Leading property experts from the UK, Middle East and Asia, will be London for a major summit which will put focus on the Islamic real estate finance market segment.

The IREF Summit 2014, the 11th in the series, will run from December 16 to 17 at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower, Knightsbridge, London, UK.

It is being held under the theme ‘Real Estate - The Asset Class of 2014 & Beyond: Sustainability & Innovation in an Ever-Changing Global Real Estate Market,’ said the event organiser.

The summit will provide an ideal platform for financial market experts and those interested in accessing the rapidly growing Islamic financial services industry to discuss the key issues, highlight and identify new opportunities and forge new business relationships, it stated.

The list of speakers at the summit include inter alia Gerard Lyonsm, the chief economic advisor to the Mayor of London (UK); Dr Abdulgader Amir, the managing director, Shamayel United Development Company (Saudi Arabia); Dato' George Stewart LaBrooy, CEO of Axis Reit Managers (Malaysia); Naveed Siddiqui, the CEO of Capitas Group International (Saudi Arabia); Hassan Sunbol, the CEO of Global Real Estate Company (Saudi Arabia); Fergus Hicks, the global head of forecasting (UK); Zaini Osman, the CEO of Warees Investments (Singapore); Jesdev Saggar, the managing director, Deloitte (UAE); Montasser Khelifi, the manager for global markets, Quantum Investment Bank (UAE); Ian Kennett, the director of sales, Willis Real Estate Practice (UK); Stella Cox, the managing director, DDCAP Group (UK); Philip Churchill, the founder partner, 90 North Real Estate Partners (UK); Sarah Gooden, the partner, Trowers & Hamlins (UK) and Charles Kerr, the South Street Asset Management (UK).

The session themes are focused and aimed at providing investors, developers, advisers and analysts in the real estate sector the ideal platform to discourse the pertinent current themes and trends marking the sector, with a particular emphasis on the Islamic real estate finance market segment.

These include: ‘Current Dynamics in a Changing Global Property and Real Estate Market: Public Policies, Priorities and Performance’; ‘Real Estate and the Real Economy Sectors - Infrastructure, Economic Cities and Zones, Shopping Complexes, Housing and Student Accommodation’; ‘Current Islamic Finance Innovations in the Real Estate Sector: Towards Developing a Bricks and Mortar Finance Silk Road’; ‘Real Estate: The Regional Conundrum - UK, Continental Europe, North America, GCC & South East Asia’; and ‘Unleashing the Potential of Social Assets to Generate Market Returns’.

There will also be the usual panel discussion on ‘Shariah, English Law, Innovation and Sustainability in the Real Estate Market’, which has proved very popular with participants over the years.

On the evening of the first day of the IREF Summit, ICG will once again host the 2014 IREF ME Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony, now in its 11th consecutive year.

These much prized industry accolades celebrate outstanding achievement and excellence in real estate, conventional and Islamic financing.

The international real estate market is once again showing signs of buoyancy fuelled partly by a continued albeit slow recovery in the global economic fundamentals and by specific drivers in certain markets and segments including Shariah-compliant real estate transactions, said the event organiser.

The location of London as the summit venue is implicit given the UK property market, Europe’s largest and regarded as the most transparent and liquid, is a natural attraction, it added.-TradeArabia News Service