Dubai eyes US shores

Dubai government’s finance and investment body Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is eyeing US real estate companies. Dubai International Financial Centre is considering investment in American real estate as a golden opportunity in the wake of ongoing mortgage crisis in US real estate. In addition to real estate, DIFC is also planning to vest in US oil, gas and telecom sectors.

The mortgage crisis being experienced by US economy has made the share value of US plunge. This in turn has created a situation wherein investing in US real estate and other industries is has become cheaper.

Dubai’s US Connection Lately

2006 saw Dubai government-run Dubai Ports World (DPW) facing tough resistance from US political front on security grounds. So much so that Dubai Ports World had to sell recently-acquired ports operations in the US.

Dubai Ports World had acquired ports operations at 6 ports in the US but following objections from US politicians, had to sell them to US insurance company AIG.

What does future behold?

Dubai International Financial Centre is optimistic about investment opportunities on US shores. Early this year, DIFC got hold of 2 billion worth 2.2 percent stake in Deutsche Bank.

A Little About Dubai International Financial Centre

Dubai government’s DIFC offers standard regulations to capital investors in the UAE. Investors can hope to have efficient and transparent investment opportunities.

A few salient features offered by DIFC:

• Foreign ownership

• Zero percent tax rate

• No restriction on foreign exchange

• World class rules and regulations

• Transparent operations

Dubai Real Estate Institute to Come Up With New Programmes for Next Session

The first real estate institute of the region, Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) has announced new programmes for 2008 session. The new programmes were unveiled at Najah Abu Dhabi 2007 which was held from November 4 to November 6, 2007 at Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre. In addition to showcasing its programmes, applicants who registered with Dubai Real Estate Institute at the event were given special value packages.

New programmes unveiled by Dubai Real Estate Institute:

• Managing Real Estate Development Projects

• Effective Real Estate Marketing

• Masters degree in Sustainable Real Estate Development

• Financing Infrastructure

• Value Engineering

• Successful Real Estate Development

Dubai Real Estate Institute featured its spectrum of courses and academic programmes at the event. The staff of the Dubai Real Estate Institute was readily available to offer counselling and additional information to desirous candidates. There was concession on parts of Successful Real Estate Development which is a partnership endeavour between DREI and the National University of Singapore (NUS); and on Dubai Real Estate Institute’s graduate diploma programme which has been offered in collaboration with Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

The growing real estate industry of the Middle Eastern countries is continuously in need of trained and highly-skilled professionals. Dubai Real Estate Institute is the first of its kind endeavour in the region to provide world-class training in the real estate sector. Moreover, the institute is also aiming to target human resource specialists from companies in order to provide training to high-potential employees.

Najah Abu Dhabi is the most comprehensive education and careers event in the UAE. It proved to be an effective platform for the newly-born Dubai Real Estate Institute to target professionals looking for skill enhancement.

Dubai Real Estate Institute takes off

Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) has opened recently to be the first academic institute offering real estate studies in the Middle East region. The first batch constitutes of 37 professionals for the graduate diploma course in Real Estate Management. For the first time, the six-month diploma is available to real estate professionals in Dubai and the Middle East at large.

The inaugural module with the afore-mentioned diploma is a collaborative effort between the Dubai Real Estate Institute and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) of Sweden. The latter is a renowned university in the field of real estate studies in Europe. The partnership with KTH has given Dubai Real Estate Institute a sense of exclusivity and credibility in the region. The first batch students of Dubai real Estate Institute come from prominent real estate companies such as Nakheel, Dubai Islamic Bank, Sama Dubai and Dubai Properties.

Diploma in Real Estate Management offered at the Dubai Real Estate Institute covers the following aspects:

• Basic quantitative aspect of business in real estate

• Economic aspect of business in real estate

Prof. Han-Suck Song and Prof. Samuel Azasu will be taking care of the first module. Both are leading faculty members from the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. All in all, there will be five modules that will include:

• Real Estate Principles

• Economics and Quantitative Methods

• Real Estate Valuation

• Real Estate Investment Analysis

• Real Estate Management

Real estate projects in the GCC countries exceed a staggering amount of 1 trillion US dollars at present. At this critical juncture, the coming up of Dubai Real Estate Institute will prove to be a boon for the industry. The institute aims at delivering competitive and high quality training and research programmes in real estate studies.

The initial target of Dubai Real Estate Institute was to include 30 professionals in the first batch but due to a high demand, the number was increased to 37 this year. The next batch will commence in October 2008.

The diploma will equip real estate professionals with knowledge, skills and analytical abilities practically required in this dynamic industry.