Sunday, Sep 07, 2008

Muscat: One more player from Dubai has arrived in Oman to fill the 'vast gap' for apartment units against the demand as Muscat keeps expanding in every direction.

"In the last couple of years nearly 5,000 housing units have come up in Muscat, but there's room for more," Abid Juneid, executive director of Dubai-based ETA Star PropertiesETA Star Properties, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a signing ceremony on Saturday at the Oman Holdings International Co (OHI)Oman Holdings International Co (OHI) headquarters in Muscat.

ETA Star PropertiesETA Star Properties inked an agreement with Oman-based OHIOHI to launch a premium luxury township at Qurum, in the heart of Oman.

"The new 5,000 apartment units are just the tip of the iceberg and there's immense potential to develop property in Oman, which is witnessing robust, all-round growth," said Maqbool Hamed Al Saleh, chairman of the OHI GroupOHI Group, after signing the agreement.

Central district

He also stressed that the location of a project is particularly important.

"Qurum is the central district and an ideal residential location unlike some of the projects that are coming out on the outskirts of the city," he pointed out.

The ETA Star PropertiesETA Star Properties and OHIOHI will develop a multi-purpose project with residential apartments, offices and retail spaces, blending luxurious living with high levels of convenience.

"The project will be formally launched at the end of October," said Behram K. Divecha, CEO of OHIOHI.

Abid Juneid also said that they would be looking at the GCC market for the proposed project.

"The property market in the GCC is growing at breakneck speed and Oman is fast catching up with this upswing," he said.

"We believe it is an opportune time for us to enter Oman and this joint venture with the OHI groupOHI group is part of our vision to build confidence, trust and credibility in all our projects in the real estate marketplace," he said in a written statement released after the signing ceremony.

"We are confident that this project will not only be a landmark in Oman but will also reinforce Oman's potential to become a significant international destination," he said.

Environment: Agreement with Teri

ETA Star International, member of the Dubai-based $5 billion ETA Ascon Star GroupETA Ascon Star Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Energy Research Institute (TERI) of India to explore areas of co-operation in an effort towards sustainable development.

The agreement was signed recently in Dubai by Hamed Salah Al Deen, director of the ETA Ascon Star GroupETA Ascon Star Group, and Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, director-general of TERI and chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body set up by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The MoU pertains to co-operation between ETA Star International and TERI in a number of areas including the assessment of buildings to get them LEED-certified in basic, silver, gold and platinum ratings. The agreement enables ETA Star International to provide these services to other organisations in the UAE and Gulf region.

The other areas of co-operation include conducting environmental impact studies, energy audits of commercial, residential and industrial units, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) studies and reducing carbon footprint in the UAE.

By Sunil K. Vaidya

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