A Saudi delegation has visited Turkey to explore options on how the country can implement a $240bn project to build 2 million houses in the kingdom.

The delegation, which also included officials and some of the top businessmen from the kingdom, met their counterparts in Istanbul in December, according to a person familiar with the matter.

”The main aim was to learn how Turkey has [implemented] similar projects in the past and I know that they want to include Turkish contractors in this big project,” the person said.

There was speculation in the market that Turkey’s mission in Riyadh was also preparing a list of contractors who could be shortlisted to compete for the housing project.

Local English-language daily Arab News reported on 12 January that the Housing Ministry was holding talks with several Turkish companies, citing local reports. The talks have made significant progress in forming a consortium of contractors in Turkey to implement the project, it added, attributing the information to Turkish sources.

Mohammed al-Dugailbi, a spokesman for the ministry, told the newspaper that a statement in this regard will be issued soon to explain all details.

”All I can say is there are meetings happening between [Turkish] and Saudi officials on this subject,” Turkish commercial counsellor Kamal Gunay told MEED when asked about the speculation and media reports.

The mission in Riyadh is not preparing the list of contractors and if such a list is prepared, it will be done in consultation with the Chamber of Commerce and Turkish Association of Contractors in Istanbul, he added.

There were rumours that contractors from Turkey were likely to build the mega housing project in Saudi Arabia after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Riyadh in December. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also announced the intention to form a Saudi–Turkish strategic cooperation council on the sidelines of Erdogan’s visit.

“The council will focus on security, military, political, economic, commercial, investment and energy issues,” the minister was quoted as saying in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart in December.

Saudi Arabia faces an acute shortage of housing. According to government statistics, there are currently 750,000 families eligible for public housing. Despite a $67bn plan in 2011 to build 500,000 homes over several years, the kingdom’s poorer citizens have suffered from rising rental prices in cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah.