Irish Business Network KSA Highlights Growing Irish Contribution to Saudi Arabia’s Construction Sector
May 8th , 2026, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The Irish Business Network KSA (IBN-KSA) has marked its 10-year anniversary, celebrating a decade of strengthening commercial and community ties between Ireland and Saudi Arabia. The milestone also reflects the continued growth of the Irish community in the Kingdom, which now numbers more than 2,000 people.
Irish businesses are playing an increasingly prominent role across a range of high-growth sectors in Saudi Arabia, including aviation, construction, education, healthcare, food, agriculture, and professional services. As part of its ongoing business series, IBN-KSA hosted its second sector-focused event on the 8th of May at the Embassy of Ireland, dedicated to the construction industry.
The event brought together 200 attendees from across the Irish and Saudi business communities and was supported by sponsors INC Group.
Guest speakers included Cassidy Lyon of IMIR Intelligence, Andrew Mulligan, Managing Director of INC Group in KSA, Sean O’Sullivan, Chief Development Officer of Historical Jeddah, and Hani Belbaisi of Enterprise Ireland.
The event highlighted the growing contribution of Irish talent to Saudi Arabia’s development agenda. As Irish Ambassador Gerry Cunningham has noted, “Irish culture and our diaspora play a huge role in building Ireland’s reputation and networks overseas,” while also emphasizing “the power of Irish business networks” in deepening Ireland–Saudi commercial ties and supporting long-term partnerships in the Kingdom.
The focus on construction was especially timely given the sector’s strategic importance to Saudi Arabia’s transformation under Vision 2030. The Kingdom’s construction pipeline is estimated to be valued at more than US$1.7 trillion, reflecting significant momentum across infrastructure, real estate, tourism, logistics, and digital development.
Major real estate projects such as EXPO and the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Qiddiya; Diriyah and ROSHN are reshaping Saudi Arabia’s built environment while driving economic diversification, job creation, and innovation. For Irish companies and professionals, this presents substantial opportunities to contribute expertise in project delivery, design, technology, and advisory services to one of the world’s most dynamic construction markets.
Ray Gammell, Chairman of IBN-KSA and Chief Corporate Development & Enablement Officer at Riyadh Air, said “Saudi Arabia’s construction market is experiencing significant growth, driven by Vision 2030, major public investment, and large-scale projects that are transforming the country’s economic and urban landscape”.
Also in attendance was Stephen Twomey, Director of Enterprise Ireland MENA, who expressed his pleasure at supporting the Business Series event and further highlighted the strong growth witnessed across the sector in recent years. “EI MENA has played a central role in supporting Irish companies to expand across the region, enabling market entry, partnerships, and longterm commercial growth. EI supports a wide range of sectors, including technology, fintech, health and life sciences, construction, education, agrifood, and sustainability, all aligned with the region’s diversification and innovation agendas’’
The success of the latest IBN-KSA business series event reinforced the strong long- term outlook for Saudi Arabia’s construction industry and the growing presence of Irish entrepreneurs and professionals within it. As the Kingdom continues to invest in transformational projects over the coming decade, the role of Irish expertise, innovation, and partnership is set to grow even further.
