Positive year ahead for Dubai’s construction sector: Report

JEDDAH: Dubai’s strong construction trends look set to continue through 2017, according to a report.
A total of 4,000 construction projects worth $313.6 billion are currently under way in the emirate. This includes projects that are in the concept, design, tender, under construction and on-hold phases, and constitutes 39 percent of the number of active projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 42 percent of the total estimated value of all active projects in the UAE.
The report issued by Business News for Construction (BNC) said that the urban construction sector has more than 3,200 active projects amounting to a combined estimated value of over $245 billion. This is followed by the transport sector with 187 projects valued at $32.4 billion, the utilities industry with 203 projects valued at $24.3 billion, 377 industrial projects worth $5.8 billion, and 12 projects in the oil and gas sector totalling $4.6 billion.
Some of Dubai’s current multi-billion-dollar projects include Dubai Metro Red Line Extension, which is a part of the Expo 2020 initiative, Container Terminal 4 of the Jebel Ali Port Expansion project and the Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences located in Palm Jumeirah.
The significant announcement of the “Dubai Harbor” project by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, in January 2017 will see the construction of an impressive waterfront development spanning more than 20 million sq. feet.