The news that Riyadh is to tender three further projects for its King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in the early part of next year is a further indication that Saudi Arabia’s construction market will continue to grow in 2012.

More than $32bn-worth of construction and infrastructure deals have been awarded in 2011, the latest being the SR500m contract awarded to the local Al-Muhaidib Contracting for a university teaching hospital in Medina.

In August, the local construction giant Saudi Binladin won the contract to build what will become the world’s tallest tower, the planned 1km-high Kingdom Tower. This was followed in September by the award of a contract to build a 60,000-seat sports stadium in Jeddah.

In addition to such extravagant projects, the kingdom is also pushing ahead with essential housing and social infrastructure schemes. The Interior Ministry has emerged as one of the kingdom’s biggest construction clients, with the government client having tendered more than $10bn-worth of projects, including large medical cities and residential compounds for staff.

The variety of construction projects is set to continue into next year, with the new projects planned for KAFD including a stock exchange building, a science museum and an aquarium. With multibillion-dollar government housing and hospital schemes also set to reach the bidding stage, Saudi Arabia will continue to offer plenty of attractive opportunities for the region’s construction sector in 2012.