$872bln — infrastructure projects ready for HSBC in the region

Summary

• HSBC identified $872 billion in individual infrastructure project packages across the MENAT region.
• The packages sit inside a wider $1.4 trillion planned but unawarded pipeline.
• The bank's CEO tied the figures to a reaffirmed commitment to the Gulf.

The latest

Infrastructure project packages worth $872 billion are now on offer across the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye, according to HSBC, which says the volume gives international and corporate investors deeper exposure to the region before 2030. Group Chief Executive Georges Elhedery told Future Forum 2026 that the bank's commitment to the Gulf is steadfast and that the region will keep growing on alternative trade routes.

Details

• The headline number: HSBC said it has identified $872 billion in individual project packages, carved out of a broader $1.4 trillion pipeline of infrastructure work that has been planned but not yet awarded across the MENAT region.
• The growth curve: According to the bank's latest infrastructure report, the value of planned but unawarded projects and programmes rose 54% between January 2023 and January 2026, from $792 billion to $1.22 trillion, then added a further 15% to reach $1.4 trillion between January and October 2026.
• The AI line: Contract awards for AI enabling infrastructure hit $10.5 billion by October 2026, more than double the total awarded across all of 2025, according to HSBC's analysis of the regional pipeline.
• Transport: Transport awards reached $48.1 billion in the same period, already exceeding the $37.1 billion recorded over the whole of last year, the bank said.
• The methodology: The analysis covered 4,500 infrastructure packages and programmes across seven MENAT markets, spanning transport, energy and power excluding oil and gas, water and waste, and digital and AI infrastructure. HSBC did not name the seven markets.
• On capital: Elhedery said capital would never be an issue for development in the Gulf, describing international investors as confident and ready to participate in regional projects. He added that the region must still offer attractive structuring and pricing to draw them into its capital markets.
• On costs: The chief executive said projects have become more expensive because of conflict, but argued the added costs tied to energy and data security are "a global phenomenon" rather than a Middle East story.
• On Hormuz: Elhedery said investment in resilient alternative logistics routes means the Gulf will recover from the impact of the Iran war, and projected that the Strait of Hormuz could become redundant in probably five years. He did not set out which routes would replace it.
• Also: AI and transport awards both outpaced their full-year 2025 totals by October.

Background

The Strait of Hormuz is the chokepoint through which a large share of Gulf energy exports transits, making alternative overland and port routes a long-running priority for regional governments and a recurring theme in investor risk assessments.

Between the lines

The figures point in two directions at once. The pipeline grew 15% in ten months and both AI and transport awards passed their full-year 2025 totals early, suggesting the war did not stall contracting. But Elhedery's own framing — higher project costs, a redundant Hormuz within five years, pricing that must attract foreign capital — reads as an argument that the region is buying its way around a risk premium rather than escaping it.

What's next

Watch how much of the $872 billion in identified packages converts into awarded contracts, whether AI infrastructure awards hold their doubled pace into 2027, and HSBC's next infrastructure report for a revised pipeline figure.

Source: ZAWYA