CAIRO: With a vision that stretches out beyond building real-estate projects, Emaar has positioned itself as the prime mover and shaker of the region's construction sector, master planning large scale parcels of land into diverse and fully integrated communities with landscaped parks, schools, retail, entertainment, sports, shopping and dining facilities, as well as medical centers. Its main goal is to shape lives in emerging markets of the Middle East and North Africa region as well as the Indian subcontinent, because these have huge potential for growth. Founded in 1997, Emaar is a Public Joint Stock Company listed on the Dubai Financial Market and is the only UAE listed company on the Dow Jones Arabia Titans Index. The company announced record revenue of $3.8 billion and net profits of $1.74 billion for the fiscal year ended December 2006. This constitutes to a 68 percent increase in annual revenues and 35 percent in net profits. Figures of the first quarter of 2007 also reveal that Emaar is quickly moving into the black. Its net profit this year has so far soared to $0.469 billion - increasing by 13 percent over last year's quarter results. Revenues have so far mounted to $1.063 billion, again showing an increase of 74 percent over last year's quarter. Emaar has so far established operations in 16 markets including its hometown UAE, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, and Egypt. In tandem with Egypt's rapid real-estate growth, Emaar is particularly enthusiastic about the country's ever-growing housing sector and has so far poured in over $4 billion investments in four residential mega-projects. "Emaar ventures into countries where it feels that demand on real-estate projects is growing. And Egypt is one of these countries. Egypt is a promising market with huge demand on residential and commercial projects, said Mohammed Ali, Emaar's assistant director of business development. Stretching over four million sq. meters across Cairo's highest point, El Mukattam suburb, Emaar's Uptown Cairo is a $2.1 billion residential development which again revolves around Emaar's fully integrated community theme bringing commercial and recreation, educational, and healthcare facilities all in one project. Another $1 billion residential project is located at the Fifth District in New Cairo City near the new campus of the American University in Cairo. Spread over 3.8 million sq. meters, the project features upscale residential community units with amenities such as private clubs, restaurants, schools, swimming pools, healthcare clinics, and shopping centers. Emaar also plans to invest another $700 million in a project spread over 160 acres across the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road which will feature a mega shopping mall, hotel and residential units. "What Emaar is trying to establish in Egypt is a fully integrated community providing everyday lifestyle needs from gate to gate. We don't want people to live in one community then find out that they have to drive a long distance to take their children to schools, hospitals, or shopping malls, explained Ali. And with Egypt's boost in tourism resort projects, Emaar did not leave out the chance to win a bid for a $175 million land in Sidi Abdel Rahman (Alamein) resort. Emaar will pour in the total investment value of $1.74 billion in its North Coast Resort named "Marassi, projected to be completed in five-year's time. Emaar will develop the resort with up to 3,000 hotel rooms, a marina, golf course, and healthcare facilities. "Marassi is the starting point of the government's ambitious plan to transform North Coast real-estate projects from a two-month resort into a whole year round resort, stated Mohamed El Moshneb, director in charge of Emaar Misr. With these projects, Emaar does not only target upscale consumers in Egypt as well as Arab and foreign tourists. Its vision expands to creating better homes to all citizens. "We do not only invest in luxurious residential projects. We are also taking our first step in building homes for middle/limited-income families in Egypt, said El Moshneb. "We also offer mortgage finance facilities that will enable different segments of the society to buy homes in our projects. But perhaps Emaar's most celebrated and widely publicized project is the Burj Dubai development project. With a total investment value of $20 billion, Burj Dubai project comprises of the world's tallest tower, the world's largest shopping mall, the world's biggest musical fountain, nine world-class hotels - including the region's first Georgio Armani Hotel - world-class restaurants, residential units, walking boulevards, sports centers, cinemas, lakes, an aquarium, an ice-skating arena, and an observation platform overlooking the entire city of Dubai. Focusing on both size and quality, Emaar has visited the world's best skyscrapers, walking boulevards, and hotels to come up with a far surpassing project. "For example, we have visited the world's best waking boulevards, those found in Europe, to see what they have and ours is going to be much better once we inaugurate it, boasted Fred Durie, executive director of development at Emaar Dubai Operations. Construction on the project began in 2004 and is expected to take four-five years to be fully developed. Emaar has fixed its mind on building the world's tallest building and will not reveal the final height of the Burj Dubai in order not to be beaten by other developers. The Tower's exterior design - inspired from a desert rose called Hymenocalis, widely cultivated in Dubai - incorporates structural systems and infrastructure that allow for addition of more levels over time. So far, Emaar announced that the Tower will be over 160 stories high. Emaar's main objective is to become the most valuable real-estate development company in the world by the year 2010. To achieve that, Emaar has recently acquired Hamptons International, the UK's premier property developer, in a deal worth $153 million. Emaar has also made rapid strides globally with the acquisition of the US-based John Laing Homes for $1.050 billion. Furthermore, Emaar has expanded its international portfolio after joining hands with Turner Corporation, a leading US building services provider, to form a new entity aiming at tapping regional growth opportunities. Indeed, Emaar has proved that its name - which translates into "real estate and housing development - is apt with its strategy. "We want to change the future of real-estate projects. We don't just sell homes. What we do is build homes for the future, featuring fully-integrated communities offering educational, healthcare, and banking facilities, Ali said.
