Gulf states to pump $55bn into roads and airports projects

 The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are expected to pump more than $55bn into road and airport projects within the next 10 years to expand capacity and meet a surge in demand, a Kuwaiti financial firm said yesterday.
The investments do not include the planned $25bn train that will link the GCC countries in the region’s first cross-border rail network, the bids for which could be issued in the first quarter of 2010, the UAE-based (Emirates Business) reported Sunday.
According to Markaz Financial Centre, the road projects are required to meet the rapid growth in the GCC’s population and the sharp increase in vehicles, which it said had led to clogged roads across some of the major cities in the region. Markaz said although the quality of roads in the six countries has been significantly better than those in most of the other emerging economies, there is a concern over the current capacity.
“Currently, the majority of the GCC countries rank high in the order for the highest traffic density as indicated by the number of automobiles per kilometre of road and also in terms of highest number of fatalities,” it said in a study.
“Conversely, the region ranks low on a comparative scale in the road density as indicated by the aggregate kilometers of road to the total area of the country. The total amount of planned investments in the road segment in the GCC is expected to be at $10bn over the next 10 years.”