Abu Dhabi for Indian Investors

Maan Farid Al-Awlaqi, Executive Director at ALDAR Properties PJSC, on his tour to India met Shubhra Saini and discussed about the kind of investment opportunity they seek from the Indian investors. Established in 2004 and listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) in 2005. Aldar is one of the largest real estate groups in Abu Dhabi by market capitalisation of about 18 billion Dirham in market cap (approx 5 billion USD).  Aldar Properties has two divisions- development and investment management and 75 million square metre of land bank, 2/3^rd of it being near the Dubai border. YAS Island is Company’s destination real-estate project, Elaborating on the same, Maan Farid Al-Awlaqi said, “In 2006 Aldar Properties initiated the development of Yas Island, with the goal of turning the island into a leading destination for tourists and business travellers from around the world. More than $40 billion has been invested to develop the island, set to complete an additional phase of construction in 2018. Today Yas Island boasts of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the famed Yas Marina Circuit. There are two hotels comprising 2700 hotel keys. We recently launched medium income group project in YAS Island called Bridges, it was sold out in three days and another middle income residential project launched last year is Water’s Edge that will be ready in three years. Another big project we are working on is with ‘twofour54’, Abu Dhabi’s media and entertainment free zone. They have appointed us as the strategic real estate partner of the Media Zone Authority, which will be situated on Yas Island.” Elaborating on the demography at their properties, he explained, “We deal with different set of demographics in our properties like in YAS acres, there are Western, Asian and domestic residents, so our properties are a popular among both end user and investment buyers.”   Aldar properties Asset classes

• 10 hotels- 2731 keys
• 2,40,000 sq mtr of GLA
• 4,70,000 sq mtr of retail space
• 4000,800 units for residential leasing

  Weak economic conditions, rising inflation, and high costs of living have resulted in a curbing effect in demand in Abu Dhabi’s real estate market. As Mann explained, it is the best time for international buyers to invest in Abu Dhabi. Mann said, “The residential sales are on 8 years peak due to the robust demand. Real-estate market has learnt its lesson from the previous credit crunch time. Authorities have curbed speculators through central bank restrictions. Aldar Properties too has imposed certain thresholds to restrict speculators. As per the real estate law enacted in 2016 which aims to protect both investor and builder, all the funds transfer is not directly received by Aldar. The funds are received by the bank and the details are not shared with us until certain milestones are achieved by us, which is vetted by different authorities and the bank.” Abu Dhabi for investment Maan added that overseas and Abu Dhabi domestic Indian buyers comprised 5 per cent of their sales. “We are looking to expand and create international sales platform to get direct investments from India as well. The integral reason for my India visit is to pioneer our international sales concept in the country. We have received very positive feedback from Indian investors, the interest level is very high and we are working on different entry level options for them. We are in talks with Channel partners, MNCs, retailers and HNIs to develop various business models,” he stated.