Crystal Lagoons, a multinational water innovation company, has inaugurated its new regional office in Cairo, highlighting the company's commitment to Egypt. Patented in 190 countries worldwide, Crystal Lagoons is now involved in projects worth over $5 billion in Egypt, with a total of 13 contracts signed, and a further 10 at various stages of negotiation in Cairo, the North Coast, Ain Sokhna, and Hurghada. Egypt is Crystal Lagoons' top market in the Middle East and North Africa, and will open new headquarters in the country later this month. Existing and potential clients in the country will have greater access to Crystal Lagoons executives, allowing them immediate response time, regular face-to-face consultancy, quick time design discussions, as well as on-the-ground implementation services making the entire project process much easier. Carlos Salas, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) regional director for Crystal Lagoons, who will be responsible for heading up the office, said: "Egypt is a key market for us and as such we have opened our new headquarters in Cairo to facilitate the huge number of projects and deals we are currently working on with Egypt's most prominent developers. North Africa has been a prime location for crystal-clear lagoon development in recent years and our new office will have an integral role in supporting our valued partners." "The unique worldwide patented technology used by Crystal Lagoons underscores the company's ability to construct and develop mass bodies of water anywhere in the world, and therefore bring waterfront living to even the most arid locations, the next one in Egypt will open on the north coast later in 2017," he added. Supporting Crystal Lagoons in its new Egypt venture, multinational law firm Dentons has been appointed to safeguard the company's patented technology in the Mena region. Dentons will be responsible for monitoring markets across the region to spot potential infringements of Crystal Lagoons' intellectual property including patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights and domain names. Projects currently under development include the north-coast Bo Island development by Maxim Real Estate. This will be the company's biggest project to date in Egypt, with the $1.8 billion, 10 million-sq-m development set to offer lagoons covering a total of 32 hectares within the mixed-use community. The lagoons will be complemented by an impressive 17.5 km of powder-white sand beachfront and will be home to a host of unique water-based activities. The initial phase, which is equal to 10 per cent of the total area, will cost an estimated $455 million and is expected to be completed in Q1 2018. Other companies utilising Crystal Lagoons' technology to create traditional beachside living include Hassan Allam properties, one of Egypt's leading luxury residential developers, with the construction of the $200-million Swanlake North Coast project; and the Porto Group-developed Porto Lagoons, a new phase that is part of the $345-million, 150-hectare mixed-use Porto Golf Marina community. Demand to create an idyllic oasis setting in the desert has been highlighted with three Red Sea projects including the two-hectare El Gouna community development. Other projects include the world's current Guinness World Record holder for the world's largest manmade lagoon, the 12.2-hectare, $500-million Citystars Sharm El Sheikh development and a second Sharm project, the 2.7-hectare Radamis Lagoon, which will be at the heart of a 2,500-room, three-hotel mixed-use development. Further underscoring Crystal Lagoons popularity in the region is the $250-million development in the country's Sokhna mountain range. The development will bring six stunning lagoons spanning a total area of four hectares plus 3 km of sandy beaches. Most recently, Crystal Lagoons signed a second contract with Egyptian real estate developer Tatweer Misr to bring idyllic beachfront living to the $117-million Fouka Bay development in Ras Al Hekmah. This is the second contract Crystal Lagoons has signed with Tatweer Misir; the first was for the ground-breaking project in its flagship project Il Monte Galala in Sokhna, which will see the development of the first mountain lagoon in the world. "In our experience, developers are able to charge a premium on properties overlooking our projects and thus can attain a strong ROI (return on investment). Not only that, our lagoons are very sympathetic to the local environment, our manmade lagoons use up to 100 times less chemicals than a traditional filtration system and 98 per cent less energy required by conventional water treatment systems, meaning our technology provides a viable, sustainable solution, despite challenges such as water and energy supply. We can use any kind of water including brackish from underground aquifers, eliminating the need to consume valuable fresh water resources," said Salas. Crystal Lagoons currently boasts over 600 projects in different development and negotiation stages in 60 countries worldwide.
