UAE to lead way in retail recovery

Dubai: The UAE is leading the way in the Middle East in retail recovery say organisers for Retail City.

"Dubai is well established as a retail destination and is showing signs of recovery. In addition, Abu Dhabi is very bullish about the retail prospects for the next 12-18 months. The Retail City conference at Cityscape Global will be a good gauge to assess retail market sentiment across the UAE and wider GCC region," Graham Wood, group director for Cityscape and Retail City, told Gulf News.

According to Retail International's Annual Report 2010, retailers in emerging markets are better positioned for growth than their counterparts in mature economies.

The Middle East region is becoming one of the prime spots on the global retail map with new, ever larger retail developments in Riyadh, Dubai and Jeddah opening on a regular basis. The region follows much the same development as the retail sector has experienced in Europe since the mid-1970s but with a much faster evolution.

Building links

Retail City, taking place in Dubai on October 4 and 5, aims to bring together the Middle East's most high-profile gathering of retailers and real-estate professionals. "Retail City will bring together some of our industry's most innovative thinkers and leaders, and demonstrate the ground breaking thought leadership that has established the UAE as one of the world's pre-eminent retail destinations," said Mohammad Al Fahim, Group CEO of Paris Gallery Group and one of this year's speakers at the conference.

Line Investments & Property established in 2006 to develop and manage shopping centres and other mixed-use projects in the Middle East and India is the event's main sponsor.

Retail City will also be giving out rewards on retail projects, developers and shopping centre owners, development associates, retailers and franchisers who are recognised as visionaries and industry game-changers.