The GCC has one of the biggest construction pipelines in the world with $3.1 trillion worth of projects planned or under way in the region, according to a report.

The high value of projects planned and under way is a clear indication of how the projects industry has become a key driver for the economic success of the GCC, laying the foundations for the long-term, sustainable development of the region that will support future generations, according to Meed Projects.
 
The organisation supports this development by recognising and celebrating the best achievements of the region’s projects industry through its annual Meed Projects Awards.

The awards programme has a two-stage judging process that recognises the best projects at the national level and then selects an overall GCC winner for each category.

Meed said for the past seven years, these awards have been recognising completed schemes in a broad range of categories including oil and gas, industrial, power and water, leisure and tourism, transport, social infrastructure, building and sustainable project of the year, besides the award for innovation, and small project of the year.

The UAE, said the report, has been a dominant force in the top transport, industrial and building project of the year categories.

Since launching the projects awards programme in 2011, Meed has recognised 92 of the highest quality projects across the GCC that were completed between 2009 and 2017.

Regionally, the UAE has enjoyed the most success with 28 GCC winners, followed by Saudi Arabia with 17 and Qatar 16. Bahrain and Oman have 12 and 11 regional winners, respectively, while Kuwait has 8, said the report.

At the country level, the UAE has had 154 national winners, followed by Saudi Arabia with 46 and Qatar 43. Oman is next with 38, followed by Bahrain with 26 and Kuwait with 25 national winners. A total of 332 national winners have been recognised since 2011, it stated.

"This is not just about having the tallest building or the largest infrastructure project, although these are impressive accomplishments, it is more about how the projects contribute to the economic and social success and sustainability of the community where they are based," remarked Becky Crayman, the programme director for awards and managed events at Meed.

"The other critical factors reviewed by the judges are innovations and achievements in design, engineering and construction. These are the benchmarks that invariably have an impact on the successful completion of any project,” she stated.

According to her, the awards programme’s most coveted prize, the Meed Quality Project of the Year, in association with Mashreq, has so far been given to just four countries.

The UAE has won twice with the Burj Khalifa Project in 2011 and the Dubai International Airport – Concourse A Project in 2013. Qatar is another two-time winner, with Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Shell’s Pearl GTL Project in 2012, and the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies Building Project in 2015.

Saudi Arabia is another double winner, receiving the top award two years in a row with the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies & Research Centre Project in 2016 and the Sadara Project last year. Bahrain has clinched the top award once, with Bahrain Petroleum Company’s (Bapco) Install Refinery Wastewater Treatment Plant Project in 2014.

Crayman said new categories have been added, opening the door for a broader range of projects to be recognised, thus reflecting the growing diversity of projects being completed throughout the region.

These include Airport Project, Retail Project, Mixed-Use Project, Residential Project, Rail Project; Road & Bridge Project and Mega Project of the Year.

The Dubai Metro Red and Green Line Projects won the GCC Transport Project of the Year award in 2011 and 2012, respectively; while the Dubai International Airport – Concourse A Project won the following year in 2013.

The UAE has produced a total of four winners in the GCC Industrial Project of the Year category, with the Emirates Aluminium Smelter Complex Project in 2012, the Ducab HV and EHV Facility Project in 2013, Adnoc Industrial Gas Development Project in 2014, and the Taweelah Aluminum Extrusion Plant for Talex last year.

The country also figured prominently in the GCC Building Project of the Year category, winning four times with the Burj Khalifa Project in 2011, the Damac Ocean Heights Project in 2012, the Cayan Project in 2014 and the Etihad Museum Project in 2017.

Saudi projects dominated the GCC Social Infrastructure Project of the Year, with the Development of King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project - Makkah and the King Fahad National Library Project winning in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The kingdom has also won the GCC Oil & Gas Project of the Year two years in a row with the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd. (YASREF) Refinery Project in 2016 and the Sadara Project in 2017.

Bahrain too has made its mark in the GCC Sustainable Project of the Year category, where three of its projects have emerged triumphant: the Carbon Dioxide Recovery Project in 2011, the Bapco project in 2014 and the Ministry of Works’ Muharraq STP and Sewage Conveyance Project in 2015.

Oman has had multiple winners in the GCC Leisure & Tourism Project of the Year category, with the Salalah Gardens Mall and Residences Project winning in 2014, followed by the Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort Project in 2015. The sultanate has also won two of the new award categories with the Design & Construction of Underpasses & Flyovers Darsait – Al Wadi Al Kabir Road taking the GCC Road & Bridge Project of the Year trophy, and Oman Avenues Mall (Extension to Lulu Hypermarket in Bausher- Stage 2) winning GCC Retail Project of the Year in 2016.

Kuwait is the only country that has produced winners in the GCC Residential Project of the Year category, winning with the Wall House project in 2016 and the Three Gardens Project in 2017.-TradeArabia News Service