Saudi Arabia to Host Largest Construction Expo in February

The largest construction event in Saudi Arabia, Big 5 Construct Saudi, returns for its 12th edition to the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 26-29. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The largest construction event in Saudi Arabia, Big 5 Construct Saudi, returns for its 12th edition to the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 26-29. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia to Host Largest Construction Expo in February

The largest construction event in Saudi Arabia, Big 5 Construct Saudi, returns for its 12th edition to the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 26-29. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The largest construction event in Saudi Arabia, Big 5 Construct Saudi, returns for its 12th edition to the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 26-29. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The largest construction event in Saudi Arabia, Big 5 Construct Saudi, returns for its 12th edition to the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre on February 26-29.

The top expo will bring together over 1,300 exhibitors, recording a strong 55% increase compared to last year’s edition, from over 40 countries to connect with over 55,000 construction professionals.

As it contributes to the future of the Kingdom’s construction sector, Big 5 Construct Saudi showcases more than 20,000 products and services under nine product sectors in 2024.

It co-locates with four specialized events: HVAC R Expo Saudi, FM Expo Saudi, Stone & Surface Saudi Arabia and Windows, Doors and Facades Event Saudi.

This year, the trade exhibition will host 20 country pavilions, including Germany, China, Greece, Italy, Türkiye, the UAE, the US and Qatar, with Egypt, Jordan, Spain and India joining the lineup for the first time.

Saudi Arabia’s construction sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% between 2024 and 2027, driven by strategic initiatives focused on economic diversification in alignment with Vision 2030.

Building on this momentum, Big 5 Construct Saudi is returning with an edition that is doubled in size and capacity covering an area of 70,000 sq m.

Supporting product sectorization, the four-day event will also focus on four new sectors, such as Concrete, Construction Technologies and Steel and Urban Design and Landscape, which together with the existing product sectors cover the entire construction value chain.

From construction leaders to innovators, architects to project and facilities management practitioners as well as technologists, the talks will provide insightful takeaways under 13 streams.

They include concrete, sustainability, technology innovations and digital transformation in construction, contracting strategies, risk management and legal, decarbonization, HVAC R, architecture and design, facilities management, giga project updates, intelligent buildings, project management and leadership.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."