International Companies Gather in Riyadh to Explore Giga Saudi Projects

The Saudi Giga Projects 2024 kicked off on Monday in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Giga Projects 2024 kicked off on Monday in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

International Companies Gather in Riyadh to Explore Giga Saudi Projects

The Saudi Giga Projects 2024 kicked off on Monday in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Giga Projects 2024 kicked off on Monday in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

More than 600 investors and representatives of local and international companies gathered in Riyadh to explore the Giga projects that are currently being implemented in Saudi Arabia, namely NEOM, Qiddiya, The Red Sea, Roshen, and Diriyah.
The two-day Saudi Giga Projects 2024 kicked off on Monday, in the presence of government agencies, developers, contractors, consultants, suppliers and thought leaders, to discover the huge projects taking place in the Kingdom within the framework of Vision 2030.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, CEO of Expertise Contracting Co. Ltd., Mohammad Ashif, said that his company works with giant Saudi projects such as The Red Sea and Qiddiya, and provides services to the King Salman Park, with the aim to develop Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure in line with Vision 2030.
Expertise Contracting Co. Ltd. is a leading industrial group in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. It provides services in various sectors, including petrochemicals, oil and gas, fertilizers, steel, cement, water treatment, and power generation sectors.
Ashif stressed that Saudi Arabia is considered a model for the future of construction and infrastructure, and has achieved a 40 percent annual growth in this field during the past five years.
For his part, the regional account manager at MEED, the global business intelligence company, Alaa Khamis, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the volume of the Kingdom’s major projects will exceed $850 billion in 2023. He continued that the value of the contracts that were delivered last year amounted to about $65 billion, covering various sectors.
During the event, speakers discussed the latest trends and technologies in giant Saudi projects, pointing to a great interest by international companies to explore investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
The CEO of Asfar Tourism Investment Company, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Fahad bin Mushayt, said that one of the company’s main goals focuses on empowering the private sector.
He also announced the full opening of the first resort in the city of Al Baha at the end of 2024.
The Saudi Giga Projects 2024 featured a dynamic program of keynote speeches and panel discussions presented by more than 30 speakers.
Participants listened to updates and in-depth insights about major Saudi giant projects, including Trojena, New Square, Diriyah, King Salman Park and Red Sea International.



GCC Worker Remittances to Foreign Destinations Reach $131.5 Billion

The volume of workers' remittances from GCC countries is the highest globally. Asharq Al-Awsat
The volume of workers' remittances from GCC countries is the highest globally. Asharq Al-Awsat
TT

GCC Worker Remittances to Foreign Destinations Reach $131.5 Billion

The volume of workers' remittances from GCC countries is the highest globally. Asharq Al-Awsat
The volume of workers' remittances from GCC countries is the highest globally. Asharq Al-Awsat

The total remittances of workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to foreign destinations amounted to $131.5 billion by the end of 2023, according to the latest data released by the GCC Statistical Center.

The volume of workers' remittances from GCC countries is the highest globally, followed by remittances from the United States

The center's report indicated that this marked a decrease by approximately $0.5 billion compared to 2022, a 0.4 percent decline. This comes after significant increases recorded in 2021 and 2022, which saw growth rates of 9.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.

The share of these remittances as a percentage of the GCC's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at current prices, declined from 8.1 percent in 2020 to six percent in 2022, before experiencing a slight increase in 2023, settling at 6.2 percent.