Read the April 2024 MEED Business Review

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Region tackles multi-trillion infrastructure challenge; Riyadh pushes ahead with Vision 2030 goals; GCC leads hospitality expansion efforts

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is facing a massive infrastructure gap that will require an estimated $2tn-$2.5tn in investment by 2050.

In the latest issue of MEED Business Review, we discover how investment, technology and governance must all come together if governments are to successfully address this shortfall.

We also look at the important role that sustainable construction practices will play as the region strives to tackle the infrastructure deficit, potentially cutting emissions from planned projects in the Gulf by as much as 60%.

Meanwhile, this month’s exclusive 18-page market report highlights Saudi Arabia, which is maintaining a laser focus on its Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy as it gears up for the delivery of its gigaprojects. Regional tensions such as the war in Gaza and the escalating conflict in the Red Sea are not distracting Riyadh from its upstream and downstream oil and gas projects, power and water sector spending and transport infrastructure development.

MEED’s latest issue is also packed with insight and analysis. The team examines Egypt’s plans for the $54bn of

financial assistance that Cairo has recently secured; considers the impact that Iran’s $20bn project to boost production from the offshore South Pars gas field will have on the country’s energy security; and reveals the details of the new Vision 2030 strategy announced for the UAE’s northern emirate of Ajman, which will guide the development of its projects for the rest of

this decade.

In this month’s industry report on tourism, we see that tourist arrivals are on the rise in the GCC, with Dubai attracting 17.15 million international overnight visitors in 2023. A strong post-Covid recovery is under way in the travel sector across the region, and Saudi Arabia’s efforts to boost its appeal as a tourism destination are reaping rewards: the kingdom welcomed more than 100 million visitors last year, achieving its 2030 goal seven years early. To support and build on this success, there is a pipeline of $54bn-worth of new hotel and resort projects planned for the Mena region and due for delivery by 2030.

The April issue also includes an interview with Ibrahim Waili of the Oman National Spatial Strategy, in which he discusses the sultanate’s plans to build a year-round global mountain destination on Jebel Al Akhdar in the Hajar Mountains. We also talk to John van der Velden of Linde Engineering about the regional oil and gas sector’s increasing reliance on new technologies.

We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the April 2024 issue of MEED Business Review.