The total value of projects planned or under way in the Gulf remained flat at about $2.94 trillion in the third week of August, according to MEED’s Gulf Projects Index, which tracks trends in the region’s major projects market.

The lack of movement largely reflects the traditional summer slowdown in activity in the Gulf.

The index, which is calculated from data from MEED Projects, puts the total value of projects planned or under way across the eight Gulf markets at $2.94 trillion on 18 August, down about 0.1 per cent on the previous week with no change in Iran, Iraq and Oman.

The most significant movement in the week was seen in Bahrain, which recorded a 0.9 per cent jump the value of projects planned or under way due to the revival by Singapore’s Capitaland Group of the $800m Raffles City project at Bahrain Bay.

Elsewhere, four new major projects in Saudi Arabia and the UAE were added to the MEED Projects database, but the net effect of these new projects on the index was negated by several projects being placed on hold, cancelled or completed and therefore coming off the database. 

The GCC states accounted for about 80 per cent of the value of projects in the Gulf, with projects in the six countries totalling some $2.3 trillion. Saudi Arabia and the UAE represent nearly 70 per cent of the market value.

Following the sharp falls in the market in the first quarter of 2009, the region’s projects market has seen a solid recovery since, with a 17.5 per cent rise increase in the value of projects in the Gulf in the 12 months up to 18 August 2010. The GCC states recorded growth in this period of about 12.76 per cent. The region’s fastest growing market over the past 12 month has been Iraq, which has seen a doubling in the value of projects.