Saudi-based Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing, a leading real estate company in Gulf and marketing arm of the Saudi Bin Laden Group, has announced the launch of three new companies with a value of SR2.6 billion ($691.3 million).

The move is aimed at promoting real estate development, property finance and hotel management in Saudi Arabia, a company official said on the sidelines of Cityscape Dubai.

'The first company specialises in the area of real estate development, whereas the second in the area of property finance and the third company is related to hotel management,' explained Dr Saleh Al Habib, CEO of Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing.

“This move comes amid efforts to further promote our company’s growth and to leverage the opportunities provided by the promising real estate sector in the region. We aim to expand our business to provide an integrated property group, with specialised divisions in sales, marketing, real estate development and finance, and hotel management,” he added.

Dr Al Habib said, 'We look forward to establishing a real estate development company with a value of SR500 million, headquartered in Jeddah with branches across the main cities of the Kingdom.'

'This company will focus in various areas, including engineering and design for the residential and commercial projects, conducting studies to identify the locations of the residents and commercial complexes, in addition to real estate development and management,' he noted. It is projected to commence its operations early next year.

Dr Al Habib explained that the Saudi market has witnessed a significant growth in the area of real estate finance; as it valued SR4 billion last year, and it is expected to reach SR50 billion by 2010; while the value of construction projects is expected to reach SR 500 billion in 2010.

'Despite the high size of real estate investment in the kingdom, the lack of real estate finance and mortgage has lead to a shortage in the real estate marketing cycle and a slowdown of demand in this vital sector,' he added.

The real estate finance and mortgage law is expected to be issued during the next few months, which is considered a regulatory framework for this area in the kingdom.

'According to recent market studies, hotel management is considered as one of the promising investment sectors; as the number of visitors arriving at Saudi, especially for Hajj and Umrah, increased by 8.3 per cent annually within the last five years,' Al Habib added.-TradeArabia News Service