Kuwait project activity accelerates in Q4 2024
Kuwait project awards jumped in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 1.2 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($4 billion), which was the best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2016, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said in a report on Wednesday.
The report titled 'NBK Economic Update: Kuwait Quarterly Brief,' stated that the construction sector accounted for half of all awards (nearly $2 billion), with the Public Authority of Housing Welfare (PAHW) making progress on various housing projects including the affordable housing project in Al-Nayeem. Power and Water came next, notching up KWD370 million ($1.2 billion) in contract awards. Kuwait Oil Company's project to drill 141 wells helped push awards in the oil and gas sector.
The report noted that for 2024 as a whole, KWD2.7 billion ($8.8 billion) worth of projects were awarded, a 44 percent increase on 2023 and the highest figure since 2017 as government's push to expand housing and strengthen the domestic electricity grid boosted project activity in power and water, and construction sectors.
"The near-term outlook remains constructive, especially with the government expected to re-emphasise in its forthcoming economic agenda speedier implementation of Vision 2035 infrastructure development goals,' the report noted.
Citing MEED Projects data, the NBK report said the 2025 project pipeline is estimated to touch KWD7.8 billion ($26 billion), 60 percent of which are in power and water sector. Notable projects for 2025 include the KWD1.2 billion Al-Zour North IWPP Phases 2&3, currently in the bid evaluation phase, and KNPC's KWD225 million Al-Mutlaa project, which is expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2025.
(Writing by Deva Palanisamy; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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