Speaking at the SteelOrbis 2013 Spring Conference & 68th IREPAS Meeting taking place in Doha on March 3-5, Juma Al Mansouri from Emirates Steel said that the UAE is seeking to transform its oil-dependent economy by spending billions of dollars on its infrastructure and tourism sectors. The UAE is also an important part of the $100 billion-worth GCC Railway Project, which will link all six GCC member countries by rail.
Mr. Al Mansouri stated that Saudi Arabia plans to invest $385 billion in social and economic infrastructure between 2010 and 2014. Qatar, on the other hand, will allocate 40 percent of its budget between 2011 and 2016 for infrastructure projects totaling $150 billion within the scope of preparations for the 2022 World Cup. Given the fact that each member of the GCC should spend $79 billion on road railway projects by 2020, the Omani government is continuing with its five-year investment plan worth $78 billion for the 2011-2015 period, while the country aims to reduce the share of oil in its GDP from 41 percent in 1996 to nine percent by 2020. Bahrain's average real growth rate for its construction sector in the years 2013-2016 is predicted at around 2.9 percent, while the value of the Kuwaiti construction industry is forecast to rise to $5 billion by 2016. Mr. Al Mansouri underlined that Iraq is attracting attention with its five-year investment plan (2013-17) estimated at a value of $250-275 billion, while he concluded his presentation by mentioning important construction and infrastructure projects and steel producers with their capacities in MENA countries.
