TOP HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
The company behind the construction of a major new resort complex on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern coast on the Red Sea has now awarded more than 600 contracts worth SAR 23 billion (US$6.1 billion).
Red Sea Global (RSG), which is wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, said that a number of areas of the luxury destination, which will be powered entirely by solar energy, are moving towards completion.
FRANCE
France-based construction company Vinci Construction has appointed Patrick Sulliot as its new chairman. It is the latest change at the top of construction and concessions giant Vinci. In May, the company announced that Pierre Anjolras, who was appointed chairman of Vinci Construction in 2021, would become Vinci’s new chief operating officer.
Anjolras reports to chairman and chief executive officer Xavier Huillard as part of a succession plan as Huillard’s term of office comes to an end in 2025.
CHINA
China has spent more than 43.5 billion yuan (US$6.1 billion) in data centre investment over the past two years, according to an official statement reported by Chinese state publication Xinhua.
The funds have paid for the construction of eight computing hubs as part of China’s so-called ‘East Data, West Computing’ initiative, launched in 2022 by Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. The initiative involves storing data in the more economically developed eastern regions of China and processing it in the western regions, which have more land and energy but lower data demand.
UK
The UK’s Labour government is shelving plans to remove European CE marking from construction products. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the previous Conservative administration had set up plans to switch from Europe’s CE (Conformité Européenne) mark, to the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark. Government guidance had set a deadline for CE marking of construction products destined for the UK to end by June 2025.
Rushanara Ali, parliamentary secretary of state for building safety and homelessness, has announced that the government would extend the period of recognition of CE marking for construction products.