Egyptian firms to build houses in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia will soon award a contract to a consortium of Egyptian companies to construct houses for its citizens, a Saudi newspaper said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Housing will sign the contract with the alliance from the most populous Arab country, a week after a South Korean consortium won a deal to build 100,000 homes in the Gulf Kingdom, the Arabic language daily Okaz said.

It quoted Ministry sources as saying the contract is within the Ministry’s policy to expand cooperation with the local and foreign private sector in house construction.

“The Egyptian companies which will sign the contract with the Ministry have a long experience in building houses,” the report said without identifying those firms or mentioning the number of houses involved.

Last week, a three-party S. Korean consortium announced it has won a $20-billion project to build 100,000 houses for Saudi citizens near the capital Riyadh. It includes Hanwha Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Saudi Pan Kingdom for Trading, Ind. & Contracting (SAPAC), a major Saudi builder.