Despite a stated wish to see more participation from international companies and a tendency to favour the younger generation, Crown Prince MbS has entrusted the majority of giga-project contracts to Saudi companies that are decades old, mainly in private hands and often held by generations of the same family.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put huge pressure on government finances in Saudi Arabia, but the Kingdom has nonetheless pressed on with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s favoured giga-projects.
Research by Gulf States Newsletter, supported by data provided by Diligencia, shows the bulk of contracts have gone to some of the Kingdom’s most long-established companies.
The Biden administration’s Iran policy and whether the US will return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is being seen as a key part of its foreign policy agenda for the Middle East region…
In the Middle East region, the first full week of 2021 has delivered a long-awaited reconciliation between Qatar and Saudi Arabia1, which culminated in the lifting of a regional travel and trade embargo as well as a visit by emir Sheikh Tamim to Riyadh last week.