Saudi ‘giga-projects’ press on despite austerity, as MBS eyes up contractors

Saudi Arabia’s biggest construction projects are being heavily promoted by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and funded by his Public Investment Fund despite pressures to cut state spending elsewhere. All of this is in line with his efforts to change the economy and the image of Saudi Arabia – while taking a share of the profits too – but as a Special Report in this issue shows, it is the old guard that are winning orders for the ‘mega-projects’, with contracts flowing to some of the kingdom’s most well-established contractors.