April 23, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427

DUBAI, April 22: Construction and other projects planned or under way in the Gulf Arab region, Iran and Iraq have surpassed $1 trillion, a business tracking firm said on Saturday.

MEED projects said in a statement that the total value of projects planned or under development in the world’s largest energy exporting region rose more than $250 billion in the first three months of 2006.

Governments in the Gulf region are expected to plough increasing amounts of their record oil revenue into infrastructure in the next few years.

More than half of the projects are in construction, with $228 billion in oil and gas schemes, $106 billion in the petrochemical sector, $70 billion in power and water developments, $44 billion of industrial projects and $15 billion in wastewater and sewerage schemes.

“The Gulf economic boom will last for at least five more years,” Ayman Razek, general manager of MEED projects, said in the statement. “The growth seen in Dubai in the last five years is now happening in Abu Dhabi and across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member countries.”

The group said the United Arab Emirates was the largest construction market in the Gulf, with almost $300 billion worth of active projects.—Reuters