Saudi Aramco met with an army of Turkish contractors this week to discuss $50 billion of potential projects in the Gulf kingdom, underscoring improving trade ties between the two countries after burying a diplomatic row over Jamal’s killing Khashoggi
Representatives of the state-controlled oil company met on Tuesday and Wednesday with executives from about 80 construction companies in workshops in the Turkish capital, Ankara, and are seeking to prequalify them for projects planned until 2025, Erdal Eren, chief of the Association of Contractors of Turkey. , he said in a telephone interview.
“Aramco wants to see as many Turkish contractors as possible on its projects,” Eren said. “They are planning refineries, pipelines, management buildings and other infrastructure construction that will have an investment value of $50 billion.”
The company, the world’s third-most valuable after Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp, will soon draw up a list of contractors that can bid on the projects, he said, adding that the two sides would soon meet again in Saudi Arabia.
“This is a lifeline for Turkish contractors, who have suffered a lot and lost business because of the war between Russia and Ukraine,” Eren said. “Investment projects supported by the Turkish government have also dwindled in recent years, especially after the earthquakes,” he said, referring to the February tremors that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey.
Aramco declined to comment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was re-elected for a third term last week, has vowed to prioritize the reconstruction of a dozen cities that were devastated by the earthquakes.
Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman agreed in June last year to boost economic and defense ties, ending years of enmity over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Turkey transferred the case to Saudi Arabia in April 2022.
–With assistance from Matthew Martin.
