Saudi Arabia has announced plans to spend $293 million on major infrastructure projects across the kingdom, which will include the implementation of 16,000 sanitary drainage connections to homes.
An agreement in this regard was signed by the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and the chairman of the board of directors for the National Water Company (NWC), Abdulrahman bin Abdulmuhsin Al Fadli, a report by Saudi Press Agency said.
Ministry officials will start work on 20 major development projects aimed at benefitting around one million people, the report added. It said that all these projects will be completed within two years.
The sanitary drainage network project will cover a number of districts around Jeddah, including Al Muntazahat, Umm Al Salam, Al Naseem, Bani Malik, Al Andalus, Al Rawda, Al Hamra and Al Ruwais.
With a young and growing population, combined with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, Saudi Arabia is expected to continue to be the Middle East’s largest construction market. Last year, the country’s infrastructure construction market was valued at $33.1 billion, according to Timetric’s Infrastructure Intelligence Centre.
By 2021, the Kingdom is expected to see its infrastructure construction market reach $37.5 billion (in nominal value terms), with several large-scale projects planned, including several transport projects.