Meedprojects.com: anatomy of a $700bn boom

Probably the most profitable media launch in the Middle East in recent years is the online project tracker, www.meedprojects.com, which has accumulated some 150-200 subscribers who pay $3,500-$20,000 each, depending on the number of staff who have access and the level of information required.

Perhaps this is not surprising as the MEED team presently track 1,400 projects in the GCC, Iran and Iraq with a total value of $700 billion. As General Manager of MEED Projects Ayman Razek comments:

'We are adding about $4 billion in new projects every week. Accurate and timely project information can be priceless, and the MEED name is an assurance as to the validity of the information.'

What is more interesting, however, is the dissection of these figures to reveal the anatomy of the current economic boom in the Middle East.

This brings sharply into focus the reality of where the business is being placed, and the picture is very clear. A few clicks on the www.meedprojects.com website and the national and industry sector totals are presented.

UAE: $221 billion total projects

On the day this article was written, the UAE was out front with $221 billion worth of projects, of which a thumping $176 billion are in construction and $22 billion in oil and gas.

Runner-up was much larger Saudi Arabia with projects totaling $146 billion, with just $24 billion in construction and $34 billion in oil and gas projects.

This is extraordinary. Saudi Arabia is the biggest beneficiary in the region from surging energy prices, and yet the UAE has more than seven times as much construction activity. Even in terms of oil and gas projects the UAE is not far behind Saudi Arabia.

However, another small Gulf economy, Qatar has $57 billion worth of oil and gas projects in hand. Again Saudi Arabia is runner-up to a much smaller country, this time for the biggest sector of its economy. Incidentally, Qatar has $23 billion in construction projects, just $1 billion behind the giant Saudi economy.

Next in line are Iran and Kuwait with project totals of $88 billion and $70 billion, respectively. Iran actually scores second in the region in terms of oil and gas projects under development with projects worth $50 billion, but it has few construction projects that reach the $50 million MEED threshold for inclusion, and can only boast a total of $4 billion.

Iraq comes last

Lagging the pack are Bahrain, Oman and Iraq with $23 billion, $28 billion and $20 billion respectively in total projects. Bahrain and Oman are smaller economies with lower energy revenues than the others, while Iraq's contract boom has not materialized due to the ongoing insurgency and failure of the US occupation to re-establish security.

In conclusion, the current economic boom in the Middle East is dramatically skewed towards those countries most open to foreign business - namely the UAE and Qatar - and nations which remain less hospitable to global business seem to be paying an enormous price in terms of missed development potential.

For the $700 billion in projects identified by MEED Projects is the future infrastructure of the region. And the winners and losers in this process are only too apparent.