South Korea eyes UAE high-speed rail project
18 April 2025
A senior delegation including South Korea’s Land Minister Park Sang-woo arrived in the UAE on 16 April to discuss collaboration on the UAE high-speed rail (HSR) project.
According to media reports, the delegation was scheduled to meet with the UAE’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Al-Mazrouei on Friday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the transport and infrastructure sectors, with a focus on the high-speed railway project connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The delegation visit will conclude on 19 April.
“The ministry has formed a public-private sector team which includes the state-run Korea National Railway, Korea Railroad Corporation, Hyundai Rotem and Posco for the UAE railway project bid,” the media reports added.
The team has been invited to bid for the project after passing the prequalification stage.
In January, MEED exclusively reported that the UAE’s Etihad Rail had tendered a contract to design and build the civil works and station packages for the railway line connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The proposed HSR programme will be constructed in four phases, gradually adding further connectivity to other areas within the UAE.
The first phase involves the construction of a railway line connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which is expected to be operational by 2030.
The second phase will involve the development of an inner-city railway network with 10 stations within Abu Dhabi city.
The third phase of the railway network involves the construction of a connection between Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain.
The fourth phase involves the development of an inter-emirate connection between Dubai and Sharjah.
The 150-kilometre (km) first phase of the HSR will stretch from the Al-Zahiyah area of Abu Dhabi to Al-Jaddaf in Dubai.
The project’s civil works have been split into two packages – Abu Dhabi and Dubai – comprising four sections. The scope of these sections includes:
- Phase 1A: Al-Zahiyah to Yas Island (23.5km)
- Phase 1B: Yas Island to the border of Abu Dhabi/Dubai (64.2km)
- Phase 1C: Abu Dhabi/Dubai border to Al-Jaddaf (52.1km)
- Phase 1D: Abu Dhabi airport delta junction and connection with Abu Dhabi airport station (9.2km)
The rail line will have five stations: Al-Zahiyah (ADT), Saadiyat Island (ADS), Yas Island (YAS), Abu Dhabi airport (AUH) and Al-Jaddaf (DJD).
The ADT, AUH and DJD stations will be underground, while ADS will be elevated and YAS will be at grade.
The overall construction package also includes provisions for the rolling stock, railway systems and two maintenance depots.
The high-speed project will slash journey times between the UAE’s two largest cities and economic centres. The journey time between the YAS and DJD stations will be 30 minutes.
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AD Ports signs Jordan Aqaba port PPP deal6 February 2026
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The contract, titled TF-15-S1 Supervision of Stormwater Drainage System projects – Package 2, will be awarded as a single package with dedicated teams assigned to each project.
The request for qualifications (RFQs) was issued by the municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department (SRPD).
The bid submission deadline is 26 February.
The first scheme under the package is TF-16-C1, which involves upgrading and rehabilitating the stormwater system east of the Dubai Canal.
The second, TF-15-C2, will deliver stormwater links along Umm Suqeim Road to serve the Al-Barsha and Al-Quoz communities.
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Several engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts have been awarded under the Tasreef initiative, which aims to expand Dubai’s rainwater drainage capacity by 700% by 2033
In January, local firm DeTech Contracting won the main contract to construct a stormwater drainage system in Jebel Ali.
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READ THE FEBRUARY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSpending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Modon tenders Ras El-Hekma construction contracts
6 February 2026
Abu Dhabi-based developer Modon Holding has tendered several contracts as part of the first phase of development at Ras El-Hekma, a planned new city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
MEED understands that the tenders were issued in January.
These include:
DP3 assets: covering 146 residential villas, 590 three-bedroom townhouses, 356 four-bedroom townhouses, a mall and other associated works.
Bids due on 23 February.
DP4 assets: DP4 includes 54 villas, a clubhouse and other associated infrastructure.
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DP7 assets: 120 five-bedroom villas, 230 seven-bedroom villas, 284 branded residential units and other infrastructural works.
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Modon has accelerated development works at Ras El-Hekma this year. In January, MEED reported that Modon Holding had awarded a E£15bn ($316m) contract for the construction of a project at Ras El-Hekma.
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The scope of the contract covers the construction of residential units, commercial facilities and a 70-key hotel.
In September, MEED reported that Modon Holding had tendered contracts for the infrastructure works for the first phase of the Ras El-Hekma project.
As part of the first phase, Modon plans to develop more than 50 million square metres (sq m), including hotels and a marina.
Ras El-Hekma is on a spur of land on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coastline, about 240 kilometres west of Alexandria.
Last year, Abu Dhabi-based holding company ADQ appointed Modon Holding as the master developer for the Ras El-Hekma project.
According to an official statement, Modon will act as the master developer for the entire development, which will cover more than 170 million sq m.
Modon Holding will develop the first phase of the project, which will cover 50 million sq m.
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In September 2024, Modon signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with local and international firms to join the development. It signed a framework agreement with Orascom Construction to serve as the primary contractor for the project’s first phase.
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Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) has provided €58m in credit facilities to local firm Elsewedy Electric for the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Hungary.
Located in Visonta, the plant will be the largest combined-cycle facility built in Hungary in decades and the country’s first power plant capable of using hydrogen.
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AD Ports signs Jordan Aqaba port PPP deal
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Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group has signed an agreement with Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) to manage and operate the Aqaba multipurpose port.
AD Ports will manage and operate the port under a 30-year concession agreement.
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AD Ports will hold a 70% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 30% held by ADC.
AD Ports Group will also invest AED141m ($38.4m) in the joint venture.
The signing ceremony was held at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority headquarters in Aqaba on 5 February.
The agreement was signed by Hussein Safadi, CEO of ADC, and Ahmed Al-Mutawa, regional CEO of AD Ports Group.
Aqaba port handles about 80% of Jordan’s exports and 65% of its imports.
It serves as a key transit point for Jordan’s neighbouring countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The port has an annual handling capacity of 11 million tonnes, supported by nine berths, a quay length of 2 kilometres and a draft of 13.5 metres.
In 2025, the terminal handled over 5.3 million tonnes of cargo and nearly 85,000 car equivalent units of Ro-Ro imports.
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The Al-Madouneh customs centre covers about 1.3 million square metres (sq m) and was inaugurated in June last year.
The announcement followed AD Ports Group’s signing of a shareholders’ agreement in January 2024 between its digital arm, Maqta Gateway, and Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation regarding their existing joint-venture company, Maqta Ayla.
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AD Ports Group operates the Aqaba cruise terminal, and selected Dubai-based real estate developer Mag Group to lead the first phase of the Marsa Zayed mixed-use project.
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Chinese firm wins Ceer automotive supplier park deal
6 February 2026
Beijing-headquartered Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC) has won a contract to undertake the steel structure works on the Ceer automotive supplier park in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
The supplier park is located next to Ceer’s electric vehicle (EV) production facility in KAEC.
The automotive supplier park will include production and ancillary facilities for various suppliers and provide the material supply infrastructure for Ceer’s EV plant.
The facilities include:
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Earlier this week, MEED exclusively reported that Ceer had awarded a contract to build the automotive supplier park to Jeddah-based construction firm Modern Building Leaders (MBL).
Netherlands-based engineering firm Arcadis is the project consultant, and Pac Project Advisors is the project management consultant.
Ceer retendered the project in September last year.
The latest contract award is another significant contract win for MCC in Saudi Arabia. In January, MEED reported that MCC had won a contract to undertake the steel structure works on Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium at the Qiddiya City project on the outskirts of Riyadh.
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