The Gulf’s projects market grew by a marginal 0.1 per cent to $2.6 trillion for the week up to 23 February. The gains were in spite of the wave of protests unfolding across the wider Middle East region.

This is the second successive week that the total value of projects planned or under way in the Gulf has increased, following three months of decline.

The main reason for the increase in the Gulf’s projects index was the 0.4 per cent rise recorded by Iran. The country’s growth was driven by the launch of the $670m Harz road and dam project and the $500m Rafsanjan combined-cycle power project.

The halt of the Gulf’s decline the previous week was mainly attributed to the stabilisation of the UAE’s projects index, which had been falling for the preceding 15 weeks. The UAE market remained static this week with just two projects completed – Emaar’s $225m Boulevard Plaza project in Dubai and Air Arabia’s $100m Centro Hotel development at Sharjah Airport.

Qatar recorded the strongest growth in the GCC, with the total value of projects planned or underway increasing by 0.4 per cent. This was due to the revival of the Qatari Diar $800m Doha Convention Centre Tower project.

In total, 19 new projects worth $6bn were announced in the Gulf region last week, while four projects previously on hold, worth a total of $9.1bn, were revived. The biggest of these is the $7bn Kingdom Riyadh Land in Saudi Arabia, but the kingdom’s index did not achieve significant growth as it cancelled 10 power projects worth $8.2bn.

Iraq maintains its position as the region’s fastest-growing market, recording a 60 per cent year-on-year increase.