While most Gulf governments can tap into oil riches accumulated over decades, some may look to external funds as they work towards ambitious foreign direct investment targets and as big infrastructure funds and other international investors show interest in the region's assets.
Costs could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years and Gulf sovereign wealth funds, among the biggest in the world, are already stepping in to accelerate the push.
Ports have emerged as a "mission-critical priority" for Gulf governments, including Saudi Arabia, said a second industry source.
"If two years ago sports was the big buzz thing, I think for the time being, next year or two, they're going to say ports, ports, ports," he said of Saudi Arabia.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund L'IMAD said last week it plans to buy out the rest of AD Ports ADPORTS.AD as it revamps the company's strategy.
AD Ports operates ports in the United Arab Emirates and across the globe, but its UAE container throughput, as well as bulk and general cargo volumes, dropped by around two thirds in the second quarter from a year earlier as the company said it operated "through perhaps the most significant challenge in its 20-year history."
Dubai's DP World, one of the world’s biggest port operators, also saw business decline in the first half. It plans to develop two container terminals in Fujairah, where the UAE is building a new oil pipeline that will double crude capacity to Fujairah when it becomes operational next year. DP World is also working on inland container depots in the UAE.
Zin Bekkali, chief executive of UK-based investment management firm Silk Invest, says Gulf governments have the capital to fund some or most of this accelerated investment in infrastructure internally.
"So infrastructure is definitely an area which we think is going to benefit," Bekkali said.
Saudi Arabia has fast-tracked billion-dollar plans to steer oil away from Hormuz, including a capacity expansion of its crude pipeline to the western Red Sea coast, sources told Reuters last month, potentially helping neighbours transport more oil without crossing the strait.
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