Kingdom Tower

In a bit more than five years from now the world’s largest building will be completed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Known as the Kingdom Tower, the plans for the building’s construction by the Kingdom Holding Company were announced in mid-April, 2012 by the KHC’s Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Also announced was the increase in the budget for the entire project which includes the 1,000 meter Tower, from SR7.3 billion to SR8.8 billion. ($2.05 billion to $2.35 billion.)

Prince Alwaleed has been the driving force pushing for the mega project, including originating the idea and deciding to build the giant tower. He announced that the Saudi Binladin Group will invest SR1.5 billion for a 16.63 percent stake in the project, which will be owned by the Jeddah Economic Company.

The Kingdom Tower is slotted to be the central focal point of the project, which will begin with the Tower but finish with the completion of “Kingdom City Jeddah,” a new urban development on more than 5.3 million square meters of land overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek just north of Jeddah.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

“The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to Prince Alwaleed, who was closely involved in the selection of the scheme currently under design,” said Talal Al-Maiman, a board member of the Kingdom Holding Company and the Jeddah Economic Company, as well as the executive director of development and domestic investments.

“We were impressed by the boldness and simplicity of the AS+GG design. Kingdom Tower’s height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on that aspect. Its form is brilliantly sculpted, making it quite simply the most beautiful building in the world of any height,” added Al-Maiman.

“The decision of the partners to build the world’s tallest building further demonstrates their belief in investing in this nation.”

“We intend Kingdom Tower to become both an economic engine and a proud symbol of the Kingdom’s economic and cultural stature in the world community,” commented Al-Maiman.

“Kingdom Tower will be a landmark structure that will greatly increase the value of other properties around it in Kingdom City and indeed throughout North Jeddah.”

Ahmed Saif al Rawahi

Coming into his position as general manager of Retail and Private Banking with eleven years of experience in investment, retail and corporate banking, Tariq Al Farsi is well-positioned to continue to lead Oman’s Islamic Bank Nizwa to further success.

Al Farsi is a native Omani and has a history of successfully running Islamic banks. He was involved in the ground-breaking beginning of two other Islamic banks; Noor Islamic Bank and Al Hilal Bank.

Al Farsi comes to Bank Nizwa from Dubai Bank where had senior positions a vice-president, head of branches and head of business development. He was also in charge of retail and corporate banking at Dubai Bank.

“Being an Omani, it gives me immense pleasure to be part of something this big; launching the first Islamic Bank for the Sultanate of Oman. Our team will go down in history as being the pioneers of the first Islamic bank of Oman. Until now, I’ve been pursuing my career in Islamic banking elsewhere in the region but with the establishment of Bank Nizwa, it’s a dream come true. I will be working in a country where my heart is,”

Al Farsi commented.

Chairman of the Bank Nizwa Founding Committee Ahmed Saif Al Rawahi had this to say about Al Farsi’s appointment:

“Hot on the heels of the announcement of our CEO last week it gives me great pleasure to bring Al Farsi on board. He brings a wealth of experience of retail, corporate and Islamic banking and has been a key member of the management teams behind the creation of two large scale Islamic banks in the GCC region.”

Skybridge Hotel in Abu Dhabi

TRI Hospitality Consulting conducted a HotStats survey which showed that UAE hotels had excellent improvement in performance in all the relevant indicators in January of 2012. The strong performance was partly attributed to increased tourism for the Dubai Shopping Festival.

According to the survey Dubai hotels outperformed the other MENA markets by a wide margin.

“The 2011 edition of DSF is estimated to have attracted 3.9 million visitors during the month. The figures for 2012 are yet to come through, but given the growth tend in visitor arrivals, these figures are likely to have grown substantially this year. The DSF has given a solid start to the year and I believe that Dubai hotels will continue to see strong performance levels during 2012,” Peter Goddard, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting in Dubai.

Abu Dhabi hotels showed double digit growth in the occupancy rate. At the same time the Average Room Rate (ARR) shows signs of slowing during January, according to the HotStats survey looking at full service hotels in six MENA cities.

The outlook for tourism in Egypt was not as bright as the survey by HotStates reported slower January performance in 2012 due to the continuation of political uncertainty which has a negative effect on business and leisure oriented visits. Cairo reported an occupancy rate of 36.8 percent compared to Abu Dabai’s rate of 74%.

Sharm El Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula fared a bit better than Cairo with an occupancy rate of 50.2 percent, but not as good as last year’s rate, falling 18 percentage points lower.

Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Center

Over SR2 billion is going to be invested in the creation of two private medical cities by the Doctor Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group.

The first city will be situated in north Riyadh and will have 500 beds and will cost SR1.5 billion. The second medical city will cost SR 800 million and will be equipped with 410 beds in Alkhobar in the Eastern Province.

Next month will see the opening of outpatient clinics of King Abdullah Medical City in Bahrain. The Group is scheduled to inaugurate a new 255-bed hospital. The group is able to provide many varied services for their investors, including planning, designing, supervising and managing hospital projects. The Group is on of the largest engineering offices which work on medical projects, including supervising and managing them, in the region.

The chairman of the Al-Habib Medical Group, Naser bin Mohammad Al-Haqbani that over the past four years the group has developed over 1 million square meters of office space in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. They are running 11 of the 14 enterprises which they designed and developed.

Al-Haqbani said: "The Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Group seeks to make its mark in the health care sector according to the standards set by international health organizations and authorities such as the JCI and the American Institute of Architects."
 

London's Dynamic Tower

Officials in Dubai are disappointed that their city will not be the home to the first ‘rotating tower’ to be constructed in the world. Instead, the first “Dyanamic Tower” will be constructed in London, beginning soon.

“We will announce the start of the construction in London in due time. Most probably within the year,” said the London-based Dynamic Group, which is the developer of the project.

“We are now close to starting construction on the first building in motion in London, which will become a world landmark. This building will be a ‘Centre of Excellence’ and an icon of future lifestyles and sustainability,” the developer said in an e-mail to its worldwide investor base.

The development company lists the London Dynamic Project as a major part of London’s move to reclaim its historic role as a city which is at the “Center of the World.”

“As the city prepares to host for the third time the Summer Olympics in 2012, it wishes to bring this icon of future life to London, receiving its own rotating tower to serve as the landmark for the event, and an inspiration for generations to come,” continued the message.

When asked about the company’s plans for the development of a similar tower in Dubai they said, “As far as Dubai – we will love to know… and we hope as soon as the conditions will allow it.”

In March, 2011 it was reported that the developers of Dubai’s Dynamic Tower are anxious to put that city’s project back on schedule. Dubai’s Dynamic Tower will consist of 80 floors, each one with the ability to rotate independently.

“The Dynamic Tower in Dubai is on hold due to the current situation. Of course, Dr. David Fisher and our team would be delighted to have the tower in Dubai on track,”

said Simona Casati, the Press Office & Communication Manager, for the Dynamic Architecture Group, back in March.

Geoff Mee of Qatar Railways Co

In order to have a chance at winning their bid to host the 2020 Olympics, Qatar is speeding up work on several infrastructure projects, including the Doha Metro project.

Qatar Railways’ Deputy Chief Executive Geoff Mee, said that phase 1A of the Gulf state’s $40 billion rail network will be finished by 2019, right in time to host the 2020 Olympics if Qatar wins the bid for the right to host the world’s most watched sporting event.

The next phase, 1B, will be completed before the 2022 soccer World Cup, which Qatar is hosting, according to Mee.

"We're having to push this ahead very, very quickly," Mee said.

Late last year a different senior executive at Qatar Railways Company (QRail), the operator of the planned rail network for Qatar, said that the company will tender the first contracts for the Doha Metro at the beginning of 2012.

Tens of billions of dollars are going into Qatar’s infrastructure with a variety of projects including the $40 billion integrated, nationwide rail project; an $11 billion new airport and a deep water seaport which will cost $5.5 billion to construct.

Contracts known as RFPs, request for proposals which will enable work to begin were issued on Monday, said Mee. He added that four tunneling RFP contracts worth $2-3 billion each will be launched this coming April, and will be awarded by October.

"The starting gun has gone and you're going to be very busy getting these bids ready to go," Mee said.

Yousef Al Shalash signing agreement

An agreement was signed last week between the real estate development company Dar Al Arkan and the investment and real estate development company Al Othaim. The agreement is a 15 year lease for a 10,963 square meter space in the Alqasr Mall which was developed by Dar Al Arkan in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Al Othaim is planning to create an amusement park in the space called Safari Land.

Representing Dar Al Arkan was Chairman Yousef Al-Shalash; and CEO Mr. Fahad Abdullah Alothaim of Al Othaim signed the agreement.

World Class Amusement on the Way

Mr. Al-Shalash was happy with the agreement, expressing his appreciation of the expertise in amusement park development that Al Othaim is known for. He expressed his confidence that Al Othaim will create the most modern and innovative games in the leased space, providing world class amusement for visitors.

"Signing this agreement with Al Othaim company, which stands as a major amusement provider, underlies Dar Al Arkan efforts to attract large companies to invest in Alqasr Mall, serve the inhabitants of Alqasr project and adjacent districts, and boost the ambitions of shoppers and visitors," said Al-Shalash.

"Thanks to Allah, we have accomplished the lease of more than 75% of the Mall leasable area in the shortest period of time. We have appealed to big commercial names in different businesses and signed a series of quality value-added agreements with major companies and world brand agents. This reflects Alqasr Mall features of attraction which constitute of success incentives for value-added investment perceived by our partner lessees," he added.

Snow Village Theme Park

Included in the development plans, explained Mr. Al-Shalash is the creation of the first indoor snow village of its kind in Riyadh City. The hope is that such a unique attraction will bring people to visit the mall. Also planned is a first-of-its-kind theme park which visitors will find entertaining and fun, according to Al-Shalash.

Great Shopping, Too

Shopping at the mall is also being planned as a great pastime as Mr. Al-Shalash further explained: "Alqasr Mall embracement of major companies and renowned world and local brands makes it a desirable place for shoppers."

Dar Al Arkan is the largest developer of real estate in Saudi Arabia. There are now a series of major projects under development in the Kingdom, including AlTilal in Medina, Shams Alriyadh and the Alqasr Mall in Riyadh, and Qasr Khozam and Shams Alarous in Jeddah.

iPhone 4S

With the expectation that a newer model of the iPhone 4S is about to come to market, the price of the 16GB top-of-the-line smartphone has been steadily declining.

Price Going Down

The Apple iPhone has experienced a 20 percent price drop just in the last week or so. The latest reduction was offered as a deal on a group buying web site in which the phone could be acquired for Dh 2629 ($715), 20 percent less than in many electronic stores throughout the UAE. There are even classified ads offering the iPhone for only Dh2000 as a special deal.

Apple chose to launch the iPhone 4S last October, despite the fact that the much more sophisticated iPhone 5, with the famous Siri voice recognition software, was already available elsewhere.

Great Price Already

The original price of the 16GB iPhone 4S in the UAE was Dh5200 on the grey market. After a month the phone was already priced at Dh4250. By December the price further plunged; Etisalat and du launched the 4S in the UAE for only Dh2749. These prices represent a serious discount on what the iPhone 4S costs in the rest of the world outside of Europe and the US.

In India the 16GB iPhone goes for Rs 44.500 (Dh3325) and in Indonesia, a country which only began selling the iPhone as of last Friday, the price is $850 (Dh3121.)

Waiting and Anticipating

One of the main reasons the price of the iPhone in the UAE has been plummeting is because there is anxious anticipation of the release of Apple’s latest iPhone model, the iPhone 5.

"Apple fans now want to look forward to the new model. Yes, Siri has been amazing, but I am eagerly awaiting to find out what is new in the iPhone 5," said one analyst of the situation.

One dealer in the UAE of iPhones commented that the price of the iPhone 4S will probably not drop any further.

"Initially the cost was artificially high because of the non-availability. Today the situation has changed and the price has evened out. We may not see a further drop from here on," he said.

The latest data of iPhone sales shows that the 4S has been a major presence in the US market beginning in October 2011. In a recently conducted survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners it was shown that iPhone sales make up about 89 percent of all US smartphone sales.
 

Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Rumhy

Talks were held to discuss the possibility of the Sultanate of Oman supplying oil to Sri Lanka in case their oil flow is disrupted due to sanctions by the United States against Iran.

The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Oman, Asoaka Girihagama announced that discussions had been held between the Omani Minister of Oil and Gas, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, with the Sri Lankan Minister of Oil and Gas Susil Premajayantha. Mr. Premahjayantha said that unfortunately his country did not have many options for a new source of oil for his country.

“We had two Gulf countries on our cards to seek for oil supply in case the US sanctions on Iran hit our oil inflow, which are Oman and another country in the region. Finally, we decided to approach the Sultanate and we are happy about it,” he said.

“The two ministers had discussed in detail how Oman could assist Sri Lanka in the event of a crisis, which is, if Sri Lanka is unable to import crude oil from Iran,” due to sanctions by the United States, according to another source.

The Sri Lankan ambassador said that in exchange for the deal there would be held an exclusive Sri Lankan trade fair showing off the best of Oman, including attractions and traditional merchandise.

“We will hold an exclusive Sri Lankan trade fair in the Sultanate by May or June 2012. We are currently in talks with various companies and almost 50 companies will be participating in this event.”