Saudi Arabia’s Rana Investment Company has appointed the local Al-Saad General Contracting for work on a 200-bed medical tower in Riyadh.

The $150m Clemenceau Medical Centre at King Fahd Road in Riyadh will be a 16 storey building and is set for completion in 2018.

It is understood that the local Khatib & Alami is the project’s main consultant.

There is currently $16.9bn-worth of healthcare projects planned or underway in the kingdom, with 89 per cent of these in the execution phase. There has been approximately $570m-worth of healthcare contract awards this year so far, according to MEED Projects.

Encouraging private sector participation in Saudi healthcare has been at the front of the government’s agenda as public spending slows down. Nonetheless it is expected that Saudi Arabia’s healthcare market is set to reach $27.4bn in 2020.

This growth is expected to be achieved through increased private sector participation, and as a result a number of healthcare and hospital schemes in the kingdom are being put on hold while the authorities look for alternative financing solutions.