Growth in the value of projects in Bahrain and Iraq boosted the Gulf project’s index by 0.22 per cent, with the index standing at $2.49 trillion for the week up to 6 December.

Bahrain’s project index rose by 2.34 per cent with the relaunch of the estimated $1.3bn Durrat Marina real-estate project. Iraq also released $680m worth of new schemes, largely in the construction and real-estate markets.

Despite these gains, the GCC projects market slid by 0.21 per cent. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman all dropped more than 0.3 per cent, and together these markets account for more than half the total market.

Some 37 new projects worth $11.8bn joined the index in the week. The majority were in Saudi Arabia, which added 19 new schemes. This included the King Abdullah City for Atomic & Renewable Energy’s nuclear power reactor in Riyadh, which will be built at an estimated cost of $7bn. The kingdom plans eventually to build 16 reactors over the next two decades.

Saudi Arabia was also home to the largest of the region’s 15 completed projects, worth a combined $10.2bn. The second phase of the Northern Border Security Fence was completed at a cost of $2.6bn.

Another nine projects worth $8.9bn were placed on hold. This include Iraq’s planned Bonyan Suleimaniya City, which was to be built by a consortium of the local Bonyan International Investment Group and Al-Handal International Group. The project involved building more than 2,300 housing units and 60 residential buildings in the Kurdistan region.

The Gulf index has dipped 9 per cent year-on-year, with the GCC dropping more than 16 per cent. Iraq’s project continues to grow strongly with a 42 per cent increase on last year.