KUWAIT CITY, May 18, (KUNA): Prices of real-estate properties namely the housing units have fallen by 50 percent, the Commerce Undersecretary announced on Monday. Rashid Al-Tabtabaei, in a statement to journalists after inaugurating the 22nd Real-Estate and Investment Fair, indicated the prices of properties vary from region to another with regard of the location of the plot, nature of the region and the services available. Economic sectors, namely the real-estate, the finance, the tourism and the oil, in Kuwait and other countries, have been affected with fallouts of the international financial crisis, he said, indicating at the steps that have been taken by the local authorities to cope with these external negative effects. He expressed happiness that 50 companies are taking part in the fair.
Sheikh Malek Bader Al-Salman Al-Sabah, Board Chairman of Expor Group for Organization of Fairs and Conferences, that organized the exhibition in coordination with Kuwait International Fair Company, that the fair constituted an opportunity for choosing investment opportunities in this sector. Real-estate has remained a safe refuge for the investors in shadow of the fierce fluctuations witnessed in the local, regional and international finance markets, Sheikh Malek said. The property markets in various regional states and foreign countries witnessed grand corrections that brought conditions back to normal, he said, expressing his opinion that the real-estatemarkets were suitable for investments by the limited and medium income entrepreneurs. More than 100 real-estate projects from 15 states are promoted at the fair ground.
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DAMASCUS: Kuwaiti-Syrian Holding Company (KSHC) is set to announce, in May, a new set of projects in the fields of real estate and industry, to be executed in Syria. Chairman of the Board of Directors Mahmoud Abdul-Khaliq Al-Nuri revealed the plan to KUNA on the sidelines of his participation at the Gulf Investment Forum in Syria, which is held by the Syrian Investment Agency, which kicked off Sunday night. Al-Nuri said this forum is of great significance and that the level of Syrian representation at the inauguration reflected the state’s keenness on clarifying regulations and issues to Gulf investors. The event was inaugurated in presence of the Syrian Prime Minister. On the global financial crisis, he said there is no safe haven, adding the only option is to conduct thorough feasibility studies and analyze market conditions before any venture and match effort to opportunity.
Back to the new projects announcement, he said one project involves an industrial company in which the company is to acquire a 40 percent stake. Other commercial and industrial projects are still under review, he added. Al-Nuri remarked the company’s seven-year experience in Syria indicates a promising atmosphere of great potential based on two pillars; an abundance of diverse opportunities of all scales, and adequate and matching political will and awareness.
The Kuwaiti-Syrian Hold-ing Company was established by Al-Kharafi group in 2002 at a capital of over $100 million.
The Syrian leadership had called upon Gulf investors to consider the many opportunities in Syria during the inauguration of the forum.
