A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
The UAE became the largest projects market in the GCC in 2025, with projects worth $88.2 billion awarded during the year, compared with $84.3 billion in Saudi Arabia, according to Kamco Invest. As a result, the UAE increased its share of total GCC project awards to 41.3% in 2025, up from 32.9% in 2024, while Saudi Arabia’s contribution fell sharply to 39.5% from 52.3% a year earlier.
Despite a broader slowdown in project activity across the GCC during the year, the UAE once again emerged as the region’s largest projects market.
The report notes that the overall value of projects awarded in the UAE declined by 14.5% year-on-year—nearly $15 billion—from $103.2 billion in 2024, reflecting softer conditions across several sectors, particularly construction. Even so, the UAE’s performance contrasted with the sharper contraction seen in Saudi Arabia, where total project awards dropped to their lowest level in three years.
A key bright spot for the UAE in 2025 was the strong expansion in clean energy projects. Despite the decline in aggregate awards, the country accounted for nearly 31% of the total value of clean energy projects awarded across the GCC over the past decade, underscoring its leadership in renewable energy and energy transition initiatives. Among the flagship projects currently under execution is the EWEC/Masdar Abu Dhabi Solar PV IPP 5,200 MW and battery energy storage system (BESS) project, one of the largest of its kind in the region.
Sectoral data show that construction remained the single largest contributor to new project awards in the UAE, accounting for 50.7% of total projects during 2025. The value of construction contracts reached $44.9 billion, down from $53.1 billion in 2024, reflecting a moderation following several years of elevated activity.
In contrast, the power sector delivered the strongest growth performance during the year. The value of power projects awarded in the UAE surged by 97.8% year-on-year to $11.1 billion, compared with $5.6 billion in 2024, marking the largest absolute increase in contract awards among all sectors.
The chemical sector also recorded a sharp upswing, with contract awards more than tripling year-on-year to $4.4 billion, up from $1.0 billion in the previous year.
Several high-profile contracts underpinned activity in the latter part of the year. Notable among them was the $272 million Maysan residential package awarded to Trojan in the fourth quarter of 2025. The project covers the development of the Mayar and Thoraya residential districts across an area of about 600,000 square metres. Another major award was the $2 billion chemicals cluster project in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone at Ruwais Industrial City. The complex of specialty chemical plants is expected to produce around 1.9 million tonnes per year of marketable products, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene dichloride (EDC), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and caustic soda.
However, the report also highlights that the UAE was not immune to the broader regional slowdown in 2025. Subdued oil prices and the completion of several large-scale projects contributed to a moderation in new awards, particularly in the final quarter of the year, when project activity softened across most GCC markets.
However, Kamco Invest struck an optimistic note on the outlook for the GCC projects market in 2026, despite the overall decline in awarded contract value in 2025. The research house said project activity across the region is expected to regain momentum in the coming year, supported by a combination of macroeconomic and policy-driven factors.
“A number of positive factors are anticipated to support renewed project activity across the region in the coming year. These include the projected stabilisation and recovery of oil prices, as higher crude revenues directly increase the capital expenditure capacity of GCC governments,” Kamco Invest said.
The report added that the continued acceleration of economic diversification initiatives under various national visions is also expected to drive an overall uptick in project awards in 2026, with sustained investment anticipated across key non-oil sectors.