International Property Show in Dubai to feature $50b worth of projects

Dubai: The International Property Show (IPS) will feature projects worth $50 billion with a focus on real estate from emerging markets and on green developments, the show organisers said.

The show, which starts on Tuesday and runs for three days, has grown 50 per cent in terms of exhibitor participation and floor space over last year, said Dawood Al Shezawi, chief executive of the organising committee for IPS, said.

About 250 exhibitors will participate at the show held at Dubai World Trade Centre in a space of 8,000 sq. metres, he said.

He added that 15,000 visitors are expected at the show, mainly from Russia, China, GCC and Arab countries.

“The focus will be on investments in industrial and commercial property projects as well as smart cities,” Al Shezawi said. “The show will focus on emerging markets like Turkey, Indonesia, Cyprus and Morocco — all new participants at the show.”

Al Shezawi said that although the UAE property market is recovering, there is an air of caution when launching projects this time.

Some local developers will be showcasing their projects to attract investors at the show.

Diamond Developers, the company behind Dubai Sustainable City, is looking to raise about Dh180 million in investments for key components in the green project, Faris Saeed, company chairman and chief executive told Gulf News.

The developer of Dubai Sustainable City will require investments of Dh80 million in its four-star eco resort, Dh50 million for a planetarium and museum tracing the history of energy and water conservation and another Dh50 million for a school, he said.

“In one year’s time, the whole city will be talking the same language we talk today. It must be, there’s no justification to start something new without taking sustainability into account. Why not save water and energy and be commercially viable?” he said.

Asked if sustainable projects will take hold in the emirate known for its glass and concrete skyscrapers, Sean McCauley, Director of Agency Services at Asteco, said: “Speculators are not interested in the features of property, they look at ‘can I make a quick buck on this property.’ If you try to market the project off-plan, we don’t see sustainability being a huge draw card because most end users don’t look for property that will take years before it will be completed. They look for something within the next six months.”

The show is likely to combine developers’ interest in reviving projects put on hold during the financial crisis and investors’ appetite to “capitalise on [market] upswing just before it takes off,” he said.

The show will run in parallel with the 3rd Annual Investment Meeting hosted by the Ministry of Economy and the Sustainable Real Estate Conference organised by the Dubai Land Department on May 1st.

According to a report released by IPS earlier, a total of 40 projects worth Dh131 billion were launched in 2012 and the first quarter of 2013 in UAE. Most of these projects will be completed in two to six years and will be ready by 2018, before the World Expo 2020 which Dubai is competing to host.