MEED reported that Dubai based contractor Al-Habtoor Leighton Group has secured its first project in Saudi Arabia through an agreement with Riyadh-based contractor Al-Rajhi Projects & Construction.

Al-Habtoor will work with Al-Rajhi on its SAR 2.6 billion phase-1 building contract at Riyadh's Information Technology & Communication Complex which it secured on 22 May.

The memorandum of understanding between the two companies involves Al-Habtoor Leighton providing Al-Rajhi with project management expertise and other support on the ITCC project.

Mr David Savage MD of Al-Habtoor said that "We have a relationship with Al-Rajhi from the UAE. We have been working with it fairly closely for a while on some opportunities in Saudi Arabia, and the ITCC job is one of them. Al-Rajhi has won that project in its own right but we have an agreement with it where we will provide support and staffing. It is the start of what we are hoping will be a bigger relationship in Saudi Arabia."

Mr Savage said that the agreement should lead to a fully-fledged joint venture and more work for Al-Habtoor Leighton on other Saudi schemes, such as the USD 6 billion Haramain high speed railway between Mecca and Medina.

The Al-Rajhi Alliance, which comprises Al-Rajhi Projects & Construction and other companies that are part of the Al-Rajhi Group, won the civils works contract in March.

He said that "We are particularly interested in the infrastructure side of things. There is some quite large rail work in Saudi Arabia that we are interested in."

Al-Habtoor Leighton is the latest major UAE-based contractor to secure work in the kingdom through a joint venture with a local firm.

(Sourced from MEED)