Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has so much work planned that if it were a country, the fund – and its subsidiaries – would have the largest pipeline of projects in the region.

But as construction starts on PIF’s major projects, the development firms delivering these schemes are grappling with inflation and the risk of not being able to source sufficient quality contractors.

Like PIF, Saudi Aramco also has a major pipeline of work to deliver. In March, it said it plans to spend $40-50bn on capital expenditure projects in 2022 to increase oil exports by 2 million barrels a day.

Although the contractor void has been a concern for several years – with Saudi’s two largest general contractors, Saudi Oger and Saudi Binladin Group, enduring crippling financial difficulties – it has developed into a major problem as the region gears up for another period of intense project activity.

One solution is for government actors to create national champion companies to guarantee the delivery of the region's most strategic projects. 

Read MEED editor Colin Foreman's analysis on the shift that is transforming the region's construction industry in the September issue of MEED Business Review. 

This month, MEED also presents a special report on downstream oil and gas, and finds regional energy producers investing further down the supply chain into petrochemicals, in their quest to maximise value from every barrel of crude.

September's 17-page Market Focus on Kuwait, meanwhile, looks at the projects markets and political complications in the country as project spending remains curtailed by the lack of effective governance. 

We hope you enjoy the September 2022 edition of MEED Business Review.

Must-read sections in the September 2022 edition of MEED Business Review include:

> AGENDA: National champions emerge to cater to projects boom

> INTERVIEW: Emirates Steel Arkan champions projects sector

> INTERVIEW: South Korean contractor seeks regional growth

> OPINION: Geopolitics takes over oil agenda

> MEED COMMENTS: 
    > Iraq’s oil dispute needs a political solution 
    > World waits for Iran nuclear deal

> MONTHLY BRIEFING: 13 key developments in the region

> LIBYA: Security worsens in Libya after oil major reshuffle

> MEED CLIMATE RESILIENCE INDEX: UAE increases lead 

> DOWNSTREAM OIL & GAS REPORT:
    > Chemicals spending shows Mena resolve
    > Integrated chemical complex momentum builds
    > Stretching the chemical value chain 

> INTERVIEW: Gulf Keystone presses on with Iraq expansion

> LEGAL: Dubai reforms arbitration landscape

> LEADERSHIP: Middle East looks to advanced manufacturing

> KUWAIT MARKET FOCUS: Political impasse squeezes economy
    > Kuwait remains stuck in political stalemate
    > Oil ensures Kuwaiti economy remains buoyant
    > Kuwait’s oil sector activity at low ebb
    > Billions in projects due for retender 
    > Kuwait makes progress on utilities projects
    > Construction continues to underperform

> MARKET SNAPSHOT: Delivering the reality of a green economy

> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market undergoes correction

> JULY 2022 CONTRACTS: July sees second-lowest awards value in 2022

> BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts