NewsGulf News
June 25, 2007
Dubai: Demand for real estate near Dubai Metro stations is heating up in response to the rapid physical emergence of the RTA's Dh15.5 billion project, say property consultants and agencies.
Companies and residents on the hunt for real estate are increasingly prioritising locations near metro stations and are willing to pay a premium to avoid congested roads and tolls.
Meanwhile, landlords and real estate developers are responding by heavily marketing links between their properties and the first phase of the metro, which will follow a route along Shaikh Zayed Road and is scheduled to open in September 2009. The second phase will be built mostly underground and should open in March 2010.
The
trend means Dubai's future property hot spots will be dictated by
proximity to the metro, says Craig Johnson, general manager at real
estate consultancy Landmark Properties.
"We have
witnessed a huge surge in interest from prospective investors
regarding the metro. Proximity to a metro stop has become a leading
strategy for investors looking to maximise appreciation on their
investments," he said, without specifying expected appreciation
rates.
"Significantly, a number of reputable investment funds who are considered particularly astute in the market are targeting property located close to metro stations."
Peter Penhall, CEO of Dubai-based realty portal Gowealthy.com, said it is hard to estimate appreciation levels or premiums for property near stations, but said it will have a greater chance of holding its value should the market dip.
Recent trend
The
seeds for the project were sown 10 years ago when a feasibility study
concluded that Dubai could no longer rely on road networks to cater
to escalating traffic.
But investor interest in land near the
metro has only recently picked up in response to the physical
emergence of train lines and station locations, said Ryan Mahoney,
managing director at Dubai-based real estate agency Better Homes.
"People are realising that the metro is not just a pipedream.
Construction work is happening quicker than they had anticipated."
He said prices should appreciate for non-luxury property within walking distance of stations, but said it is unlikely that Dubai's future demographics will change as the project is being built along existing road arteries.
The majority of investor interest so far has been for commercial real estate, he added. "Business owners are thinking about how their mid-level staff will be able to commute to the office, especially as congestion and tolls are considered barriers to road use."
Retail real estate in and around stations will also be attractive to investors because of the guaranteed high shopper footfall that a metro station can provide, said Penhall.
It remains uncertain how close a property must be to a station to command a premium. In cities with moderate climates the distance is up to 400 metres, but in Dubai it will be nearer 100 metres, said Mahoney.
June 27, 2007
VIENNA — Chairman of Dubai Executive Council Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum received here yesterday the 2007 United Nations Public Service Award which the Dubai Government won in the ‘Improving of Delivery services’ category in West Asia region.
It was the Dubai Government Excellence Programme (DGEP) which qualified for this international award.
Under
the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh
Hamdan received the award from Assistant Secretary-General of United
Nations to the applause of a 4000-strong audience representing 50
countries at the UN Centre in Venna.
Ahmad bin Byat, President of DGEP was also present.
The
award, the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in
public service was given at a ceremony on the opening day of the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government being held in Vienna from June 26 to 29.
The
United Nations Public Service Awards are given in three categories:
improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in public
service, improving the delivery of services, and fostering
participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms
such as e-government.
The UN award is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It rewards the creative achievements and of public service institutions to a more effective and responsive public administration worldwide.
Source: http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2007/June/
BY A STAFF REPORTER
25 June 2007
DUBAI — CALYON, the corporate and investment banking division of the Crédit Agricole Group has been granted a full service licence to provide investment banking and capital markets services from the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC). CALYON will open a full service office in the DIFC in July 2007.
Through its DIFC office, CALYON will continue to offer clients a range of innovative global investment banking services including M&A advisory, capital markets and structured finance. Over the coming months the bank will be significantly building on its regional business, opening additional offices in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and expanding its investment banking and capital markets services across the region. Commenting on the new licence, Albert Momdjian, CEO of the DIFC branch and Managing Director and Head of Middle East & Africa Investment Banking, said: "CALYON is a global bank and one of the top five foreign banks in the Middle East and North African region, and has been present here for over 50 years. With our DIFC licence we will be able to build on this and significantly strengthen our offering to clients in the region, with an aim to become one of the strongest investment banking groups in the Middle East and Africa region."
"DIFC is a natural location to serve as a strategic hub for CALYON's regional investment banking business. It offers a unique position as a bridge between the capital markets of Europe and Asia, where CALYON enjoys strong positions. DIFC is well known as the world's newest and most rapidly growing international financial centre, in one of the most dynamic regions in the world. With the favourable legal and regulatory environment, it is a logical location for us to be," added Momdjian.
Nasser Al Shaali, CEO, DIFC Authority, said, "It is a pleasure to welcome CALYON to the DIFC. We recognise that the bank has an historic, deep commitment to, and strong presence in, the MEA region, as well as in Asia and Europe. DIFC, as the economic heart of the region and home to many of the world's leading financial institutions, provides the bank a platform to continue expanding its regional business and to be a catalyst for economic growth, development and diversification."
DUBAI — Rumours were rife yesterday after Zawya Dow Zones reported that the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was contemplating to postpone the controversial road toll system for the time being.
Senior RTA officials have, however, rubbished the report and confirmed that Salik would be launched on the scheduled date.
Salik, which is expected to generate an yearly income of Dh600 million for the RTA is set to be launched in Dubai on July 1, the RTA officials confirmed.
Engineer Maitha bin Adai, CEO of the RTA’s Roads and Transport Authority, said that the RTA has finalised the installation process of the toll gates at Garhoud Bridge and Shaikh Zayed Road near Mall of the Emirates and it is scheduled to be activated on July 1.
“RTA has installed signboards to guide motorists to the toll gates located at Garhoud Bridge and Shaikh Zayed Road (Al Barsha Gate) near Mall of the Emirates.
There are signboards to guide motorists to the toll areas. More signboards are currently being installed. We are installing signboards near petrol stations so that people know about the sale of Salik cards,” she added.
The official added that there were many alternative roads which could be used by the commuters in order to avoid the Salik gates.
These roads include the Dubai Crossing Road, currently near completion, which will link Sharjah with Abu Dhabi; the expansion on Al Maktoum Bridge; the expansion of Emirates Road from 3 to 6 lanes and the floating bridge, which links the end of Al Ittehad street near City Centre to Al Riyadh Street in Bur Dubai.
The floating bridge is expected to reduce traffic on Al Maktoum Bridge considerably as it can take up to 6,000 vehicles during rush hour,” she added.
Though the RTA officials have called it a move which will reduce pressure on congested Dubai roads, the general voice has been quite against the RTA’s perspective.
The people, however, feel that Salik would bring little change in the present traffic congestion on the roads.
Published: June 24, 2007, 23:30
Basel: The UAE will not drop its currency peg to the US dollar without other Gulf nations doing the same, the country's central bank governor said yesterday.
Six countries in the GCC are planning a single currency by 2010. However, this deadline is in doubt after Oman said it would not meet the target.
The GCC countries had agreed to keep their currencies pegged to the dollar in the run-up to 2010. But markets have been betting the dollar's decline would tempt some Gulf states to change dollar-pegged exchange rates, especially after Kuwait broke ranks and adopted a currency basket in May.
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"Give me a certificate, I will sign it. For the UAE I can say comfortably and surely that we will not move alone and we will move with other GCC countries. We will all be together in it. No, we are not ruling out, but we will have to move together," Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said.
"We meet regularly and we discuss these issues. These are monetary and exchange rate policies and if we decide that exchange rate policies need that we move to a basket... we will do that," he told reporters.
He added that the monetary union will come in three stages and the unified currency will come after the GCC sees the common market was working to the group's satisfaction, hinting that the 2010 GCC deadline for the single currency might be delayed.
"Our monetary union consists of three stages, but they don't need to be implemented at the same time. Stage one, two will be completed by 2010 and stage three will be a unified currency... we will defer it until we have a common market working to our satisfaction."
Suwaidi later said the GCC was between the first stage -- "getting capital flows right", and the second phase -- working towards a common market and adjusting policy.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a gathering of the world's central bankers at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel.
A Reuters poll in March tipped the UAE as the country most likely to revalue its currency after Kuwait to cope with the fallout from the dollar's fall.
IANS
Published: June 24, 2007, 23:30
Dubai: Emaar MGF, the joint venture between the Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Delhi-based MGF, has committed a $12 billion investment in India for residential and commercial projects and drawn up plans for what it claims will be the country's largest mall.
The joint venture is also planning to bring the haute couture Armani Hotel to India and has firmed up residential and commercial projects in cities spanning Mohali to Kochi in the south.
"We have on our drawing boards India's largest mall," said Shravan Gupta, Emaar MGF's managing director without giving details of the mall.
Published: June 24, 2007, 23:30
Dubai: Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) 2007 raffle draws this year will be the biggest in the festival's 10-year history.
DSS 2007 will witness a mega shopping promotion where shoppers will be able to win cash prizes worth Dh500,000 every week throughout the 10-week extravaganza.
With the first draw for this event coming up on the June 29, shoppers have started to collect raffle coupons by going to shop more often. The draw will take place every week in one of the malls.
Ebrahim Saleh, the chief operating officer of DSS, said total prizes will exceed Dh10 million, with half of that figure alone comin
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