Saudi’s NCP approves 200 projects under PPP model
As part of the raft of projects, around 4,500km of modern roads will be built across the country
200 development projects across 17 major sectors have been approved by Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Privatisation (NCP). The sectors covered include transport and logistics, housing, tourism, industry, health and education.
Of these Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects, details of about 140 projects have been made available to local and international investors. With this approval, the Saudi government aims to provide an opportunity for local and international investors to join these PPP projects and help develop infrastructure in the Kingdom, the statement explained.
Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NCP Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Jadaan said the projects promise vast opportunities for local and international investors in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which is concerned with enhancing investment in the national economy and providing attractive investment opportunities for the private sector and increasing its contribution to the GDP.
CEO Muhannad bin Ahmed Basudan said the Ministry of Investment plays a vital role as partner and enabler in the process of marketing and attracting investors.
In early February 2023, Drees & Sommer’s Stephan Degenhart said that infrastructure, healthcare and hospitality would drive GCC construction in 2023.
He remarked, “The Kingdom has the largest series of privatisation projects in the region, which include various qualitative investments, and these are made available in advance to give investors the opportunity to prepare well in advance before their offering.”
As part of the raft of projects, around 4,500km of modern roads will be built across the country, as well as parking lots in Al Olaya. Plots of land owned by municipalities in Al Khobar, Makkah, Madinah will be developed for entertainment, retails space tourism and other activities, the statement added.
Under the Ministry of Logistics and Transport, the projects that have been given the go-ahead are the development of major highways linking Jazan to Azir and another to Jeddah as well as one from Yanbu to Jubail and another from Makkah to Jeddah. Among the largest of these are the 570km Jeddah to Jazan Highway and the 447km Yanbu to Jubail Highway.
It will also see the privatisation and expansion of some of the major airports in the Kingdom including Abha; Hail; Taif; and Prince Naif Airport in Al Qassim.
In late March 2023, Roshn inked $2.1bn in agreements with construction firms for the development of infrastructure and facilities.
He concluded, “The first quarter of 2023 witnessed the signing of contracts for projects in the transport sector, including Spanish-Saudi, and Chinese-Saudi alliances. There is a diversity of operations to attract foreign investors and available projects.”
In early April 2023, Saudi’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics launched a trial of the Kingdom’s first self-driving vehicle.
