An economic upsurge has turned the Middle East into the second largest market for project finance after China, with a total value of nearly $1 trillion, according to estimates.

The financing activity covers several sectors, including oil, gas petrochemicals, infrastructure, utilities and real estate, a report said.

The developments in each industrial segment of the Middle East are substantial enough to place the region second only to China as a focus for project finance over the next years, a report in Emirates Business said, quoting Fleming Gulf.