Analysis Construction Neom registers 33 new patents for projects Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city Neom has ramped up its applications for patents on names and logos, registering a total of 33 this year, including 27 within the last two months, indicating that at least two new major projects are still to come. Neom Company has made a total of 45 applications to the US patent […] November 24, 2023
Renewable Energy Gulf’s first hydroelectric plant to be ready in Dubai in 2025 The Gulf region’s first hydroelectric plant in Hatta is 80 percent complete and forecast to be completed by early 2025, the emirate’s utility provider said on Thursday. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) in December said that the AED1.42 billion ($387 million) plant – the first of its kind in the GCC – was planned […] November 23, 2023
Real Estate Foreign HQs drive Riyadh rent growth to record highs A rush of international companies to set up regional headquarters in Riyadh is driving record increases in commercial property rents, latest figures reveal. Prime rents in the Saudi capital rose by almost 24 percent in the year to Q3, according to CBRE, with rents currently at SAR2,617 ($712) per sq m. Observers say Saudi Arabia’s […] November 23, 2023
Analysis Real Estate Investors favour Emaar for Dubai property returns Dubai’s residential property sector rebound has reaped huge profits for the emirate’s developers and landlords. Yet for equity traders, there is really only one investible conglomerate: Emaar Properties and its subsidiary, Emaar Development. There has been upheaval among second-tier developers listed on Dubai’s bourse, while the other major players, such as Nakheel, Dubai Properties and […] November 22, 2023
Real Estate Turkish house sales drop 14% as prices double House sales in Turkey during the first 10 months of 2023 were down by 14.3 percent year on year to just under 1 million, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Pressure on Turkey’s housing market has been exacerbated by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, high inflation and an influx of displaced people from the […] November 21, 2023
Construction Work starts on UAE’s largest aluminium recycling plant Emirates Global Aluminium has commenced construction of what it claims will be the largest aluminium recycling plant in the UAE. The facility, with a capacity of 170,000 tonnes per year, is being built next to EGA’s existing smelter in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Construction is expected to […] November 21, 2023
Transport GCC railway sets 2030 operational target The long-awaited GCC railway network will be operational by December 2030, it has been announced. The target date was agreed by the Committee of GCC Ministers of Transport and Communications at a meeting in Muscat, Oman on Thursday. The 2,117km route will connect key cities in each of the six member states. The long-awaited GCC […] November 17, 2023
Real Estate Saudi-backed Oryx plans logistics centre in UK Oryx Real Estate Partners, a UK-based investment and asset manager, has acquired a five-acre development site in Milton Keynes on behalf of a consortium of GCC family offices, mainly from Saudi Arabia. The company, whose chairman and co-founder Fawaz Al Rahji is also chairman of Saudi family office Al Rahji Partners, plans to invest between […] November 16, 2023
Opinion Economy Assessing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 progress The non-oil private sector is a driving force for economic transformation November 16, 2023
DUBAI AIRSHOW Aviation Neom flying taxis ‘should be ready by 2026,’ says developer Neom could have “flying taxis” in the air by 2026 if testing and regulatory work stays on track, according to the company developing them for the Saudi giga-project. Borja Blond, CEO of the joint venture between Neom and German manufacturer Volocopter, said it ran successful test flights in the summer and was working with the […] November 16, 2023
Real Estate Qatar to invest $1.5bn in Egypt’s industrial sector Qatar will invest $1.5 billion in Egypt’s industrial sector in 2024, according to Egyptian commercial service chief Yahya Al-Wathiq Billah. This is the first investment by the Gulf nation in Egypt since signing a bilateral agreement in March 2022, Egypt Today newspaper reported. Billah said that trade volume between the countries increased by 47 percent […] November 16, 2023
Construction Epicon resort announced as latest Neom venture Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom has unveiled plans to build a new luxury tourism destination on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Called Epicon, the resort has been designed as a “gateway to the future” and will feature “striking” skyscrapers rising to 225 metres and 275 metres high. The towers will be home to […] November 16, 2023
Analysis Real Estate Dubai real estate faces price drop of up to 10%, says S&P Dubai’s real estate market is poised for a 5 to 10 percent slump in prices in the next 12 to 18 months, an analyst said on Wednesday. The shift in the market – an important driver of the emirate’s economy – will be driven by imbalances in supply and demand, according to Tatjana Lescova, associate […] November 15, 2023
Construction Deyaar plans new launches as profit rises three-fold Deyaar Development, majority-owned by Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), reported a nearly three-fold rise in net profit for the third quarter on new project launches amid a recovery in the emirate’s real estate market. Net profit for the three-month period reached AED119 million ($32.41 million), compared to AED36.35 million a year earlier, the developer said in […] November 15, 2023
Real Estate Emaar earnings jump 42% on back of real estate demand Shares in Emaar Properties were up 4.4 percent in trading on Friday off the back of strong financial results announced for the first nine months of the year. Dubai’s largest developer reported a 42 percent year-on-year increase in profit on higher property sales and a surge in real estate demand. The developer’s nine-month net earnings […] November 10, 2023
Real Estate Seera Group invests $160m in Riyadh business park Saudi travel major Seera Group plans to invest SAR600 million ($160 million) in a real estate fund to finance the development of a new business park in Riyadh. Seera will be the primary investor in the Sharia-compliant fund with the aim of developing the Kayanat Central Business Park in the north of the Saudi capital. […] November 9, 2023
Construction ADCB to sell majority stake in property unit for $109m Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has received an offer to sell a majority stake in its wholly-owned property management subsidiary Abu Dhabi Commercial Properties (ADCP). The binding offer comes from Nine Yards Plus Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based EIH Ethmar International Holding (EIH) subsidiary, the lender said in a statement published on the Abu Dhabi stock […] November 9, 2023
Infrastructure Saudi Electricity profit falls 8% on rising finance costs Saudi Electricity Company, 75 percent-owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, reported a net profit of SAR5.84 billion ($1.55 billion) in the third quarter of 2023, down 8.33 percent year on year. The profit decline was driven by higher finance costs, mainly due to high global interest rates and the additional funding needed to finance […] November 8, 2023
Giga-projects Saudi construction contracts balloon since 2015 Saudi Arabia has signed off on $78 billion of construction projects so far this year, up 42 percent from $54.5 billion in 2015, just before the announcement of the Vision 2030 project. The statistics, provided by the Saudi Contractors Authority (Scavo), show the total value of ongoing projects as of the end of October at […] November 7, 2023
Tourism Red Sea Global reveals own luxury resort brand The Saudi developer Red Sea Global (RSG) will open Shebara, its own luxury resort brand, next summer at the Red Sea tourism project. The resort, on Sheybarah Island in the Al Wajh Lagoon, will house 73 keys, including overwater and beach villas. Guests can get to the resort after a 45-minute boat ride, or 20 […] November 7, 2023
Construction Dar Al Arkan profit nearly doubles as lease revenue rises Profits almost doubled for the third quarter at Saudi Arabia’s largest developer, Dar Al Arkan, driven by a fall in operating expenses and an increase in lease revenue. For the quarter ended September 30 2023, profits rose 91.27 percent to SAR151.91 million ($40.49 million), from SAR79.42 million a year earlier, the company said in a filing to […] November 6, 2023
Construction Egypt seeks to privatise airports says Madbouly Egypt is planning to privatise the management and operation of airports and mass transit lines, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said. During a meeting with executives of more than 20 of the biggest companies in transport, logistics and maritime navigation from the UAE, China and the US, among others, Madbouly underscored the government’s commitment to collaborate […] November 6, 2023
