DUBAI: ACWA Power, which debuted on Saudi Arabia’s stock market on Monday, expects to finalize in the first quarter of next year billions of dollars in financing for a green hydrogen joint venture at the planned futuristic city NEOM, ACWA’s CEO said.
The project, which will be equally owned by Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM, will produce green ammonia for export to global markets, with the first shipment expected from NEOM’s port in the first quarter of 2026.
“We have not actually finalized the group of banks yet, but we are very advanced in structuring and work is being done internally,” CEO Paddy Padmanathan told Reuters in an interview, adding the project was “on track.”
Roughly 20 percent of the $6.5 billion project will be funded with equity and the rest will be limited-recourse project finance, he said.
“We would very much like to make sure it’s sustainability-linked,” he added.
Reuters reported in January that the joint venture had hired financial firm Lazard to advise on the project.
ACWA Power is planning projects this year with a total investment cost of around $16 billion, Padmanathan said.
Some projects planned last year were pushed into this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with ACWA projects in 2020 totalling about $3.5 billion — missing a $10 billion target as a result of the pandemic’s impact.
ACWA Power, which operates in 13 countries, is bidding for renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan, Egypt, South Africa and Indonesia, as well as a large pipeline of projects in Saudi Arabia, the CEO said.
“We have got five projects that we have already bid for in Indonesia, where we know that we are the lowest-priced on them. We are waiting for the Indonesian government to move forward.”
Asked whether ACWA would maintain its Dubai “extended headquarters,” as it is referred to in the IPO’s prospectus, Padmanathan said Riyadh had always been its base.
Saudi Arabia said in February that from 2024, it would stop giving state contracts to companies that base their Middle East hubs in any other country in the region, which analysts saw as a challenge to Dubai’s dominance as a tourism and business hub.
“As we grew our international business, at that time, it made sense for us to also maintain that satellite office (in Dubai) for efficiency. In time to come, I can see that the Riyadh base will continue to grow much more significantly, simply because also the volume of activity,” he said.
“We have bought some land and we are looking at developing our own office space. We have been leasing.”
NEOM green hydrogen JV to secure billions in financing in early 2022: ACWA Power chief
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NEOM green hydrogen JV to secure billions in financing in early 2022: ACWA Power chief
Qatar issues 28k commercial registrations in 2025, up 57%
JEDDAH: Qatar reported the issuance of nearly 28,000 commercial registrations in 2025, marking a 57 percent annual increase, according to official data.
The announcement came during the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s fourth quarterly performance review for 2025, according to Qatar News Agency, or QNA.
The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al-Thani, minister of commerce and industry, and attended by Minister for Foreign Trade Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, Undersecretary of the MoCI Mohammed bin Hassan Al-Malki, as well as assistant undersecretaries and department directors.
The growth in commercial registrations aligns with Qatar National Vision 2030, the country’s long-term development framework aimed at transforming the economy into a diversified, competitive, knowledge-based system that reduces dependence on hydrocarbons and expands private sector participation.
The trade sector has exhibited notable progress. The ministry issued 28,000 commercial registrations in 2025, alongside 34,500 business licenses, up 53 percent from 2024.
Additionally, 16 auditors were registered, and eight accounting firms and offices were licensed during the year.
The ministry’s Single-Window business service portal continued to expand its services, introducing 26 new initiatives in 2025. A total of 239,593 transactions were processed through the platform, 93 percent of which were completed electronically, reflecting the efficiency of digital transformation efforts, QNA reported.
“Customer satisfaction with electronic services reached 95 percent in the fourth quarter,” the agency added.
In attracting foreign investment, 12,449 non-Qatari companies were established in 2025, representing a 600 percent increase compared to 2024, highlighting the attractiveness of Qatar’s investment environment and investor confidence.
Intellectual property protection also improved. In 2025, 255 patents were granted, a 6 percent increase from the previous year, while trademark registrations reached 9,218, up 23 percent, and 258 copyright registrations were granted, an 89 percent increase on 2024.
In the industry and business development sector, manufacturing contributed approximately 14.2 billion Qatari riyals ($3.9 billion) to gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2025. The sector expanded with 39 new factories registered during the year, and the readiness of 100 factories was assessed under the Smart Industry Readiness Index.
Investments in new factories in the fourth quarter totaled 758 million riyals, while cumulative industrial sector investment reached 270 billion riyals.
To improve the business environment and support the private sector, QNA added that 10 public-private partnership projects were reviewed in 2025.
Licensing procedures for industrial permits, preliminary approvals, and customs exemptions for factory inputs were reduced to one working day in the fourth quarter.
In the consumer sector, efficiency improved with 18,400 special permits issued for discounts and promotions, a 26 percent increase from 2024, and processing times were reduced to less than one working day.
The average time to process price increase requests decreased from two days to one day in the fourth quarter, with an annual average of 25 days in 2025, a 63 percent reduction from 2024.
Additionally, 229,000 inspections were conducted during the year, with violations recorded in 19 percent of establishments, mostly due to absence from registered locations.
Consumer complaints totaled 23,400 and were fully resolved. Support programs benefited 450,000 recipients under food supply programs and 8,535 recipients under fodder support during the fourth quarter.
Concluding the meeting, the minister emphasized the importance of maintaining an integrated institutional approach focused on enhancing efficiency, accelerating digital transformation, and improving service quality to boost national economic competitiveness and achieve the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030.
