Saudi Arabia is revising plans for a glitzy financial district in Riyadh and the creation of six industrial cities, after the projects were plagued by delays and a lack of enthusiasm among potential tenants and investors, according to a Reuters report.

Saudi Arabia’s construction sector is likely to spend $29.9 billion on development projects in 2016 with similar projections for the next year, according to a report by Faithful+Gould, a leading integrated project and programme management consultancy. The forecasted spend is 20 per cent less than the previous year’s budget.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has announced that a bridge linking the kingdom to Egypt will be built over the Red Sea to boost commerce between the two countries. The agreement was signed during the Saudi monarch’s visit to Egypt last month.

Leading UAE developers have lauded the Saudi government’s move to set up a new state-backed development company as part of its efforts to tackle the housing shortage problem, said a report.

Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) are considering a new joint refinery in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast to produce chemical products from crude oil, a report said.

A consortium including Korean group Hanwha Engineering & Construction has won a $20-billion project to build 100,000 homes in Saudi Arabia, said a report. The contract is the largest ever that a Korean builder has won from a foreign country, said the Korean Herald, citing company officials.

Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corporation, a major South Korean builder, has won a $400-million deal to build a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh Real Estate Income Company has inked a contract with serviced residence owner-operator The Ascott to manage the Ascott Corniche Al Khobar, which is scheduled to open mid-2018.

Export ban on cement, steel lifted Saudi Arabia has lifted bans on exporting cement and steel, reports said quoting officials and sources.