GCC healthcare projects value tops $61bn

Dubai / Emirates Business

The total value of 707 healthcare projects exceeded AED 223.50 billion ($60.9 billion) in January 2018, according to the latest GCC Construction Intelligence report issued by BNC Network, the largest and most comprehensive construction intelligence platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Of these, 445 projects worth $51.9 billion (AED190.47 billion) are hospital projects while the rest 262 projects worth $9 billion (AED33 billion) are medical clinics or research centres.
Out of 707 projects in GCC, 264 worth $24.7 billion (AED90.64 billion) are under construction, 227 projects worth $12.7 billion are in the design and pipeline while there are 75 healthcare projects with a combined estimated value of $1.76 billion (AED6.46 billion) in tender.
The healthcare industry constitutes 4 percent of all active projects in the GCC’s urban construction sector and in dollar terms, these projects account for 5 percent of the total estimated value, according to BNC Network’s construction intelligence.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, eight healthcare contracts with a combined estimated value of $813.9 million (AED2.98 billion) were awa-rded in the GCC. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the number of healthcare contract awards in the GCC increased by 33 per cent as compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.
“Mandatory health insurance scheme, that is gradually bringing the entire population of the GCC under medical insurance cover is driving investment in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other healthcare facilities,” Avin Gidwani, Chief Executive Officer of BNC Network, says. “With higher oil price, the GCC will see increased investment in infrastructure, housing and these activities will create new employment that will increase demand for more healthcare projects.
“Historically, the GCC healthcare sector was driven by the public sector hospitals that offered subsidised medical care and almost free medicines. However, there has been a fundamental shift in the healthcare system, where the empl- oyers are now being made responsible for the employees’ medical care and welfare.
This necessitated the introduction of the mandatory hea-lth insurance schemes and created a demand for incre-ased number of hospitals,
clinics and pharmacies.”
In December, the number of healthcare projects in the GCC decreased by 1 percent as compared to November 2017 and the total estimated value of these projects decreased by 2 percent.
Notable projects like New Khasab Hospital located in Oman worth $197.5 million was awarded during Decem-ber 2017. Six healthcare pro- jects with a combined esti- mated value of $600.6 mill-
ion were completed during December 2017.
BNC, the largest project intelligence provider in the MENA region, tracks 25,324 live construction projects with a value exceeding $7.7 trillion (AED28.3 trillion).