Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq’s project market recorded a sharp increase between November 7 and December 12, adding $13 billion to its total value and posting growth of 3.3%, according to a report by the UK-based MEED Projects magazine.

The report noted that the surge followed government approval of a gas-fired power generation program comprising five major projects worth a combined $12 billion.

Regionally, Saudi Arabia led overall market momentum, adding $18 billion and recording growth of 0.9%. The increase was driven by an announcement from Humain, a company owned by the Public Investment Fund, of a $5 billion project to develop artificial intelligence data centers.

MEED noted mixed performance among other regional markets. Qatar posted growth of 1.9% after adding $4.6 billion in projects, followed by Iran with an increase of 0.5%, equivalent to $1.2 billion.

The United Arab Emirates, by contrast, saw near stagnation, with marginal growth of 0.1%, or about $1.4 billion.

Other markets experienced contraction during the same period. Oman’s project market declined by 1.6%, reflecting a loss of $5.4 billion, while Bahrain recorded the sharpest drop, shrinking by 10.6% and removing $6.1 billion from its project index.