On Tuesday, an official delegation of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) arrived in Jeddah to visit The Big 5 Saudi, the premier meeting place for the global construction community in the Kingdom, which hosts 300 international and Saudi exhibiting companies. The delegation was headed by Khalid Bin Dubais , member of the board of directors and chairman of the contractors committee at Makkah Chamber, and Shakir Al-Shareef, member of the board and chairman of investors committee, and Eng. Mazen Abutalib, secretary general adviser of MCCI. It included over 50 high profile personalities, CEOs of construction companies, contractors, urban development and engineering consultancies. The pipeline of upcoming construction projects in the Makkah Region is the second largest in Saudi Arabia, after the Tabuk Province. Over the next years, more than $283 billion worth projects are planned in the Makkah Region, including several high-value projects such as the $10 billion Al Faisaliah City, the $8.7 billion Jabal Al Sharashif Development, and the Makkah Metro Phase 1 (worth over $6 billion), which is currently under bidding process. In the backdrop of these multi-billion dollar construction projects, the Makkah Chamber delegation toured The Big 5 Saudi and met with hundreds of suppliers of construction products and solutions from around the globe, who are in Jeddah for four days of business, networking and learning opportunities. According to MEED Projects Report, in 2018, the Makkah Province awarded approximately $4 billion worth of contracts. The value of planned projects in Saudi Arabia for the coming years is expected to be the highest in the GCC, standing at over $1.2 trillion. The ninth edition of The Big 5 Saudi at the Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events is organized by dmg events, and is supported by GASCO (official sponsor), Al Fouzan Trading & General Construction Co. (gold sponsor), Astrolabs (entrepreneurship partner), Al Salem Johnson Controls (registration & lanyard sponsor), the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), the Saudi Building Code National Committee (SBCNC), the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. — SG
