RIYADH: Saudi Arabia leads the Gulf Cooperation Council region with $16.5 billion worth of projects awarded during the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest data released by asset management firm Kamco. This is an increase of 77 percent compared to the same period last year, when the Kingdom awarded $9.3 billion worth of projects. The total value of projects awarded in the GCC increased by 11.7 percent to $22.8 billion in the second quarter of 2022 — against $20.4 billion during the same period last year. Kamco revealed that the Kingdom was responsible for 77.2 percent of GCC contract awards in the second quarter, primarily driven by the contracts awarded for the $500 billion NEOM project. MEED previously reported that three out of the ten big projects awarded in the Kingdom were for the NEOM project. The value of contracts awarded in Bahrain during the second quarter witnessed a decline of 83.9 percent to $228m, compared with $1.4 billion during Q2-2021. The UAE recorded a 46.4 percent fall to $3.1 billion in projects awarded in the second quarter. Total projects awarded in Kuwait during the second quarter declined by 67.9 percent to $521 million — down from $1.6 billion during the same period last year. Contracts awarded in Oman increased three times in the second quarter reaching $1.1 billion from $390 million during Q2-2021. In terms of sector classification, the transportation sector in GCC witnessed the biggest increase in terms of absolute value during the quarter with an increase of $4.8 billion in new contracts to a total of $7.7 billion during Q2-2022. The value of new contracts in the GCC oil sector increased almost three-fold to $4.5 billion during the second quarter rising from $1.6 billion during the second quarter of last year.