AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, real estate briefs

Source: AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesAug.新蒲崗迷你倉 28--MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES TO EXPAND IN IRAQ WITH BASRA OFFICE: Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has announced it will open an office in the second-largest city in Iraq, on September 1, Japan Today has reported. The new office in Basra will function as a base for flexible sales support and information gathering activities, and help the firm respond swiftly to emerging large-scale social infrastructure improvement projects, the company said.DUBAI MUNICIPALITY RECORDS OVER 6,700 BUILDING VIOLATIONS: The municipality of Dubai has said the majority of the 6,747 violations building inspectors recorded in the past six months comprised illegal additions and unapproved partitions, Gulf News has reported. "Most of the violators had been booked for constructing additions without obtaining a licence," said acting director at the Building Department, Marwan Abdulla. Other violations included accommodating bachelors in residential areas, two families staying in one flat and using the building for purposes other than what is permitted.GALFAR SETS RECORD DATE FOR RIGHTS ISSUE: Omani construction firm, Galfar Engineering and Contracting Co has set September 1 as the record date for its upcoming OR13.86m rights issue, Muscat Daily has reported. The proceeds from the issue will be used to boost the firm's balance sheet and support long-term growth, said Galfar. The company had reported a 56 percent jump in net profit to OR5.04m in the first half of 2013, compared with OR3.23m in the same period last year.KSA APPROVES NEW CITY PROJECT NEAR MAKKAH: The governor of Makkah, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has approved the master plan for a new residential and administrative city outside the holy city to accommodate more than 600,000 people, Arab News has reported. The Makkah Gate project to be developed on the Makkah-Jeddah Highway with private sector support, will have 45 model districts. Spanning an area of 83 million sq m, the project will include educational institutions, government offices, shopping centres, housing units and a national park.QATAR PRIMARY MATERIALS TO EXPAND GABBRO FACILITY: Qatar Primary Materials Co (QPMC) has awarded FLSmidth and Six Construct an EPC contract for the design and engineering of the Gabbro Terminal Expansion Project in Mesaieed, the Peninsula has reported. The project includes an integrated set of conveyors, dust suppression systems, sub-stations and stackers. The Gabbro Terminal Expansion Project will help import large volumes of gabbro, as well as reduce truck traffic into the gabbro berths.SAUDI ARABIA RECRUITED 33 PERCENT MORE FOREIGN CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN 2012: The Saudi labour ministry has said the number of work visas issued to the country's construction sector accounted for 58 percent of the total work visas issued by the ministry last year, Arab News has reported. In 2012, the ministry issued nearly 1.6 million work visas, of which 900,000 were allocated to the building and construction sector, it said.NAKHEEL REPAID LENDERS DHS197M: Dubai's Nakheel has said it has repaid interest and profit payments of Dhs197m to its lenders in compliance with its restructuring requirements, Wam has reported. "We remain focused on meeting our commitments in accordance with the terms set out in our company restructure and revised business plan," said a Nakheel spokesman.UK'S CARILLION UPBEAT OVER UAE PROSPECTS: UK-based Carillion has said it expects to announce more contract wins in the UAE in coming months, as the construction and support services firm braces for an uptick in construction activity in the Middle East, Reuters has reported. "The UAE, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been slow, but we are starting to see signs of improvement in those economies," CEO Richard Howson said. "We've won nearly pounds sterling 600m of the work in the last 6-8 months in the UAE and we expect that we'll announce further wins over the next couple of months there," he said. The firm's Middle East construction arm accounts for a tenth of its business.SAUDIS HOUSING LOAN APPLICANTS TOPPED ALLOCATED BUDGET: Abdullah Al-Ahmari, chairman of the real estate evaluation committee at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said the kingdom needs more than three million new housing units to meet the demand of its low-income citizens, Arab News has reported. "This is in addition to the 700,000 who had applied before at the Real Estate Development Fund," Al-Ahmari added. "The number of applicants exceeds the allocated budget, as they would require SR1.5trn to be covered. That's why the finalised mechanism was made to work on having the existing budget go to those most deserving, being at the top of the list, regardless of the date of the application."EMIRATIS TOP INVESTORS IN OMAN'S PROPERTY MARKET: The Omani housing ministry has said that GCC nationals have concluded 3,376 property deals in 2012, up 0.9 percent over the previous year, Muscat Daily has reported. UAE nationals topped the list with 1,694 properties, followed by Kuwaitis with 1,286, Qataris with 195, Bahrainis with 125 and Saudis with 76. Emiratis own properties across the sultanate with the majority being in the governorates of North Batinah, Musandam, Dhahirah and Buraimi. Meanwhile, Kuwaitis own properties in the governorates of Batinah and Dhofar.ARABTEC CONSIDERING MERGER DEALS IN SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT: Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, CEO of Arabtec Holding has said the UAE's largest construction company is considering mini storage merger with the biggest contractors in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bloomberg has reported. "We are now mulling mergers with the two biggest construction companies in the Gulf, one is in Saudi and one is in Kuwait," Ismaik told CNBC Arabia without naming the other companies. "The benefits will be felt by the shareholders and the market."24 SAUDI FIRMS FINED FOR MIDDAY WORK BAN VIOLATION: The Saudi labour ministry has said 24 businesses, including contractors, have been fined for violating the kingdom's midday work ban during the summer season, Arab News has reported. "In the past few weeks, the ministry has fined only 24 businesses out of a total of 74 which have undergone inspection," said Faisal Al-Otaibi, general director of inspection at the ministry. Under the ministry's rules, no employee should be asked to work under the sun from 12 to 3 p.m. from July to August, to lower their exposure to extreme sunlight.SAUDI ARABIA AWARDS CONTRACTS TO BUILD 40,000 HOMES: The Saudi government has signed contracts worth SR4bn to develop eight residential districts in different parts of the country comprising some 40,000 homes, Arab News has reported. The deals involve the development of 26 million sq me of plots in Jeddah, Madinah, Dammam, Al-Ahsa, Qatif, Tabuk and Al-Kharj to house 250,000 people, said housing minister, Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi. "We'll sign more contracts in the coming months to build homes in Asir, Najran, Baha, Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf, Northern Border Region and Tabuk," said Al-Duwaihi.ZHP TO EVALUATE 880 NEW HOUSING APPLICATIONS: The UAE's Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme (ZHP) has accepted a total of 880 applications, Wam has reported. The applications are yet to be finalised pending an assessment of the applicants to see whether they meet the programme's criteria. The approval will be made some time this year. Last week, the programme approved a total of 800 applications that were submitted from 2006 to December 29, 2009, to beneficiaries earning less than Dhs10,000 a month.SAUDI TO EXCLUDE HIGH EARNERS FROM HOUSING INITIATIVE: The Saudi housing ministry has said citizens with annual earnings exceeding SR150,000 will be excluded from the 500,000 housing units' programme, Arab News has reported. The ministry also plans to exclude some employees, including those working for Saudi Aramco and Sabic from the programmes, as their companies provide them with the various housing benefits, the report said.ARABTEC SAYS EGYPT OPERATIONS UNAFFECTED BY UNREST: UAE-based construction firm Arabtec Holding has said the civil unrest in Egypt has not affected its operations in Egypt, and that work is progressing according to schedule. "We are continuing with our operations in Egypt to ensure we are able to successfully meet the needs of our clients," said managing director and CEO of Arabtec, Hasan Abdullah Ismaik. "We will do our best to establish a strong presence in the Egyptian market, to take advantage of the high potentials it holds for us," he said.ABU DHABI TO DEVELOP FIVE NEW PARKS: The Abu Dhabi City municipality is set to launch construction works next month to build and develop five parks at Al Shamkha and Al Adlah in the emirate, Gulf News has reported. Spanning a total area of around 60,000 sq m, the parks will cater to the needs of the population and keep up with the overall urban expansion taking place in UAE capital city and metropolitan areas. "The municipality attaches utmost attention to the design of parks by tailoring a unique and distinctive theme for each park by adopting a specific selection of aesthetic elements, perpetuating sustainability concepts through using quality materials, using advanced energy-efficient lighting systems, and rationalising consumption of irrigation water," said director of parks and recreational facilities at the municipality, Rashid Al Falasi.SIEMENS AWARDS AL HASSAN DHS69M DEAL: Siemens has awarded Al Hassan Engineering Co Abu Dhabi, which is controlled by Oman's Al Hassan Engineering Co (AHEC), a Dhs69.45m sub-contract for civil and associated building works for the new 400/220/33kV substation at Mirfa, Abu Dhabi, Muscat Daily has reported. "This is subject to the approval of the end-client Transco. The work is expected to be completed by August 2014 and we expect reasonable income from this project," AHEC said.KSA APPROVED SR87.1BN IN CONSTRUCTION DEALS UNTIL JUNE-END: The Saudi finance ministry has approved 1,311 construction projects in the first half of the current fiscal year, worth a total of SR87.1bn, Arab News has reported. Of the total, 302 contracts were allocated for municipal and rural projects at a cost of SR8.95bn, while 129 contracts were allocated for roads and other infrastructure projects at a cost of SR20.61bn.DANUBE RECORDS 12 PERCENT GROWTH IN H1 SALES: Rizwan Sajanm chairman of Danube Building Material has said construction demand in the UAE and other Gulf countries will help the Dubai-based firm achieve its Dhs2bn sales target, Khaleej Times has reported. "We recorded 12 percent growth in sales during the first six months of 2013 and are confident to maintain the same growth rate by the end of the year," Sajan told the daily. Last year, Danube opened two showrooms in Libya and Kenya, and "will continue to expand in Africa with new showrooms in Ethiopia and Tunisia," he said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at .ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage