Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Privatization & PPP (NCP) has showcased the scale and variety of opportunities available in the kingdom’s upcoming pipeline of public‑private partnership (PPP) projects.

“At the moment, we have around 200 projects in the pipeline with a total value of roughly $190bn,” said Salman Badr, executive vice president – infrastructure advisory, NCP, during a MEED webinar.

The projects are spread across 17 sectors. “We have a very sizable programme and it reflects the breadth of the kingdom’s transformation agenda.”

The list includes both social and economic infrastructure projects in transport, water, health, education, sports and municipal services. “We have projects at different stages of preparation and what we’re trying to do is maintain momentum without overloading the market,” he said, underlining a deliberate, paced approach to delivery.

Project structure

Although big projects attract attention, they must be structured correctly to make them attractive to the private sector. “We’re conscious that size alone won’t deliver outcomes,” Badr said. “What matters is sequencing and ensuring projects are bankable, investable and attractive to the right counterparties.”

Rather than rush procurement, NCP is phasing the pipeline of projects so that the market can absorb opportunities and learn from each transaction. “We’re pacing the pipeline so the market can absorb projects,” he explained. “You cannot simply launch 200 projects at once and expect the market to respond efficiently.”

Badr acknowledged that a programme of this size requires expanded capacity across the private sector. “One of the major constraints is the availability of experienced developers, contractors, engineers and financial advisers,” he said. “Globally, these skills are finite – and when you put a very large programme into one market, competition for that expertise intensifies.”

He pointed to supply-chain pressures, construction capacity limits and a shortage of specialist transaction advisers in some sectors, and stressed: “The challenge is not just about capital availability; it’s about the human and technical capacity to prepare and deliver complex PPPs.”

Market strategy

To attract partners and strengthen delivery, NCP is pursuing a multi‑pronged market‑shaping strategy. “We are prioritising projects that can be banked and executed in the near term while continuing to develop the medium‑ and long‑term pipeline,” Badr said.

That means investing in early‑stage work – feasibility, risk allocation, realistic transfer of responsibilities and standardised documentation where appropriate. “Part of making projects investable is matching risk to the right capital and being flexible on structures,” he said, explaining that NCP is open to risk‑sharing mechanisms, availability payments and blended finance to de‑risk early investments and broaden the investor base.

Capacity building is central to NCP’s approach. “We’re working to attract international firms and create partnerships with local developers to transfer knowledge,” Badr said. “We want to build the domestic capability so that over time local players can take a bigger share of delivery.”

Rather than impose one‑way solutions, NCP favours collaborative arrangements: incentive structures for joint ventures, capacity‑building clauses in contracts and opportunities for localisation. “We’re not forcing unilateral transfers; instead, we incentivise joint ventures and capacity‑building clauses in contracts,” he said.

NCP is also taking practical steps to improve bankability and investor confidence. “Standardisation is key,” Badr said, noting the value of consistent contract templates, clear procurement timelines, transparent fiscal arrangements and predictable regulatory frameworks in lowering the cost of capital.

“Early and thorough feasibility studies, environmental and social assessments, and realistic lifecycle costing are non‑negotiable,” he said, emphasising the importance of rigorous preparation. “However, it is critical to leverage our banked precedents to allow us – and the private sector – to move more quickly … and this is where standardisation and templates play a big role in our approach.”

NCP is mindful of balancing momentum with quality. “We want to move at a pace that supports Vision 2030 objectives – but speed without quality creates long‑term liabilities,” Badr said.

Establishing benchmarks

NCP therefore favours delivering pathfinder projects: “Starting with pathfinder projects in key sectors helps establish benchmarks and creates a learning curve for both public and private partners,” Badr said.

Investor interest is growing. “There is clear international interest in the kingdom,” he said. “Investors are attracted by scale, predictable returns and the potential for long‑term partnerships. For investors to commit capital over decades, there must be clarity around the regulatory and contractual environment,” he said, stressing continuity in policy and regulatory clarity as essential pillars for the attraction of long‑term capital commitment. “That consistency is as important as any single project feature,” he added.

“NCP has both the ambition and a pragmatic roadmap,” Badr said. “The pipeline is huge, but we are intentionally managing it to ensure sustainable delivery. The task now is to convert potential into performance – project by project, partnership by partnership.”

With an emphasis on sequencing, capacity building and collaborative market design, NCP is calling on the private sector to participate in a long‑term opportunity that aims to combine global expertise with growing domestic capability and deliver assets that underpin Saudi Arabia’s ongoing economic transformation. “It’s not about how many projects you have in a pipeline; it’s about how many you deliver and how well they perform over their lifetimes,” he concluded.