Colin Foreman

As the economic malaise spreads, Qatar needs to refocus its economy, and there are signs it could be planning to deploy a similar tactic as it did in 2009-10 by bidding for the for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

Doha was not a fun place to be in 2009. The 2006 Asian Games was a distant memory, work was finishing on Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Ras Laffan, and the frenzy of real estate fuelled building activity in Doha had slowed.

Consultants were working on a 25-year masterplan and as the pace of development slowed many were asking what next for Qatar?

To the surprise of many, the answer proved to be the World Cup. In December 2010 Doha controversially won the rights to host football’s Fifa 2022 World Cup.

With the bid came a commitment to invest $65bn in new infrastructure, and what followed was a slew of multi-billion dollar projects ranging from stadiums to sewerage and a metro network to a series of mega reservoirs.

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Going gets tougher for Saudi Binladin Group

Company to raise cash from regional and international lenders outside Saudi Arabia

Sarmad Khan

Riyadh’s ordering Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) to stop work on Prophet’s Mosque in Medina in the final days of 2015 was a clear sign that this will be a tough year for Saudi Arabia’s largest construction company. Less than two months later, it seems the year is going to be even tougher.

The Ministry of Finance didn’t give reasons why it has asked the largest contractor in the kingdom by turnover to cease work on Islam’s second holiest site. SBG has the expertise, resources and has delivered similar projects before. Yet despite its capabilities, it is not known if it will be retained as the main contractor once work resumes on Medina project.

Many in the industry view this episode as an indication of souring relations with the government, as a bad omen for a contractor that relies mainly on multi-billion dollar state contracts. The group is still involved in several large-scale developments in the kingdom its will hope future doesn’t hold more such shocks.

The General Presidency for Grand Mosque and Prophet Mosque Affairs had appointed SBG as the main contractor on estimated $1.5bn makeover of the Prophet’s mosque in June 2012 with a completion date target of June 2016.

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If General Motors can’t do business in Egypt, who can?

Import-dependent industries continue to suffer at the hands of Egypt’s currency crisis

Hossam Abiugabal

The news that General Motors Egypt has halted its operations amid what a company source has described as an ongoing currency crises, will not sit well with potential investors.

Egypt has been calling on foreign investors to put their money into what the government has said will be an industrial and logistics hub; the Suez Canal Zone (SCZone).

But if General Motors Egypt, which assembles 25 per cent of Egypt’s vehicles, is unable to carry on its operations due to foreign currency constraints, the likelihood is other companies will also be unable to do so.

Egypt’s currency concerns shaped much of the conversation in 2015, and although the central bank started this year committed to easing dollar deposit regulations, as it did earlier this month, it has so far failed to appease import-dependent industries. New dollar deposit limits are still below the demanded amounts necessary to finance imports.

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