GOVERNOR OF JEDDAH PRINCE MISHA’AL INAUGURATES JEDDAH INTERNATIONAL URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT EVENT TODAY

Jeddah, June 11, 2011: Jeddah International Urban Development and Real Estate Investment Event - Cityscape Jeddah, taking place 11 – 13 June, 2011 at Jeddah Center for Forums and Events, is being inaugurated today by its patron HRH Prince Misha’al bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Jeddah.
The third annual Cityscape Jeddah is organized by IIR Middle East and National Exhibitions Company (NEC), and is expected to attract more than 10,000 visitors from over 50 countries over the next three days.  

Jeddah International Urban Development and Real Estate Investment Event - Cityscape Jeddah with its unique portfolio of exhibition, conference and awards ceremony, provides local and international real estate experts a platform for knowledge transfer and exposure as well as the opportunity to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Saudi real estate market.

“Saudi Arabia is being literally transformed and is witnessing the birth of some of the most ambitious economic and social engineering projects in the world,” said the organizers of Cityscape Jeddah. “However, while there is no doubt that the Kingdom is enjoying the biggest real estate boom in the entire Middle East, the housing shortage is still one of the biggest challenges Saudi Arabia is facing. This will continue unless numerous affordable housing projects are not planned and executed.”

Housing and property prices are soaring and with many Saudis making a living of less than SR 8000 a month, the gap is likely to widen.  Almost 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s population is below the age of 30 which will increase pressure on the real estate sector if the demand is not met and may make prices soar even more.

“First measures were taken by the government issuing the royal decree to build 500,000 new homes, using SR250 billion in funds allocated by the government,” continued the organizers. “The question however remains whether this will be enough considering the fact that the Saudi population has doubled since 1988 and is expected to grow by 2 percent each year.”

The two-day Jeddah Real Estate summit taking place alongside the exhibition with more than 35 CEO-level speakers will discuss vital industry issues while senior-level delegates will join 13 special panel sessions.”

Affordable housing is just one of the challenges ahead. The majority of the Saudi population lives in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al-Khobar. With more and more people moving into the cities this represents a major challenge for urban development. Further, more major infrastructure investments will increase connectivity within the Kingdom which is crucial to the success of the economic cities. The Cityscape Jeddah exhibition will give companies the chance to display their solutions contributing to the Kingdom’s economic development.

“The event gets bigger and better every year,” said Hussain Al Harthy, National Exhibitions Company. “In only three years, Cityscape Jeddah has become a major focal point for real estate professionals from all around the world. With so much project activity going on it is expected that participating companies will be making major announcements during the event with regard to new deals, contract wins, partnership agreements and project launches. These are the reasons why this year’s Cityscape Jeddah is attracting a record number of participants.”

Tonight the shortlisted companies will be attending the eagerly anticipated prestigious Cityscape Awards for Real Estate in Saudi Arabia that recognize outstanding achievement in Saudi Arabia's real estate sector. Sponsored by Samsung, the awards have become a benchmark for excellence and focuses attention on the contribution of the Kingdom’s real estate professionals to local architecture, taking into consideration culture, invention and imagination, respect for people, the planet and environmental awareness.