While the renovation of Riyadh Airport is underway, IC İçtaş has also bid on additional terminals and the airport in the city of Neom. İlker Öksüz, a member of the Executive Board of the company, which also won the bid for the Long Thanh Airport in Vietnam, said, “We’ve opened the door to a 100-million-strong market.”
We traveled to Riyadh as guests of IC İçtaş Construction—a subsidiary of IC Holding, led by businessman İbrahim Çeçen—to see firsthand the projects the company is carrying out in Saudi Arabia. We landed at King Khalid International Airport. The airport had been built years ago, but when the need for expansion and renovation arose, the Germans who won the bid were unable to complete the work. Consequently, the task fell to IC İçtaş İnşaat, which had gained experience in this field through the construction of the Izmir and Antalya airports.
At this point, I’ll hand it over to İlker Öküz, a member of the Executive Board at IC İçtaş Construction: “Our collaboration with Fraport on the Antalya project allowed us to gain experience in the aviation sector. Fraport was providing consultancy services to Saudi Arabia. Thanks to them, we entered the bidding process. The Germans won, but the project was offered to us on the grounds that ‘they weren’t carrying out the work.’ We renovated the third and fourth terminals and delivered them in 2022. Later, Terminals 1 and 2 came up. The first one is complete. The second is nearing completion. The total contract value for the four terminals is approximately $1.4 billion.”
Another $1.5 Billion in the Bank with Salman
Ilker Öksüz, who answered our questions at the second terminal of King Khalid International Airport—where construction is ongoing and luggage tests are being conducted— stated that while the airport’s capacity of 35 million passengers will increase to 50 million once Terminals 1 and 2 are operational, it will still be insufficient when considering the target of 120 million passengers as the country opens up to the outside world.
Noting that six additional terminals will be built and that the airport will be renamed “King Salman,” Öksüz said that his company also hopes to secure the contract for a terminal estimated to be worth at least 1.5–2 billion dollars. Regarding the construction of Terminals 1 and 2 in Riyadh, “We partnered with Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting Company (RTCC). Considering the past 20 years, we are not the first company to enter Saudi Arabia, but we are the first major firm to undertake the largest and most prestigious projects. We can say we’ve established a foothold in Saudi Arabia. We carried out our contracting work here without any issues even when political relations were strained,” he shared.
In response to our question, Öksüz, recalling Saudi Arabia’s futuristic projects, said the following: “No project for which the Ministry of Finance hasn’t secured funding goes out to tender. Their goals are ambitious; projects are popping up everywhere like mushrooms. It will amount to trillions of dollars. It’s similar to what was seen earlier in Libya and Iraq; it’s a situation that’s transforming the country. Since Riyadh is the main gateway, they want to beautify it. Investments are taking place in many regions. Most are futuristic structures. There’s a tender in Tabuk; I’ll be heading there from here. Saudi Arabia is home to 35 million people. There are projects in both infrastructure and energy sectors. South Koreans have built a nuclear power plant in the country. Four units have been completed. They’ve identified two sites where another 2+2 units will be built. They’ll be selecting the technology.”
The operations will begin with “Italian sunshine”
IC İçtaş Construction, which has been involved in numerous projects in Turkey—including the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and the Northern Ring Highway, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, and Antalya Airport; has also made its mark on iconic projects such as the St. Petersburg High-Speed Western Ring Road, Pulkovo Airport, the modernization and expansion of the international airports in Varna and Burgas, Bulgaria, and the Turkish House in New York. Explaining that while their project contracting work continues, they also aim to make progress on the project operations side, Öksüz said, “We don’t currently operate any projects abroad. However, we will acquire and operate a solar power plant project in Italy. That will be our first. We also want to enter the desalination—that is, seawater treatment—sector in Azerbaijan and operate that facility,” he said.
“We’re Switching Our Company Vehicles to Togg”
We also visited the aviation expo in Riyadh with İlker Öksüz, a member of the Executive Board at IC İçtaş Construction. The country is ambitious in this field as well. IC İçtaş participated in this fair thanks to the companies it collaborates with in the country. During our conversations with Öksüz—which took place during our visits to the fair, the airport, and the bridge—he mentioned that the company had submitted bids for 25 projects this year and that they are switching their company vehicles to Togg.
Öksüz also shared the following insights: “They are more nationalistic than we are when it comes to preferring their own country’s products and companies. Everyone supports their own firms. As trade wars intensify, tariff barriers are rising. Everyone is turning inward. We need to involve more companies in the supply chain, especially regarding localization,” he said.
Öksüz stated that the Akkuyu construction project is not behind schedule and that the delay caused by the pandemic is normal for a power plant of this size. He noted that while the plant will be physically completed in 2025, it will then await approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Öksüz noted that they have received bids to participate in the tender from countries such as El Salvador, and stated that they have not experienced staffing issues in Saudi Arabia, where they currently employ 120 people, with the workforce peaking at 3,000 during the construction’s busiest period.
Noting that Turkey faces a shortage of qualified personnel, Öksüz explained that Industry 4.0 will create a need for even more qualified workers. Noting that the number of students receiving scholarships from the İbrahim Çeçen Foundation has reached 20,000, Öksüz stated that Turkey has made significant progress in the field of transportation.
Turks to Expand the Wadi Laban Bridge
Turks have also bid on the construction of the Wadi Laban Bridge near Riyadh. Öksüz, a member of the Executive Board of IC İçtaş Construction, said that two new bridges and connecting roads—requiring advanced technology and engineering—will be built alongside the existing Wadi Laban Bridge, which was constructed 30 years ago. Each of these bridges will be 763 meters long, 167 meters high, and 36 meters wide, and will accommodate six lanes of traffic in both directions. Öksüz reported that they aim to complete the project and put it into service within a short period of 36 months.
“The Asian market is coming to the fore thanks to trade wars”
Also providing information about the Long Thanh International Airport, which is being undertaken by the VIE-TUR Consortium led by IC İçtaş Construction, IC İçtaş Construction Executive Board Member İlker Öksüz noted that the project requires a total of 14,9 billion dollars and is planned to serve more than 100 million passengers annually once it opens, is expected to be completed on December 5, 2026. Öksüz said, “With this project, we’ve opened the door to a country of 100 million people. Hayat Kimya had gone there before us, but we were the ones who opened the door. Thanks to the trade wars, the Asian market is coming to the forefront. We want to continue there as well. Vietnam is a project like IGA, built from scratch. They chose us there, and we don’t think this will be our last project.”
Turkish Companies Express Interest in Neom’s Airport
Even the area around Riyadh in Saudi Arabia resembles a construction site. Separate residential areas are being established within and around the city. Neom, however, is the most popular project. The airport being built in the city of Tabuk serves the construction projects. Once the city is completed, its function will change. At this stage, Turkish companies are also bidding on the project. İlker Öksüz noted that they had heard that 3–4 companies were interested in the Neom airport and stated that they, too, were interested. The project will be worth at least $10 billion. IC İçtaş İnşaat, which is currently bidding on the contract for a ski resort in Neom that will serve the 2029 Winter Olympics, also aims to secure a share in Saudi Arabia’s privatization initiatives. İlker Öksüz, a member of the company’s Executive Board, said, “Our next goal is to enter the operations sector as well. Everything is currently state-owned. We are monitoring the privatizations. We are bidding to operate the Riyadh and Jeddah airports. The operation of these facilities will also be on the table. We believe that aviation will come first, followed by ports and highways,” he said.
