Dubai, 20 January 2008: Rasis Developers LLC, one of the leading property development companies in the UAE and a joint venture partner with local firm Time Machine Group - Rasis Time Developers - played host to a group of post graduate students from the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  The visit is part of the students' international tour of key cities to study various real estate projects and innovative architectural concepts.

The group of 26 students from the MIT Center for Real Estate is completing a Masters degree in Real Estate Development.  The students have significant experience in various sectors of the real estate as project managers, architects, real estate finance professionals, asset managers and entrepreneurs.  , and came from around the world - Australia, England, China, Columbia, India, Taiwan, and the US. The group was led by the Center's Managing Director, Ms. Marion Cunningham.

The MIT Center for Real Estate has been offering a the Masters degree course for the last three years, and this year the course provided students an opportunity to compare and contrast real estate in London, Turkey and the UAE.

During their visit to the UAE, the MIT students visited Zabeel Corporate Park, a world-class property project being developed by the joint venture Rasis Time Developers at Al Jadaf.  Mr. Adrian Vinck, CEO of Rasis Developers, briefed the students on the real estate sector in the UAE and the diverse range of property projects from Rasis.  A model of the Zabeel Corporate Park project was also on display at the site office.

The students had an informative session with Mr. Vinck, who fielded questions on a number of topics including electricity costs, design elements, construction costs, challenges in the labour market, risk factors and market research in the real estate sector in the UAE.  The session helped provide students a better understanding of the driving forces in the market, the nature of the supporting infrastructure that includes physical, political, regulatory and legal, the role and mechanisms for financing development, opportunities, risks and barriers to entry, and the impact of culture and history.

Commenting on their visit, Mr. Vinck said: "Rasis Developers is delighted to have received such an important group of students from the MIT Center for Real Estate, and to have showcased the Zabeel Corporate Park project. We believe that all our projects will contribute significantly towards enhancing the attraction of Dubai and the UAE for businesses, visitors and investors from around the world.  The visit, therefore, provided us an opportunity to give these students an insight into our projects, as well as the drivers of the rapid growth that is being witnessed in the UAE's property development industry.  The visit falls in line with Rasis's policy commitment to share with and encourage talented young real estate professionals from around the world to experience and learn from the booming real estate sector in the UAE."

The Zabeel Corporate Park is in close proximity to Dubai International Airport, Business Bay, Culture Village and Dubai International Financial Centre, and is a distinctive campus style mixed development that will have a hotel and serviced apartments catering to the business market.  The Park offers approximately 2 million sq ft of commercial office and retail space with on-site car parking for more than 5,000 cars.  The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2010.

Rasis Developers LLC is a locally owned Dubai based real estate development and investment company. Rasis, which is Arabic for "a solid foundation" provides just that - a solid foundation for sustainable development in the UAE, the Middle East region, and real estate markets across the globe.  Rasis develops property products based on measurable quality standards that drive the long term cost efficient "after-care" property services thereby ensuring investors long term sustainable financial returns

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For further information, please contact:
Anosh Ahamath
BPG Public Relations
Tel: 00 971 4 2953456

© Press Release 2008