Holland Gulf Chamber of Commerce » development

Saudi renewable energy projects in global spotlight

jochemgeheniau — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:57:10 +0000

Saudi Arabia has a growing population with a steadily rising demand for energy as consumption increases by 7-10 percent each year, according to experts attending the high-profile event in Riyadh on “Empowering Saudi Arabia’s emerging renewable sector”.
They said 80 percent of the Kingdom’s GDP is dependent on oil revenues.
Although rich in oil, the Kingdom faces a real problem of supplies for exports running out as it continues to cater to high internal demands.
The event brought together experts from both local and global energy experts, including Michelle T. Davies, head of clean energy practice, Eversheds LLP, and Maher Alodan, director of research, development and innovation at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE)
In order to cope with the demands, KACARE has been tasked with developing plans to deploy nuclear power and renewable energy in the Kingdom.
KACARE recently drew up plans to develop 54 GW of renewable energy by 2032, potentially the biggest solar program of its kind.
The event was hosted by Global law firm, Eversheds , with the cooperation of various local and global firms, during which they discussed renewable energy projects in the Middle East in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular.
“The Middle East is currently an attractive market for global renewable energy funders and developers. The recent program outlined by Saudi Arabia, for example, is a 54GW renewable energy opportunity, one of the largest the world has ever seen,” said Davies.
The immense opportunity that the ME presents also throws up a whole host of challenges for the development of projects in the region, securing of capital and the development of renewable energy projects in Europe.
Jordan, on the other hand, is lacking in sufficient domestic fossil resources needed to secure its own energy independence — it is currently heavily reliant on imports through the Arab Gas Pipeline. Jordan’s renewable energy strategy will, therefore, not only help to reduce reliance on alternative sources of energy but also enable it to develop its own domestic renewable energy industry with demand for domestic workforce and expertise which will ensue.
Despite holding the seventh largest oil and gas reserve in the world, the UAE relies on imported gas for the production of its electricity and has a rising energy consumption of up to 10 percent each year.
This mix of drivers still provides the motivation to change the domestic energy mix. The two main emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai have their own energy strategy and their own renewable energy schemes.

Riyadh tops in real estate with SAR99bn deals

jochemgeheniau — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 10:31:05 +0000

Riyadh, with SR99 billion real estate transactions, has ranked as the most sought-after city in the Kingdom. The capital city outweighs Jeddah, which had recorded more than SR90 billion of real estate transactions as per the real estate index issued by the Ministry of Justice.
The real estate sector has revealed the positive impact of the economic and social stability experienced across the Kingdom as per the Ministry of Justice index. The index closed at a value of SR99 billion of commercial and residential deals for the year 1434H in Riyadh, surpassing last year’s deals that registered SR87 billion.
The index recorded more than 43,476 real estate deals in Riyadh city covering a total area of 227m2, with SR47 billion commercial transactions and more than SR51 billion residential transactions. This reflects the need toward seeking large locations to develop residential units to meet the increasing demand in the market.
Jeddah comes second with more than SR50.6 billion of residential transactions and SR39.9 billion commercial transactions, which represent 40,132 deals and over 90m2 of real estate area.
Majed Al-Hogail, MD, RAFAL, described as the premier residential communities innovator, said: “The economic and real estate cycle is moving rapidly and positively, and the demand on innovative residential units is increasing, which urges the real estate developers and investors to work on providing innovative residential solutions.”
Al-Hogail added: “We at RAFAL are investing in new strategic locations and the innovation of more than 3,950 residential units over the next 5 years with cost of over SR5.1 billion. Our growth strategy covers the Kingdom with new and bold opportunities within a prosperous real estate investment in the Kingdom.”
To facilitate the ownership of housing units by the citizens, more mortgage companies will be launched in 2014, as the Saudi government is working on activating the mortgage systems as per the enacted mortgage laws and regulations, to work alongside local banks and related governmental sectors, such as the Real Estate Development Fund and the residential units provided by Ministry of Housing.
The first half of the year 1434H has witnessed more than 70 percent of real estate deals, which indicates the investors’ activity who conducted SR62 billion of real estate deals in Riyadh city alone.
Al-Hogail said: “RAFAL leads the dynamic lifestyle pattern that requires an enriched, homogeneous social environment, as well as common facilities adhering to environmentally friendly and safety principles to create vibrant residential hubs, self-sustained communities, desired by many Saudi and expatriate families.”
According to Al-Hogail, the challenge facing the real estate market in the Kingdom is interesting, where the demand is increasing at an annual rate of 8 percent and is expected to last for a minimum of 10 years.
“This requires a consistency between the way of business and the regulations and challenges faced by the sector. Therefore, the performance has to be distinguished in order to be among the leading real estate development companies.”

GCC Islamic banking assets set to exceed $515 bn by 2013-en

jochemgeheniau — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:09:41 +0000

MUSCAT — Global Islamic banking assets with commercial banks reached $1.54 trillion in 2012, according to EY’s Global Islamic Banking Center. This includes both Islamic banks and Islamic windows of conventional banks. The annual growth of the industry remains at 16 per cent (5-year CAGR) which is faster than the growth of conventional banking system assets in each of the core Islamic finance markets. Ashar Nazim, Partner, Global Islamic Banking Center of Excellence, EY, said: “There are six markets that are systemically important to the future internationalisation of the Islamic banking industry. They are Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia and Turkey. Of the top 15 Islamic banks with a capitalisation of $1 billion or more, 13 of them are located in these rapid growth markets. With trade patterns shifting decisively in favour of these rapid growth markets, this is a huge opportunity for Islamic banks.”

The industry however has recently experienced a slowdown caused by two major developments. The continuing economic and political setbacks in some of the Islamic finance markets have adversely impacted overall business sentiments, including the financial services sector. In addition, the large scale operational transformation that many of the leading Islamic banks initiated approximately 18 months ago, continue to consume time and investment. In the GCC, Islamic banking assets reached $452 billion in 2012 and are expected to exceed $515 billion by the end of 2013. Saudi Arabia was the biggest market with an estimated $245 billion in assets in 2012. UAE Islamic banking assets, including windows were estimated at more than $80 billion and Qatar’s Islamic banking assets reached $53 billion in 2012. A common theme across leading GCC Islamic banks is the fundamental repositioning of their balance sheets and their business following the global financial crisis in 2008. Going forward, many Islamic banks are looking to expand regionally, where a sizeable amount of their revenues are expected to be generated from outside their local market.

“The progress of the industry is not without challenges. Large scale and technology-enabled transformation around customer centricity remains a critical consideration for Islamic banks which intend to become mainstream in their respective markets. The rapid growth of Islamic banks over the years has also been costly due to increased operational complexity as the banks transform from operating in a single market to becoming multi-jurisdiction businesses. These factors have had an impact on profitability, which although is improving, still remains approximately 18 per cent lower than their conventional banking peers. A significant change is required to sustain and improve performance with regard to organizational capacity and the capabilities of the Islamic banks which intend to expand,” concluded Ashar.

Saudi deal driving force for Gulftainer’s growth

jochemgeheniau — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 07:30:57 +0000

Gulftainer, the Sharjah-headquartered port management and logistics group, is set to witness volumes soar in 2013 as the group continues to expand its global footprint.
As the operator of the largest number of terminals in the Middle East, Gulftainer stands to benefit from the considerable growth in export cargoes from the region.
The rapidly developing petrochemical industries serve as a major factor in offsetting any reduced import volumes.
This announcement by Gulftainer is especially noteworthy, since recent industry trends appear to be moving in the opposite direction.
The Drewry Global Throughput Index, which is published with a two-month lag, is highlighting that the market as a whole has continued to stay almost at the 2012 levels, reflecting almost nil growth.
Furthermore, recent announcements by other international port management companies showing up to 6 percent decreases on the same period last year.
China has also made statements to the effect that they expect 2013 to be “even worse” than 2008 in terms of global shipping.
Gulftainer acquired a 51 percent stake in GSCCO in June 2013, allowing it to assume the full management of three Saudi terminals, located in Jeddah and Jubail.
The company recently bought the controlling stake in Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company (GSCCO ) in Saudi Arabia and this new acquisition means that Gulftainer now has a Middle East network that allows access to the Arabian Peninsula from the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf.
The geographical scope of Gulftainer’s terminals and their capabilities not only serves the largest container vessels in the world, but also caters for transshipping to East Mediterranean countries, East Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Upper Gulf destinations.
Commenting on the company’s recent GSCCO acquisition, Badr Jafar, CEO of Gulftainer’s parent company Crescent Enterprises and vice chairman of Gulftainer, said: “Today, Gulftainer manages more terminals in the Middle East than any other port operator does. Having achieved the reputation among shipping lines of being one of the fastest terminal operators in the world, Gulftainer is able to take its UAE-honed expertise to terminals in other high-growth markets across the World.”
Jeddah’s NCT recently carried out significant expansion, which will substantially improve the capability of Jeddah Islamic Port . The facility currently consists of 1,654 m of quay, 11 cranes, seven of which are super post panamax cranes, with an annual capacity of three million TEUs. Almost 75 percent of all container traffic to the Kingdom is currently handled through the Jeddah Islamic Port , and it is a major trade gateway for the Kingdom’s container traffic.
Located on the Arabian Gulf, Jubail is home to the development of the largest industrial zone in the world covering 8,000 hectares comprising petrochemical plants, fertilizer plants, steel works, and an industrial port as well as the world’s largest desalination plant.
Jubail Port is one of the largest industrial ports in the world and currently handles 52 million tons of cargo per annum, a figure which is expected to grow substantially in the short- to medium-term.
The port is equipped with a 1,282 m quay, five cranes and has a container handling capacity of 1 million TEU per annum.
It is expected that this figure will continue to increase quickly, particularly with the opening of major petrochemical developments in the Jubail Industrial Zone and the planned rail link to Riyadh. GSCCOcurrently operates 22 commercial berths at the port, including the open sea tanker terminal.
Speaking on the expected growth, Peter Richards, Gulftainer’s managing director, stated: “The benefit of being privately owned allows the Gulftainer Group to be very nimble and react to changing market conditions. Our throughput in 2013 will see an increase of over 30 percent as a result of strategic acquisitions and a very hands-on management team that keep close to our customers to understand and prepare for changes.”
Further afield, Gulftainer has invested in Brazil and Russia to ensure they are well placed to capitalize on the roaring pace of development in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies where annual growth is still reaming strong, compared to the mature economies of Europe and North America.
“We look forward to maintaining the Gulftainer track record established over the past 37 years of delivering growth year-on-year. Historically, organic growth was the Gulftainer engine; today we are adding growth through our carefully considered investments both regionally and more globally. This is an exciting time for Gulftainer and we look forward to increasing our footprint across regional and global markets in the near future,” Richards added.