A whopping BD8.3 billion ($22 billion) worth of construction projects are being planned for Bahrain in the coming months, it was revealed.
Former Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE) president Mohammed Khalil Al Sayed said this was in addition to the BD2.6 billion ($7 billion) worth of similar projects already ongoing.
Al Sayed was speaking as the BSE announced the Fifth Bahrain International Property Exhibition (BIPEX) 2008, to be held at the Bahrain International Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 23 to 25.
The event is being held under the patronage Premier's Court Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
'Reports from prestigious sources, including the Middle East Economic Digest, have suggested Bahrain is an upcoming destination when it comes to property development,' said Al Sayed, who is also on the Bipex-2008 organising committee.
'The price stability in Bahrain, in comparison with the double digit inflation in some other countries in the region, is another advantage,' Al Sayed said during a press conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
'Topping all this is the favourable government policy environment driving growth and the private sector in all sectors of the economy.
'Bahrain has truly emerged as an integrated economy with its various sectors, whether in government e-services, manufacturing, oil and gas, construction and real estate or financial markets, tourism and public services encompassing health, education and training.'
He said Bipex 2007 was a showcase of the myriad real estate and infrastructure developments both from the region and outside, constituting assets worth $38 billion.
'Another outstanding indicator of the exhibition's success was the more than 12,000 footfalls that it attracted.'
Al Sayed said this year's event would not only highlight upcoming projects in the region, but also offer real estate developers and agencies a chance to gauge the demand and address the needs of tentative buyers.
This includes providing them with information about finance, taxation, returns on investment, conditions for resale, transfer tax on inherited properties.
'This will be in addition to specialised services like management, renovation, insurance of properties and tax consultancy services for overseas holdings,' said Al Sayed.
He said about 60 per cent of the total exhibition area has already sold out.
BSE director of conferences Jameel Khalaf Al Alawi said the Gulf has witnessed several changes at the macroeconomic level, amidst diversifying reliance on oil and gas exports as drivers of economic growth.
Development
'The average annual growth rate of the non-oil and gas GDP over the past 10 years ranged between nine and 10pc and this trend is expected to continue up to 2012,' he said.
'Real estate and infrastructure development has been a major contributor to this growth, which is fuelled by factors like population growth, huge capital inflows, high liquidity due to consistently high oil prices and asset creation by financial institutions.'
Al Alawi said the mega scale at which the property market has grown both in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Gulf necessitated creation of a convenient information conduit for property buyers, developers, financiers and real estate agents.
He said to cater to the higher numbers of expected participants and visitors, organisers have increased the gross exhibition area to 7,500 sq m.
BSE president Abdul Majeed Al Gassab said direct investments in international real estate are expected to grow by nearly 38 per cent this year and reach $20 billion from the $14.5 billion level achieved last year.
He said within a decade the GCC commercial real estate market had been transformed into a global market.
This growth is driven by high oil prices, which have increased both private and sovereign wealth g