offer the unmissable opportunity to discuss and examine case studies from the region’s greatest gigaprojects.
Participants attending include representatives from important government stakeholders, project owners, contractors, architects, engineers, consultants, digital technology and equipment providers and software solution companies.
This is an exclusive opportunity to network in person with high-profile individuals, deepen your understanding of the construction sector in the Mena region and make the right investments, while ensuring better project delivery and finding future growth opportunities.
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
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April 2026: Data drives regional projects24 April 2026
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Boutique Group tenders Tuwaiq Palace hotel in Riyadh24 April 2026
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UAE GDP projection corrects on conflict
24 April 2026
MEED’s May 2026 report on the UAE includes:
> COMMENT: Conflict tests UAE diversification
> GVT &: ECONOMY: UAE economy absorbs multi-sector shock
> BANKING: UAE banks ready to weather the storm
> ATTACKS: UAE counts energy infrastructure costs
> UPSTREAM: Adnoc builds long-term oil and gas production potential
> DOWNSTREAM: Adnoc Gas to rally UAE downstream project spending
> POWER: Large-scale IPPs drive UAE power market
> WATER: UAE water investment broadens beyond desalination
> CONSTRUCTION: War casts shadow over UAE construction boom
> TRANSPORT: UAE rail momentum grows as trade routes face strainTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16554417/main.gif -
April 2026: Data drives regional projects
24 April 2026
Click here to download the PDF
Includes: Commodity tracker | Top 10 global contractors | Brent spot price | Construction output
MEED’s May 2026 report on the UAE includes:
> COMMENT: Conflict tests UAE diversification
> GVT &: ECONOMY: UAE economy absorbs multi-sector shock
> BANKING: UAE banks ready to weather the storm
> ATTACKS: UAE counts energy infrastructure costs
> UPSTREAM: Adnoc builds long-term oil and gas production potential
> DOWNSTREAM: Adnoc Gas to rally UAE downstream project spending
> POWER: Large-scale IPPs drive UAE power market
> WATER: UAE water investment broadens beyond desalination
> CONSTRUCTION: War casts shadow over UAE construction boom
> TRANSPORT: UAE rail momentum grows as trade routes face strainTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16553627/main.gif -
Boutique Group tenders Tuwaiq Palace hotel in Riyadh
24 April 2026
Saudi Arabia’s Boutique Group, backed by the sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund (PIF), has retendered a contract to convert Tuwaiq Palace in Riyadh into a hotel.
Contractors have been given a deadline of 31 May to submit proposals.
The scheme comprises 40 hotel rooms and suites and 56 one- and two-bedroom villas.
According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the contract was first tendered in 2022.
In January of that year, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched Boutique Group to manage and convert historic and cultural Saudi palaces into ultra-luxury hotels.
Boutique Group’s first phase covers three palaces, two of which are under construction. Al-Hamra Palace in Jeddah is being converted to include 33 suites and 44 villas. In July 2023, MEED reported that Jeddah-based Al-Redwan Contracting was appointed the main contractor for the Al-Hamra Palace conversion.
The other project is the Red Palace in Riyadh, which will feature 46 suites and 25 guest rooms. In 2023, local contractor Mobco won the contract to undertake the project.
In 1957, the Red Palace became the headquarters of the Council of Ministers for 30 years, and later served as the main office for the Board of Grievances until 2002.
Jordan-headquartered Dar Al-Omran is acting as supervision consultant on all three projects.
Photo credits: Omrania
MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:
> COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
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> BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
> UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
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> WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
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Firms announce 129MW Dubai data centre
24 April 2026
Dubai’s Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) has signed a joint-venture agreement with Netherlands-headquartered data centre developer Volt to build a new artificial intelligence (AI)-ready data centre in the emirate.
Planned for Dubai Silicon Oasis, the development will take the form of a campus covering up to 60,000 square metres.
The project will be delivered in two phases, starting with 29MW of immediately available capacity, followed by a second phase adding a further 100MW of committed power.
Under the arrangement, DIEZ will supply the land and essential infrastructure, while Volt will finance and develop the project, lead construction, and manage the design, leasing, implementation and day-to-day operations.
French firm Schneider Electric, which has its regional headquarters in Dubai Silicon Oasis, will support the development by supplying advanced electrical systems, power distribution capabilities and smart data centre infrastructure.
The GCC currently has more than 174 active data centre projects, representing over $93bn in investment, led by international players such as AWS, Google and Huawei, alongside regional developers including Khazna and Moro, supported by government-led localisation strategies.
More than a dozen large-scale facilities valued at over $100m each are currently under tender, with further packages expected to reach the market over the next six to 12 months.
The UAE is one of the leading data centre markets, with hyperscale campuses, sovereign cloud initiatives and edge data centre deployments underway.
Data centre development is closely aligned with the UAE’s digital economy and AI roadmap, as well as the wider smart city programme.
Priorities include hyperscale and colocation facilities to support cloud service providers; edge data centres to reduce latency and enable 5G and IoT use cases; energy-efficient designs using advanced cooling, modular construction and renewables; and strategic partnerships between global hyperscalers, local developers and utilities.
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Iraq signs upstream oil contract
24 April 2026
State-owned Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) has signed a contract with China’s EBS Petroleum for a project to drill 17 horizontal wells in the southeastern portion of the East Baghdad field.
Mohamed Hantoush, the general manager of IDC, said the contract signing came after a “series of successful achievements” by the company at the field.
The achievements included the completion of a project to drill 27 horizontal wells and another project to drill 18 horizontal wells, according to a statement released by Iraq’s Ministry of Oil.
In January, Iraq’s Midland Oil Company (MOC), in collaboration with EBS Petroleum, completed the country’s longest horizontal oil well in the southern part of the East Baghdad field.
The well, which was called EBMK-8-1H, reached a total depth of 6,320 metres, and had a 3,535-metre horizontal section, making it the country’s largest horizontal well ever drilled.
Senior officials from the Iraqi Oil Ministry and representatives of EBS Petroleum attended the well’s completion ceremony.
EBS Petroleum is a subsidiary of China’s ZhenHua Oil, which is focused on Iraq.
ZhenHua Oil is the operator of the field and is working with Iraqi partners to oversee the field’s development.
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