Construction projects awarded across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are forecast to reach $195.7bn this year, an increase of nearly $35bn compared to 2013, according to a new report by Ventures Middle East.

Contractor awards in the building and infrastructure sectors will make up $134bn by the end of this year, up from $119bn in 2013. Saudi Arabia with $64.3bn constituted the largest share of the contracts awarded in 2013, followed by the UAE at $28.1bn while the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are likely to lead growth in the construction market over the next few years.

Ventures Middle East said in the report for the Big 5 construction conference that all GCC economies except Bahrain and Oman are projected to continue expansion for the next six years, with heavy investments planned irrespective of their budgetary balances.

It said that between 2014 and 2019 there is likely to be ‘tremendous activity across the key focus areas of the budgets, primarily infrastructure including transportation, roadways, airports and ports and tourism’.

The report added that with the UAE hosting the World Expo in 2020 and Qatar the World Cup FIFA event in 2022, these two economies along with the largest construction market Saudi Arabia are likely to be the key economies to watch out for in the next few years.