Saudi Arabia - MarcoPolis

Despite Western media relentlessly branding Saudi Arabia an archaic, backwards-oriented Islamic monarchy, the kingdom has done bold steps which aim to get its population back to work by diversifying its energy-oriented economy, empowering women to study work and by embracing the digital age like few other Arab countries.

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Saudi Banking Sector: Saudi Banks Bank on Change

February 9, 2015

Saudi banks are not only earning money on oil trading. While one might suggest that Saudi lenders became big due to a windfall of the country’s revenues from energy exports, little is known about the Saudi role as the biggest capital market in the Arab world.

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Saudi Government to Build 500,000 Real Estate Units

February 8, 2015

“The Saudi market is currently facing a very short supply of real estate properties, which will fuel the demand over the next few years. The gap we need to fill about 1.2 million units over the next 5 years, which shows you the size of our inventory and the potential for growth within the market,” says Majed Al Hogail, Managing Director of Rafal Real Estate Development Co.

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Saudi’s Real Estate Prices Should Not Grow Further

February 8, 2015

“The question is whether the residential prices are affordable. Currently with the prices as they are, there is a huge difference between property prices and people’s income… Over the last 3 or 4 years, the pricing acceleration was quite aggressive so I do not think we shall see much higher prices,” says Majed Al Hogail, Managing Director of Rafal Real Estate Development Co.

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Rafal Real Estate: Community Innovation in Saudi Arabia

February 8, 2015

“Rafal Real Estate began nearly six years ago. However, the shareholders of the company have more than 60 years’ experience in terms of business conduct in Saudi Arabia. The differential we have is that we are community innovators and not homebuilders,” says Majed Al Hogail, Managing Director of Rafal Real Estate Development Co.

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Challenges to Doing Business in Saudi According to Rafal Real Estate

February 8, 2015

“As in any emerging market, regulations are not black and white. Here in Saudi Arabia, we have regulations but the interpretation and the implementation of these regulations represent quite a challenge for doing business here,” says Majed Al Hogail, Managing Director of Rafal Real Estate Development Co.

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Saudi Arabia’s Land Is Too Expensive, Real Estate Is Overvalued

February 8, 2015

“The land is too expensive. Land should be a maximum of 30% of the unit cost but in Saudi it is nearing 50%. Land is available but it’s too expensive,” says Mohammad Al Saja, Chairman of Mizat Development Company.

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Real Estate Market in Saudi Arabia Tripled in the Last 3 Years

February 8, 2015

“In the real estate market in Saudi in the last three to four years, the prices doubled or tripled. As you know, the population growth in the country is becoming very high. This is one of the reasons that suddenly the government realized there is high demand for land, or in other words, a high housing demand,” explains Mohammad Al Saja, Chairman of Mizat Development Company.

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Mizat Development Company: Strategy and Vision

February 8, 2015

“The project we are involved in consists of around 100 residential units – villas. It starts from 350 up to 600 square meters of land. It was designed carefully, in a way that would fulfill a mid to upper class Saudi family’s requirements,” explains Mohammad Al Saja, Chairman of Mizat Development Company.

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Capital Markets in Saudi Arabia and Their Evolution

February 7, 2015

“The capital markets started very early in Saudi, maybe in the 60’s or even earlier than that. It was very simple, very preliminary, there were no complications at all, and there were no rules or regulations,” explains Abdullah Saud Al-Rashoud, CEO of Blominvest Saudi Arabia.