Abid Khazandar Al-Riyadh newspaper A major feature of the boom of the 1970s was the active participation of multinational contracting companies in the building of the Kingdom's infrastructure. There were several mega-construction companies such as Germany 's Hochtief, British MBI Construction Corporation and Hyundai from South Korea. All these companies were successful in completing works that were entrusted to them before they returned to their respective countries. The French construction company Al-Francia was nationalized and is still operating in the Kingdom. The resurgent boom which is being witnessed in the Kingdom at present has a peculiar feature in that there are not any well known global companies participating except for some Chinese companies which were not present during the first boom. But the reasons are neither clear nor comprehensible. Some of the multinationals have suggested that they are not interested in turnkey contracts on projects. They have even subcontracted their remaining projects to Saudi contractors, and their role is restricted only to manage implementation of projects until handing them over to the concerned authorities with whom the contracts had been ratified. Even Chinese companies have displayed some hesitation to continue their presence in the Saudi market. One of the company officials earlier indicated that the reason for this reluctance was their lack of expertise in implementing projects in the manner and standards of the American and European companies which completed several projects in the Kingdom in the past. It is unfortunate that multinationals have pulled out of the new boom. Today, there are only a few contracting companies in the Kingdom, including Saudi Binladin and Saudi Oger. With a number of mega projects costing a total of SR400 billion planned over the coming five years, these few Saudi companies are not in a position or have the capability to implement all these projects. Therefore, it is essential for us to encourage large and reputable Chinese companies to participate in these ventures and encourage other global companies to do the same.
