Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The awarding of projects in the Kingdom is expected to witness a decline ranging between 20 and 40 percent during the year 2020, according to an estimate of the Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA).

The authority attributed this mainly to the long period of lockdown as part of the precautionary measures to stem the spread of coronavirus.

In a recent report, released by SCA, 48 percent of the construction projects in Saudi Arabia for the year 2020 were actually awarded in the beginning of March.

“The value of projects that were awarded during the period between January and March amounted to SR97.5 billion,” the authority said and expected that if the lockdown continues in the construction sector for a period of six months, the value of total projects to be awarded in the year would reach SR120 billion.

The report stated that this indicates that the value of projects during the remaining period of the year from April will be only $6 billion.

“Large-scale new infrastructure projects are being impacted, with major impacts on the construction industry,” the authority said while evaluating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

SCA is a government subsidiary under the Ministry Commerce and Investment that aims to establish a well-secure economic environment for national as well as international business contractors in the Kingdom.