GCC offering investors ‘safe’ PPP deals; Saudi pipeline nears 300: FII

Vijay Valecha, February 20, 2026, Arab News

RIYADH: Global investors can find a “safe harbor” in the Gulf Cooperation Council as the bloc’s public-private partnerships pipeline offers “compelling” opportunities, according to a new report.

The latest document from the Future Investment Initiative Institute highlights how economies in the region are currently driving the next wave of PPP growth.

It cites findings from Partnerships Bulletin, which ranks Saudi Arabia as second in the global emerging markets pipeline for PPP projects up to July 2025, and also places Dubai in the top 10.

While that analysis claims the Kingdom has 98 PPP projects either formally published or announced, FII says Saudi Arabia has a further 200 currently awaiting approval.

The findings align with the goals outlined in the Kingdom’s National Privatization Strategy, launched in January, which aims to raise satisfaction levels with public services across 18 target sectors, create tens of thousands of specialized jobs, and exceed 220 PPP contracts by 2030.

The strategy also aims to increase private sector capital investments to more than SR240 billion ($63.99 billion) by 2030.

The FII report says that around 90 percent of FDI into Saudi Arabia now flows into non-oil sectors, from advanced manufacturing and tourism to green energy and digital infrastructure.

“That shift reflects deliberate policy choices to open markets, standardize regulatory frameworks and use public capital to de-risk new value chains,” says the document, adding: “The result is a kind of safe harbor in an otherwise low-growth, high-uncertainty world.”

It continues: “While global FDI has stagnated or declined in many regions, the GCC’s pipeline of planned infrastructure and industrial projects now exceeds $2.5 trillion, according to Boston Consulting Group data, with PPPs playing a central role in structuring and financing them. For global investors searching for yield, diversification and inflation-linked income, this represents a compelling proposition.”

Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, believes input from the private sector across all stages, from design to construction and operations, improves the efficiency of project delivery and long-term operations in Saudi Arabia.

“Tighter governance through centralized management at the National Center for Privatization and PPP and a more streamlined process, including template contracts, a clearer regulatory environment, and a transparent pipeline, is likely to improve delivery speed,” said Valecha.

He added: “This means faster delivery of big projects like Red Sea resorts or Neom, with private firms handling operations to drive innovation. Ultimately, the strategy supercharges diversification by making the private sector the main engine of growth, aligning perfectly with Saudi Arabia’s push for a vibrant, non-oil economy.”

The FII Institute added that the global flow of FDI is increasingly concentrated in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, driven by ambitious national transformation agendas and deep pools of sovereign wealth.

Underscoring the role of growing PPP in Saudi Arabia, the FII report said: “A decade ago, the Kingdom’s solar capacity was negligible, despite its vast solar resource. Through early anchor investments, long-term power purchase agreements and support for national champions, the state seeded a competitive renewables market that now attracts global players on purely commercial terms.”

Valecha said that clearer PPP laws, standardised contracts and dedicated PPP units have reduced execution risks and made projects more bankable for global infrastructure funds and developers in the GCC region.

He added that rapid urbanization, a young and growing population, rising data center power demand and energy transition projects create predictable, long-duration cash flows in the region.

“This combination of policy support, fiscal necessity and structural growth is why the GCC is emerging as one of the fastest-growing PPP markets globally,” said Valecha.

Source

Arab News