A joint venture of the local Al-Bawani Company and Italy’s Salini Impregilo has been awarded two contracts by the Health Ministry totalling more than SR10bn ($2.7bn) for the construction of new hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

The larger of the two orders, worth SR5.6bn, is for King Faisal Medical City in Abha in the Asir province, located in the southwest of the kingdom. The 36-month deal involves the construction of three hospital towers, underground parking, an office complex, a convention centre, a hotel, utilities, roads and infrastructure on a 260,000 square-metre site.

In 2012, the local Al-Fouzan Trading & General Construction Company was awarded an estimated SR642m contract to build the first phase of King Faisal Medical City.

The second order, worth SR4.7bn, is for the construction of Prince Mohammed Medical City in Al-Jouf in the north of the kingdom. The 36-month deal is similar in scope to the King Faisal award and includes roads and Infrastructure, three hospital towers, underground parking, offices, a hotel, utilities and housing.

The design consultant for both projects is the local Dar Engineering. The project manager is US-based Hill International.

Riyadh is investing heavily in new healthcare facilities across the kingdom and several government agencies are now building hospitals. In July, the local Saudi Binladin Group submitted the low bid for the contract to build the first phase of a military medical city for the Defence Ministry on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The hospital will contain 3,500 beds when completed. The medical city will be built on the Riyadh Airport highway, and will be located near Princess Noura University.