According to a professional report by the Middle East Economic Digest, combined with information released by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance, the key development (investment) projects in Saudi Arabia in 2024 are as follows:
• Launch the Jeddah Islamic Port highway project, the largest port in Saudi Arabia, with a total length of 17 kilometers. It plans to have 4 main truck lanes and 6 auxiliary lanes. The planned route will run along King Faisal Road from the Islamic Port to the Al Khomra logistics area, and 15 suspension bridges will be built along the way to accommodate truck traffic. It is reported that Jeddah Islamic Port is located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and is the busiest port in the country. It is also the main port serving the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. As the main gateway for Saudi Arabia's imports and exports, Islamic ports handle approximately 75% of Saudi Arabia's global maritime trade. It is also an important transit center for the Red Sea, serving inland countries in the region. Its foundation was laid during the reign of Caliph Ottoman ibn Afan in 645 AD, but the construction of the modern port did not begin until 1976;
Saudi Arabia will continue to provide housing for local families according to the second phase of the government's housing plan. In 2024, Saudi Arabia will collaborate with real estate developers to provide 50000 housing units for local households, continuing to increase the homeownership rate of Saudi households;
In 2024, Saudi Arabia will build several hospitals in several regions of the country, with plans to increase the nursing capacity to 1100 beds;
In 2024, Saudi Arabia plans to build 28 new reservoirs and 33 dams with a designed storage capacity of 507 million cubic meters;
Attracting industrial investment by allocating industrial land in the cities of Jubail and Yanbu Royal Commission, and developing related industrial projects in corresponding industrial parks, with an estimated investment of approximately 29.6 billion riyals (approximately 7.893 billion US dollars) for this year;
After meeting the internal nuclear safety requirements of the country, Saudi Arabia plans to establish its first nuclear power plant atomic energy project domestically, with the aim of finding multiple sources of energy production. Previously, there have been media reports that China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) will cooperate with Saudi Arabia to build the nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. But this news has not been publicly confirmed by relevant parties (including our Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Saudi Arabia has listed the nuclear power plant project in the 2024 budget expenditure, which may mean that the project is about to officially land. Let's wait and see!
Develop renewable energy projects with a capacity of up to 20 gigawatts using solar and wind energy technologies.
Overall, 2024 is a year full of opportunities for Saudi Arabia. In 2023, Saudi Arabia's project contract award amount ranked first among Gulf countries, with an annual award amount of 95.351 billion US dollars, lagging behind other countries by a large margin, along with the second ranked United Arab Emirates (81.043 billion US dollars). Given that the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance has allocated corresponding budgets for the above-mentioned key development projects, it means that substantial actions will be taken in 2024 for port roads, housing projects, hospital projects, reservoir and dam projects, industrial park projects, nuclear power plant projects, and renewable energy projects. If enterprises are interested in the projects, they can contact the corresponding government agencies in Saudi Arabia as soon as possible, pay attention to the bidding situation, intervene in advance, plan ahead, and do a good job in the development of the Saudi market on the premise of fully evaluating project risks.
