Oil prices are expected to drive private-sector participation

Oil prices are a cause for concern for many businesses in the GCC region, given their impact on the national economy. Christopher Seymour, Regional Development Director of Mott MacDonald, however believes that rather than viewing changing oil prices as an obstacle, we ought to view them as an opportunity. “The region is becoming accustomed to the ‘new normal’ oil price,” he said, “and whilst this is providing challenges it is also an opportunity to drive private-sector participation in terms of funding and also delivery.”

Seymour noted that most countries in the GCC region either have an existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) law or are transitioning towards one. As such, he believes that this signifies that the method of procurement will continue to receive the highest level of support. “Saudi Arabia,” Seymour said, “arguably has the largest PPP market in the region and has made very clear its intentions in this respect in the National Transformation Plan and Vision 2030.” He noted that with significant amounts of pre-planning already underway, they are expecting to see this materialise in terms of asset creation in 2018.