IN PALESTINE Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company is exploring opportunities in the fields of health, education and industries, a week after it announced a first investment of $245mn in that country.IN PALESTINE Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company is exploring opportunities in the fields of health, education and industries, a week after it announced a first investment of $245mn in that country.
CEO of Qatari Diar, Ghanim bin Saad al-Saad, a wholly-owned arm of Qatar Investment Authority said “We will be following with another project in Palestine.”
The proposed areas were on education, health and industry, he said on the sidelines of a function to explain its partnership with Palestine’s Massar International to build a QR350mn self-sufficient township at Rawabi, which eyes investments worth more than $1bn in the next 4-5 years.
About the quantum of investment in the proposed sectors in Palestine, al-Saad said studies were being carried out at the moment.
On the Rawabi project, tucked between Ramallah and Nablus on the West Bank, he said the total project cost was $350mn, of which Qatari Diar’s contribution was 70% ($245mn) and the remaining would be through loans from local and regional banks as well as from the payments to be made by prospective customers.
It is learnt that 2,200 applications have already been received by Bayti, which has set a target price of $43,000-$78,000 for housing units of size 95 to 165 square meters.
Al – Saad said, asked about Qatari’s contribution, it would come from the internal accruals and ruled out tapping debt markets and equity market through initial public offering.
The Rawabi project, whose four-phased construction would span five years, will consist of 5,000 units to house more than 40,000 people and it is being developed and managed by Bayti, which is 70% owned by Qatari Diar and 30% by Massar International.
Qatari Diar, which has an investment portfolio of more than $45bn across the world and is expecting annual growth of 30%, found huge demand for housing in the project and it was one of the reasons why it ventured into invest.
The current estimated housing shortfall in the West Bank is in excess of 200,000 units, which increases by about 10% every year, according to Massar International.
It said “The absence of large-scale housing projects in the West Bank, together with a high birth rate of 3.1% per annum, is creating an acute housing shortage.”
Asked about the risks in the project, especially considering the volatile situation in Palestine, al-Saad said the project is in West Bank, where there were no concerns on security. Moreover, it had the support of Palestine Authority and Quartet, comprising the UN, US, European Union and Russian Federation.
Massar International chairman Bashar F Masri said the projected $350mn cost denoted the project’s core expenditure, whereas it was now developing a master plan for a much larger area and said “Our hope is that within 4-5 years, total investment in Rawabi will exceed $1bn,” adding that doors would be opened for other sectors such as small entrepreneurs, hospitals, schools, restaurants, medical and professional services.
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