The Middle East

The minarets of Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia, an iconic part of the city’s skyline, will soon be joined by a tower to become one of the tallest buildings in Europe. The Scottish-designed tower, part of “Metropol Istanbul”, will be located in the new financial district in Ataşehir, which is now beginning to take shape.

The completion of a sizeable local tower project, continuing expansion of the country’s largest mall and moves by a major Kuwaiti retail firm into the UK market have underlined the rising growth and confidence in the domestic retail sector. This confidence is being seen in new investment and projects, with Kuwait’s largest mall and shopping centre, The Avenues, building a $500m extension scheduled for completion by September 2012.

The four largest banks in Abu Dhabi reported an increase in annual profits for 2011 and, in two cases, have substantially exceeded analysts’ expectations. Meanwhile, lending in the UAE overall was up in 2011 and is expected to continue through 2012, with growth being driven in part by retail banking, including loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

With an increase in both government and private sector spending as a series of new infrastructure, tourism and social services projects are rolled out, Oman’s construction sector is set to experience robust growth in the coming years. The sheer scale of the building programme, however, could test the capacity of the industry.

Istanbul’s public transport system is set to be radically overhauled by the addition of an underwater transit tunnel, new train stations and a possible third bridge over the Bosphorus. The most recent development in Turkey’s transport section has been the completion of the undersea section of the Bosphorus tunnel – or “Marmaray” – project.

Local energy firm RAK Petroleum Public Company has put the final touches to a merger deal that gives its shareholders a stake in lucrative operations across the Gulf region and beyond. Last month, RAK Petroleum announced that it had finalised the merger of its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operating subsidiaries with Norwegian firm DNO International.