The combined value of the 22,680 active construction projects in the GCC has exceeded US$2.43 trillion (Dh8.91 trillion) in November 2017, of these the urban construction sector has the highest number of projects, touching 17,912, worth US$1.21 trillion (Dh4.44 trillion), followed by utilities sector with 1,701, transport sector having 1,423, followed by 1,289 industrial and 355 oil and gas projects.

However, combined value of 1,423 transport projects reached US$387.6 billion (Dh1.42 trillion), followed by oil and gas projects valued at US$337 billion, utilities worth US$313 billion and industrial project value reaching US$178.6 billion.

The GCC region, which includes the six hydrocarbon-rich six countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$1.4 trillion (Dh5.1 trillion) – have undertaken massive development and construction activities to diversify their economies.

“Clearly, the governments of these countries are investing their current oil wealth and resources to build a better future that will serve the future generations well even when oil runs out or the use of oil reduces to the minimum,” Avin Gidwani, Chief Executive Officer of BNC Network, says. “The re-modelling of Dubai economy and the UAE economy to a certain extent has inspired the rest of the countries to catch up fast.”

In 2016, the GCC countries pumped an average of 18.3 million barrel per day. According to the GCC Secretariat, the Gulf countries’ non-oil exports reached US$113.1 billion while oil exports fetched US$357.8 billion in 2015.

“Much of these are being invested in large infrastructure, housing and commercial projects that will have a far-reaching impact on the region’s economies,” Gidwani says. “According to the GCC Secretariat, the total budget deficit of US$152 billion reflects the simple fact that the governments are spending fast and higher to build the economies.

“In terms of number of projects, these represent 85 per cent of all active projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and 68 per cent in terms of estimated value in US dollar terms.

“This also shows that most of the Middle East’s construction and development activities are concentrated in the Gulf region as the governments of the six oil-rich countries are spending their resources in time to diversify the economy by developing the infrastructure, housing and commercial real estate to build strong national economies and preparing the economies for the post-oil era.”

In the third quarter of 2017, as many as 269 projects with a combined estimated value of US$82.85 billion were announced in the GCC. Notable projects announced in the third quarter of 2017 include Al Faisaliya City located in Makkah worth US$25 billion; Aljada Residential City located near Sharjah's University City worth US$6.5 billion and Oman to India Multi-Purpose Pipeline located in Muscat worth US$5.6 billion, according to the latest GCC Construction Analytics issued by BNC Network.

These, of course do not include the US$500 billion new coastal city of Neom announced earlier this month by Saudi Arabia – that will change the economic landscape of the Kingdom which is developing the world’s tallest tower – a kilometer-long Jeddah Tower.

In October, the number of active projects in the GCC increased by 2 per cent as compared to September 2017 and the total estimated value of these projects increased by 1 per cent. A total of 142 active projects with a combined estimated value of US$10.4 billion moved to construction from other stages during the month. A total of 670 active projects with a combined estimated value of US$15.2 billion were completed during the month.

BNC, the largest project intelligence provider in the MENA region, tracks 25,324 live construction projects with a value exceeding US$7.7 trillion (Dh28.3 trillion). It publishes more than 250 project updates that are distributed amongst 73,000 executives and professionals every day.