The International Institute for Research (IIR) organisers of the Cityscape 2005, the international property investment and development show, have announced the launch of Retail City, which will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 4 – 6 June 2006.
Responding to the extraordinary retail revolution prevalent throughout the region, Retail City comprises a three-day networking conference and exhibition that will aim to bring together international retail property professionals to develop new joint ventures, exchange views, identify new investment opportunities and encourage retailers and franchises to set up shop in the Middle East.
Retail City International Exhibition Director, Franck Dailles said, “At Cityscape 2005 we conducted a number of official surveys and out of the 24,000 participants we found that 46% of visitor investors were seeking retail investment opportunities, 37% of exhibitors were hoping to make contact with retail developers and 35% were already operating in the retail sector. This clearly illustrated to us the need for a complementary event to develop this dynamic sector still further”.
Middle East retail developments rank as the second largest growth sector after the residential real estate sector. With 4.5 million square feet of retail floor space already completed and a further 2.5 million square feet of gross leasable space (GLA) area still under construction, the retail sector is estimated to be worth US$ 30 billion per annum in the GCC countries alone.
Dubai is currently the regional hub for retail therapy, witnessing over 630,000 square metres of retail development in 2004 and will represent over one third of the GCC’s retail development. According to Retail International, cash tills will ring to the tune of US$ 3,500 per square metre by 2009. Already aiming to be one of the most densely shopped cities on the planet, Dubai is perfectly paced to host this event and should be used as the benchmark to judge all other Middle Eastern cities.
However other GCC countries have been quick to follow, as huge budget surpluses, political stability and investor confidence filters through to inject new found consumer confidence, especially in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Qatar already has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and is developing at a pace to accommodate the Asian Games in 2006 and to fulfill its high-end tourism master plan. Similarly Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey are also enjoying their share of the retail surge, mainly through creative tourism initiatives.
Dailles concluded, “With booming economic conditions, population growth, increases in tourists, and investor-friendly market conditions, the regional boom in the retail sector seems set to continue unabated”.
In addition, featuring along side the exhibition will be the Retail City Conference, offering an ideal platform for all retail professionals to discus the latest retail investment strategies and provide insight in to planning techniques.
