Damac Properties plans to invest $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's booming real estate sector by end of the year, the company's chairman said.
"We will be launching residential apartments and villas worth a billion dollars in Riyadh and Jeddah by the end of 2007," Hussain Sajwani told Emirates Today.
Research and field studies estimate that Saudi Arabia will need four to five million housing units by 2020 to meet growing demand.
These are expected to cost SR117bn (Dh114.5bn).
"We see good demand for residential projects in Saudi Arabia. However, we don't have any plans to enter the commercial arena as of now," Sajwani said.
Damac recently announced plans to enter Morocco, with an investment of $1bn (Dh3.67m) by next year. "We are in the process of conducting feasibility studies to build a mega tourism project in one of Morocco's coastal cities." The company is also looking at a foray into the Indian Subcontinent.
"We are working on plans to enter the Subcontinent. I have recently met the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and we are planning a project in Hyderabad," Sajwani said.
"We are in talks with a few developers and will soon submit our foreign direct investment proposal to the government," Damac Properties Consultant Mohamed Sajeer was recently quoted as saying in the Indian media.
"I will soon be leaving for Pakistan as we are planning a project there," Sajwani added.
Damac recently announced its most ambitious residential and tourism project in Egypt's Gamsha Bay.
The Dh60-billion project involves developing 3,000 hectares of land with luxury hotels, 5,000 villas, an 18-hole golf course and a marina.
"We expect total investment in the project to reach $16bn (Dh58.72bn) over the next 10 years," said Damac CEO Peter Riddoch.
By Parag Deulgaonkar
© Emirates Today 2007
