The total value of major projects planned or under way in the Gulf stood at $2.937 trillion on 29 September, according to MEED’s Gulf Projects Index, which tracks the region’s major projects market. 

The figure shows flat growth in the market over the previous seven days, despite significant changes within several national markets.  

The total value of major projects in the six GCC markets, which account for about 78 per cent of regional activity, fell marginally to $2.29 trillion on 29 September, a fall of 0.2 per cent over the week.

Bahrain witnessed the highest growth, with the value of projects touching $78.49bn, up 3.3 per cent on the week. Growth was driven by two expansion schemes on the Addur independent & water power project (IWPP) – the $1.1bn Addur 3 IWPP and $1.2bn Addur IPP Phase IV. Progress on Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation’s (Kahramaa) Facility D IWPP pushed growth up by 0.5 per cent in the country, taking the total value of projects to $251.4bn.

Meanwhile, the UAE recorded a week-on-week fall of 0.9 per cent. The dip was the result of projects being completed or placed on hold during the week. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company placed on hold its $3bn MGM Grand project in Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, Germany’s Kleindienst Group’s placed on hold its $850m Heart of Europe project on The World development.

The UAE market also saw completion of projects such the $1.6bn Umm Shaif Gas Injection Facilities project in Abu Dhabi.

The slump in value shows the UAE is yet to shake off the impact of the crisis, which has stunted growth in its projects market to just 2.2 per cent over the past 12 months. This compares to annual growth in the GCC of 7.6 per cent and a 13.9 per cent increase in the wider Gulf market. 

• www.meed.com/gulfprojectsindex