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Construction Special Report: Saudi cement prices rise
After several years of slowing sales, GCC cement producers can look forward to a pick-up in demand in the months and years ahead
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Construction Special Report: Foreign firms lose out to locals
In the wake of the global financial crisis and the subsequent property crash, government-backed infrastructure projects have become an important source of activity in the GCC construction sector
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Construction Special Report: The Middle East's Top 100 Projects
MEED’s 2011 ranking of the 100 largest projects in the Middle East mirrors the changes in the wider regional economy
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Petrochemicals: Shift in balance leaves Middle East under pressure
Middle East Petrochemicals producers face new challenges with US competition and a predicted slowdown in consumption
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Construction Special Report: Economic cities funding crisis
Many of the GCC’s real-estate companies had to undergo serious restructuring in the aftermath of the 2008-09 property crash
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Construction Special Report: Cement prices remain under pressure
Cement sales are a good barometer of the health of an economy
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Special Report: Construction - The Gulf looks to tap private finance
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been used to great effect in the Gulf power and water sector during the past 15 years
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Special Report: Construction – Developers pin hopes on 2011
Contractors look to the New Year after 2010 remains unlikely to see any pickup in activity
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Special Report: Real estate - Lower rents in the Middle East boost competitiveness
The global economic crisis has had one major benefit for businesses in the Middle East: the cost of renting office space has fallen sharply on the back of weaker demand
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Special Report: Construction – As materials costs continue to fall steel still commands a high price
Clients launching projects in the GCC, acutely aware of how desperate contractors are for work, have been quick to exploit the economic slump, pressing for lower costs and shorter delivery times
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Special Report: Construction - Contract awards raise hope in the Gulf
The outlook for the region’s construction sector in 2010 looks mixed. The Gulf’s major economies, such as Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, are surging out of the financial downturn, but $575bn worth of projects remain on hold across the GCC
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Special Report: Construction - Industrial schemes prompt hope
Dubai-based real estate developer Nakheel has become the focus of the problems in the emirate’s construction market in recent weeks, as it tries to restructure a $3.5bn sukuk (Islamic bond) before the repayment deadline of 14 December.
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Special Report: Qatar - Real estate firms phase projects
While all the other GCC states’ economies will shrink this year, Qatar will post real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 11.5 per cent, according to predictions from the International Monetary Fund
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Special Report: Saudi Arabia - Sharia stocks attract indices
Saudi banks have suffered considerably from lending to the Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company. The troubled local conglomerates are thought to owe more than $15bn to banks, which have been forced to increase their provisions for bad debts this year as a result
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Special Report: Real Estate - Downturn hits office space supply in Dubai
The days of Dubai government-owned property firms competing with each other to launch the most eye-catching real estate developments are long gone
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Special Report: Libya - Reforming the economy
Tripoli’s ambitious programme to rebuild and expand power and desalination plants, airports, roads and houses has fallen far short of its goals, with project deadlines missed because of the country’s bureaucracy
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Construction Special Report: Gulf project costs fall
As construction companies’ confidence in the Dubai real estate market has drained away over the past six months, so the average price of construction materials in the UAE has dropped.
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Special Report: Construction - Project costs drop in the Gulf
As construction companies’ confidence in the Dubai real estate market has drained away over the past six months, so the average price of construction materials in the UAE has dropped.
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Special Report: Real Estate - Revival of Gulf low-cost housing
For anyone unfamiliar with the Gulf’s real estate sector, the news that there is strong demand for affordable housing may come as a surprise.
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Special Report: Construction - State funding fuels regional activity
Gulf developers are slowly adjusting to the idea that the region needs more affordable homes. While there are still enough cash-rich buyers in the market to provide some demand for high-end developments, the cash-poor status of many developers means that building lower-cost houses, for which there is larger, proven demand, makes more business sense.
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Special Report: Major projects - Reshaping regional cities
The region’s major cities are responding to unprecedented population growth by drawing up masterplans which will reshape the region’s urban centres, from Abu Dhabi to Algiers.
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Special report: GCC project market - Squeezed on all sides
The GCC project market is showing few signs of slowing down and most contractors are bracing themselves for further price pressures. The first comprehensive survey of regional price fluctuations reveals the extent to which profit lines are being squeezed.
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Special Report: Oil & Gas Contractor Survey - Caution slows contract awards
On paper, the number of pending contract awards on oil and gas projects in the Gulf is healthy. There are 55 such projects worth more than $1bn, each in various stages of planning.
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Special Report: MEED 100 - The Middle East's top 100 listed companies in 2009
Saudi Arabian companies dominate this year’s MEED 100, with companies listed on the Tadawul accounting for 29 out of the region’s 100 biggest publicly quoted companies ranked by market capitalisation. Just three of the 20 companies that have dropped out of the top 100 over the past year are listed on the Saudi stock exchange.
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Special Report: Qatar - Gas exports fuel economic growth
The hotel lobbies and restaurants of Doha are still buzzing with the sound of business meetings, unlike most other cities in the Gulf. “There is no sign of a recession in Doha,” says one visiting banker.
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Special Report: Construction - Gulf contractors under pressure
Clients have stopped inviting firms to bid for new projects, contract awards are being revoked and designers are being told to redesign their schemes. All this would have been unthinkable in the Gulf six months ago, but it is now the reality.
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Special Report: Tourism & Real Estate - Visitor numbers slide
Dubai has some of the world’s most expensive hotel room rates, with charges for one night averaging $370 in October 2008. But with most of the world falling into recession, such prices could be hard to sustain this year.
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Special Report: Sector outlook 2009
MEED looks at what the year holds in store for the key sectors - banking, construction, energy, industry, petrochemicals, power and water and transport - as well as taking an overview of oil, projects and the Mena economy.
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Special Report: How the credit crunch boosted Riyadh's influence
Even Saudi’s giant economy will suffer a sharp slowdown next year but the prognosis is good and a return to growth is expected by 2010.
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Special Report: Construction - Marine projects drive market
After years without significant investment in ports, many of the region’s governments are now prioritising the development of their port infrastructure.
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Special Report: Real Estate 100 - The Gulf's top developers
For Dubai’s major real estate developers, the UAE is no longer big enough. MEED’s list of the Gulf’s 100 biggest property developers may focus solely on the GCC market, but the largest companies on the list are now exploring opportunities outside the Gulf.
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Special Report: Construction - The Gulf's transport boom
It is ironic that the transport sector is one of the main beneficiaries of high oil prices. Buoyed by massive fiscal surpluses, the region’s governments are now able to invest heavily in infrastructure, and transportation has become a top priority.
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Special Report: Baghdad's plans to rebuild economy
After five years of insurgency, Iraq still faces massive challenges, but there are signs that it has turned a corner at last.
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Special Report: Retail - Gulf boom attracts retail giants
With annual growth in GCC consumer spending over the coming five years projected at 10-20 per cent, it is easy to see why the region is witnessing a boom in the construction of shopping malls.
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Special Report: Hotel investment - The rise of regional hotel brands
Developers across the Gulf are realising that the branding of their hotels and apartments is critical to their future competitiveness.
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Special Report: Construction - The move to partnership
Despite much talk over the past few years about the introduction of long-term alliances between construction clients and contractors, partnering agreements remain rare in the region.
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Saudi Arabia - Riyadh's new economic cities
Since launching King Abdullah Economic City near Jeddah in December 2005, Riyadh has revealed the mammoth scale of its ambitions by unveiling a series of mega-city projects that include five other economic cities and several huge industrial clusters such as the $40bn Sudair Industrial City north of Riyadh.
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Special Report: Construction sector - Growing Pains
The regional construction boom continues - but contractors are struggling to keep up the pace in light of material shortages and capacity constraints.
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Special report: Real estate - Margins rise
With property prices soaring in Dubai, and rising construction costs driving up the cost of property development across the Gulf, investing in Middle East real estate is becoming increasingly complex.
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Special Report: GCC construction sector - Branching Out
Liberalising the property market has boosted the GCC construction sector, but challenges remain for both governments and developers alike.
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Special report: Contractor survey 2008
For four years, the Gulf’s construction industry has been grappling with spiralling costs. With oil prices showing no sign of decreasing, and an acceleration in government infrastructure spending, there will be no let-up.
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Special report: Sector outlook 2008
The urgent need to install the infrastructure required to support the region’s economic development means government-backed power, water, transport and energy projects will become the principal drivers of the region’s project sector in 2008.
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Special report: The Gulf's architectural revolution
Throughout the current real estate boom, governments and developers in the Gulf have been derided for their lack of concern for the environment.
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Special report: Construction - Laying strong foundations
Gulf contractors enjoy full order books and a slowdown in rising costs as a wave of government-backed mega-projects drive the region’s construction boom.
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Special Report: Road construction
The Gulf construction market is entering a new phase as resources start to catch up with the project mountain and the balance shifts back from the contractor to the client.
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Special Report: Labour Relations - Getting to work
With its ambitious real estate projects, Dubai has spearheaded the construction boom that the rest of the Gulf now enjoys. And as the market matures, the emirates are also leading the way in labour relations.
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Special Report: Gulf contractor survey - A time to deliver
The results of MEED's first Gulf contractor survey show the rude health of the GCC construction market and the mounting pressure on contractors to deliver on their commitments.
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Special report: Construction activity - Reaching a peak
Construction activity has been affected by the high costs of developments, demanding clients and excessive competition among contractors.
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Special Report: Construction sector - Adaptive Strategies
With the Gulf construction marketing growing by the day, major clients are starting to adapt their contracting strategies in an attempt to secure contractors and implement projects on schedule.
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Special report: Construction sector - Soaring costs
Middle East construction is booming, and the Gulf markets are expanding faster than anywhere else in the world. But increasing materials and labour costs are pushing the price of projects sky high.
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Special report: Gulf construction - Building pressures
The coming year is likely to be one of the best on record for contractors in the Gulf, but cost considerations will dominate their day-to-day business.
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