Saudi Arabia

Aluminium has not been smelted in Saudi Arabia previously, but the Kingdom is now entering a market neighbouring countries have been active in for some time. A $10.8bn integrated aluminium complex is under development by a joint venture formed in 2009 between Ma’aden and the US’s Alcoa. The complex’s smelter is due to begin...

As a crucial transit country for regional vehicular traffic, the government is not neglecting the upgrade and expansion of the domestic road network, despite the high priority placed on the development of a national rail network. Although traffic volumes, particularly for trucks, may dip as a result of the rail expansion, roads are sure to...

Since the Saudi government commissioned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a sustainable development firm owned by the German government, to build a strategy for developing organic farming in Saudi Arabia in 2005, the subsector has taken an increasingly prominent position in the overall strategy for agriculture. Given...

The Saudi government has embarked on an ambitious spending programme that looks set to keep the local construction industry busy for years. In all facets of the sector, from large-scale infrastructure projects to new hospitals and schools, the slate of work is likely to expand in the coming years.

Until recently, local developers and city planners viewed urban expansion along horizontal rather than vertical lines. Before the completion of Riyadh’s Al Faisaliyah Centre in 2000, no building in the Kingdom topped 200 metres. Backed by a bullish economy and a surge of confidence following government spending on housing, infrastructure, health...