UAE's Al Habtoor Group plans 3 mega residential projects in 2023 … – Arab News

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RIYADH: UAE-based conglomerate Al Habtoor Group will build three mega residential projects worth an estimated 9.5 billion dirhams ($2.58 billion) across Dubai in 2023, according to a statement.
“The strong economic recovery in Dubai in 2022 and the high development levels that have reached new heights not even witnessed before the COVID-19 crisis, were encouraging factors to be involved again in the real estate sector and increase investments in new quality projects,” the statement said, citing founding Chairman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor.
Located in Al Habtoor City, the first project is set to entail a number of residential towers, one of which is set to be the largest worldwide in terms of size and number of apartments.
Serving the hospitality and entertainment sectors, the complex aims to cater to all lifestyles. The construction costs for this complex have amounted to 4.5 billion dirhams.
The second project – worth an accumulated 2.5 billion dirhams – poses a unique residential development that will be located in Habtoor Grand Resort in Jumeirah Beach Residence.
Meanwhile, the third project will work on revamping the Habtoor Tower in Marina at a cost amounting to 2.5 billion dirhams.
Under the third project, the current Habtoor Tower will be replaced by an ultra-luxurious residential tower in the heart of the Dubai Marina with extraordinary views.
“The expanded portfolio will be financed internally. AHG considers that these expansion projects are a necessity and a clear reflection of the Nation’s Leadership and vision resulting in a growth of the UAE economy at an unmatched pace by any other country,” according to the statement from AHG.
In September, company CEO Mohammed Al-Habtoor said that AHG is set to list on the Dubai Financial Market within two years, depending on market conditions.
The group’s allocations amount to approximately 3 billion dirhams, and approximately $3.5 billion are invested in Habtoor City, which is a Dubai mixed-use development with three hotels. 
AHG was founded as an engineering company in the UAE in the 1970s, and today it operates in hospitality, automotive, real estate, education, and publishing.
TUNIS: Tunisia’s finance minister unveiled a budget Monday aiming to use new tax revenues to claw the deficit back to near 5 percent of GDP, as the cash-strapped country awaits an international bailout.
The 2023 budget comes as the North African country grapples with public debt, shortages of goods from sugar to petrol and inflation at nearly 10 percent.
The latest plans aim to cut the budget deficit from 7.7 percent of gross domestic product to 5.2 percent, Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri told journalists.
The state is set to take in around 46.4 billion dinars ($14.8 billion), Boughdiri said.
It will need to borrow some 23.5 billion dinars to cover state needs for the coming year, she added.
To find the cash, it will seek more than $4 billion from overseas as well as some $3 billion from local banks, according to the fiscal plan.
To boost revenues, the government has imposed a new tax of half a percent on real estate assets worth over 3 million dinars.
Cash payments of over 5,000 dinars will be taxed at 20 percent, while taxes on some professional services such as legal services will be hiked to 19 percent, up from 13 percent.
The budget is based on assumptions of 1.8 percent GDP growth, oil at $89 a barrel and a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion bailout loan.
Economy Minister Samir Saied has predicted 2023 would be “a very difficult year” and that inflation would hit 10.5 percent.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Stock Index ran out of steam on Monday as it lost 5.88 points — or 0.06 percent — to close at 10,228.64 as the seasonal slowdown in the last trading week of the year cast its shadow on the bourse.    
The total trading turnover stood flat at SR1.92 billion ($510 million) compared to Sunday’s close and declined against Thursday’s SR2.67 billion. The advance-decline ratio tilted south as 60 stocks of the listed 221 gained while 148 lost. 
“Value traded on the exchange today was the lowest in three years while volume traded was the fifth lowest in three years, reflecting a seasonal slowdown in trades globally,” Junaid Ansari, head of investment strategy and research at Kamco Invest, told Arab News.  
“Saudi market continued to move sideways with minimal change due to lack of catalysts,” he added.   
Moreover, 12 of the 21 sector indices were in the red, partially offset by a gain in the Utilities Index, which rose 44.6 points to close at 7,119.15, led by ACWA Power Co., which ended 0.94 percent higher at SR150.60.   
“A marginal increase in the Banking Index also helped after healthy gains in Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank and Arab National Bank were almost fully offset by the decline in five listed banks,” said Ansari.  
The parallel market Nomu, on the other hand, rose 68 points to end at 18,887.75.
Stock markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council region remained muted as Dubai, Kuwait and Muscat gained 0.31 percent, 0.67 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively. However, exchanges in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain fell 0.52 percent, 1.23 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively.  
“The performance of regional markets remained mixed, failing to provide any meaningful direction to the Saudi market,” said Ansari.  
On the announcement front, Saudi Top Trading Co. on Monday informed Tadawul that its board of directors has recommended distributing cash dividends of 120 percent or SR12 per share to its shareholders, excluding its chairman Abdullah Muhammad Al-Ajmi, who waived his profits for 2022.  
The number of eligible shares is 1.2 million, and the company will distribute SR14 million in cash dividends. The company’s share price increased 5.16 percent to close at SR114.2.  
Keir International Co. on Dec. 26 also announced that it signed a contract worth SR16.6 million, including the value-added tax, with the Saudi Ports Authority, also known as Mawani, to connect the authority’s ports to the fiber-optic network. The company’s share price gained 1.6 percent to wind up at SR127. 
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Japan on Monday signed 15 strategic investment agreements spread across various industries during the Saudi Japan Investment Forum held in Riyadh, as both countries look to deepen business ties.  
The agreements were signed to drive investment in the sector of metals, marine, petrochemicals, and automotive among others, with around 99 Japanese companies investing in the Kingdom as both countries want a further boost in their economic relations. 
Speaking during the forum Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said the two countries have bolstered their relationship with tremendous dedication as the Kingdom targets $3.3 trillion worth of investments with Japan by 2030. 
The minister added that Saudi Arabia will utilize its relationship with the east Asian country to build more than 500,000 electric cars annually by the end of the decade.
Moreover, the Kingdom aims to build five largest marine industry parks in the world in Ras Al-Khair, Al Falih said during the forum. 
He added that the Kingdom aims to become the world’s leading energy nation as the two countries intend to cooperate for a smoother energy transition. 
Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia aims to become a major hub for gaming and e-sports by 2030 with content that can be exported in the region and globally. 
One day before the forum, Saudi Arabia and Japan held a ministerial meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported. 
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi, signed a memorandum of cooperation in the circular carbon economy and carbon recycling fields as well as hydrogen, fuel ammonia, and derivatives. 
Both ministers agreed to focus on emissions reduction rather than energy sources through the effective deployment of carbon recycling and a circular carbon economy. 
The dialogue also expressed the two countries’ ambitions to collaborate in the fields of petrochemicals to maximize integration across the value chain, SPA reported. 
The two sides also revealed their intentions to continue to collaborate in the energy sector with a focus on electricity, renewable energy, energy efficiency and innovation. 
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has initiated 10 new policies aimed at expanding the tourism sector and protecting tourists, according to the Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb.   
The issued policies included laws for the sector, as well as regulations for quality control and monitoring of services.   
Al-Khateeb described the new laws as “a promising step towards a prosperous tourism future” in a tweet. 
The latest regulations ensure that the tourism sector keeps up with the renaissance that Saudi Arabia is undergoing, and mirror the ministry’s efforts to achieve the goals of the development strategy for tourism in the Kingdom.   
“These regulations would allow the ministry to strengthen cooperation with the private sector, and to offer job opportunities for the national competencies in the tourism sector,” Al-Khateeb said.  
The regulations intend to contribute to making the Kingdom more attractive for investors, as well as develop the quality of services, protect the rights of tourists, and, in addition, boost job opportunities for the younger generations. This also emphasizes Saudi Arabia’s objective to build a competitive tourism sector at a global scale.  
Al-Khateeb noted that regulations issued under the tourism law were planned in accordance with the international best practices chosen based on the index of the top 10 countries in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness issued by the World Economic Forum.  
The ministry has granted agencies and operators in the tourism sector up to 90 days to accommodate the latest conditions and standards.   
It also requested that these organizations take these regulations into account to preserve the rights of tourists, and the quality of the services offered to keep away from being subjected to legal penalties and fines.  
“The adoption of NIPST (National Intellectual Property Strategy) supports the empowerment of innovators in various fields to build an ambitious country and a diversified and prosperous economy for the Kingdom and attracts interested researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators from Saudi Arabia and around the world towards innovation, creativity and respect of IP rights,” stated the Saudi Press Agency.  
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is the second largest investor in Egypt, with $6.1 billion poured into 6,017 projects, according to the north African country’s Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir. 
The trade minister announced the investment figure during his visit to Riyadh on Dec. 25, where he met Saudi ministers and senior officials to boost bilateral ties between the two countries. 
According to Samir, Saudi Arabia’s investments in Egypt span across various sectors including industry, construction, tourism, agriculture, services, finance, communications and information technology.
The trade minister also added that trade exchange between Egypt and Saudi Arabia surged 41.3 percent year-on-year to $4.572 billion in 2021, compared to $3.236 billion in 2020. 
Back in August, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund launched the Saudi Egyptian Investment Company, aimed at investing in promising Egyptian sectors and widening PIF’s investment footprints in Africa. 
A statement by the Egyptian ministry noted that Samir had meetings with the Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud and Minister of Trade Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi. 
During the meeting, ministers discussed ways to enhance investment cooperation between the two countries, and the talks also tackled ways to launch Egyptian-Saudi industrial partnerships in various production domains. 
Saudi Arabia is the top exporter among Arab Nations with exports worth $6.4 billion, followed by Kuwait, the UAE and Oman with exports worth $2.4 billion, $2.2 billion and $625.7million respectively, according to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. 
In November, Saudi Press Agency reported that the Kingdom is exploring investment opportunities in Egypt’s improving real estate landscape following the recent move of the African nation to remove restrictions on foreign ownership of land. 
The report further noted that Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate National Committee has met with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association to discuss potential real estate investments.
Earlier in June, during a meeting of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council, Al-Qasabi noted that Saudi Arabia and Egypt signed investment agreements worth $7.7 billion under 14 deals.

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