Day: July 28, 2021

SHARJAH, Arada, a prominent real estate developer in Sharjah, has reported sales worth AED1.15 billion during the first six months of 2021, an 85 percent increase compared to the same period last year. In total, the developer sold 1,173 homes as investor interest in Arada’s two megaprojects, Aljada and Masaar, continues to gather pace, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.

The developer was also supported by the ongoing strong performance of the Sharjah real estate sector, where the value of the property sold in the first half of the year rose by 41 percent, according to data recently released by the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department.

Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Arada, said, “Both our sales and transaction data for the Emirate as a whole tell us that Sharjah is becoming an increasingly important investment destination for property buyers from around the world.

“We aim that this pattern will continue for the near and medium-term, and even allowing for the exceptional sales performance that Arada achieved in the third quarter of last year, we are still on track to achieve our target of increasing our sales by 30 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.”

Home handovers and new building launches continue to drive interest at Aljada, where the company sold 7,000 homes.

The value of sales at Aljada, Sharjah’s largest ever mixed-use community, rose by 23 percent to AED502 million during the first half, with a total sale of 823 homes. The first homes at the 24 million square foot megaproject were handed over in January, and several contracts have been awarded to increase construction activity at several locations on site.

Following its launch in January this year, sales at Masaar, the upmarket forested community spread over a 19 million square foot area in the Suyouh district of Sharjah, reached a total value of AED510 million, with a total sale of 256 homes.

Construction work continues on the sixth and final phase of Arada’s first project, Nasma Residences, which is sold out. Nasma Central, the community hub and landscaped park at the heart of the project was completed and opened to the public in May.

During the first half, Arada also secured a total of AED582 million in loans from Dubai Islamic Bank and Ajman Bank, which is being used to fund construction across the developer’s project portfolio, which is valued at AED33 billion.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy, one of the three chambers under the newly formed Dubai Chambers umbrella will be hosting the “Expand Summit”, the first-of-its-kind summit in the region in January 2022 to attract Venture Capitalists (VCs) for financing start-ups.

The summit will witness the largest gathering of VCs and start-ups in the region, with 500 VCs and 1,000 tech start-ups expected to participate in the two-day programme which will include events, seminars, presentations, demos, pitches and meetings.

It will host some of the most prestigious and well-known VC firms and leaders around the world to build a network of dedicated international and local relationships with entrepreneurs, technology companies and specialised funding agencies, to help start-ups and entrepreneurs transform their creative ideas.

The summit will be held during Expo 2020 Dubai, and will be organised in coordination with Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Future Foundation, and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, and is expected to witness wide participation.

Speaking about the mandate of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and this Summit, Omar Sultan Al Olama, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy said, “The Summit will serve as a catalyst to help Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy achieve its goal of accelerating the growth of Dubai’s digital economy and doubling the number of digital companies operating in the emirate in the coming years.”

There will also be a global conference, business networking events, demo-days, investment presentations, as well as roundtable discussions on important global topics such as social capital, impact investing and environmental, social and corporate governance. The summit will also feature an accelerators unit that will allow VC firms and start-ups to fast-track the establishment of their businesses in Dubai.

In 2018, the Dubai Chamber conducted a study on the biggest challenges for technology start-ups and “access to finance” was rated as the second most difficult challenge, specifically in the early stages. In respect of that, this summit will provide an opportune stage for start-ups to identify sources of funding and link up with VCs from around the world.

UAE and Dubai start-ups usually attract 50 percent of total funding raised in the MENA region. Dubai Chamber’s Dubai Start-up Hub has played a key role in helping entrepreneurs navigate the funding ecosystem, and has been receiving close to 50 individual requests from VCs globally, including from North America, Russia and India, about investing in Dubai start-ups.

The Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy is focused on transforming the Emirate of Dubai into a global centre for the digital economy. According to the latest statistics, the digital economy contributes about 4.3 percent of the GDP in the UAE, which is equivalent to AED100 billion. There are more than 1,400 start-ups in the country, with AED1.5 billion allocated to them. There are 90 investment funds in the digital sector and 12 business incubators and the total value of start-ups in the country is estimated to be AED90 billion.

Source: Emirates News Agency