The awards are part of a programme designed to recognise excellence in project delivery in the six countries that make up the GCC and to promote the highest standards in all parts of the project supply chain.

This year’s winners have satisfied our judges that they have achieved excellence in five critical areas in the process of developing first-class projects: economic and social viability; architecture and design; engineering; procurement and construction; and sustainability.

They are, therefore, the best of the best among the many great projects completed in the GCC since the start of 2010.

In March, MEED announced that a total of 24 great projects had been selected as national winners in the nine sectors open for nominations: oil and gas; power and desalinated water production; water reuse; industry; transport; tourism and leisure; social; commercial, residential and other buildings; and sustainability. These projects formed the shortlist that went into the competition for the awards from the GCC as a whole and for the MEED Quality Project of the Year, in association with Ernst & Young.

This supplement contains details of all 10 winners and highlights the factors that led to them being chosen as the best projects completed in the region in the past two years. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in these schemes.

Thanks are extended, of course, to our judges, all independent professionals representing each of the six GCC states. I would also like to thank the organisations that have supported and sponsored the awards.

But the greatest accolades go to the teams behind the 24 national winners, the nine GCC winners and the overall winner. Their vision and energy are the critical factors behind projects that can rightly claim to be among the best in the world over the past two years. Their effort has set a new quality benchmark for the project industry in the region and beyond.

I am looking forward with excitement to the projects that will contend for the MEED Quality Awards for Projects in 2013 and the years ahead. They have much to live up to, but I am sure that the GCC projects industry will rise to the challenge.