imported 2024-03-17 17:43:07
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“If you look at the liquidity (petrodollars) which is coming into the country, it’s huge. This liquidity must find some channels to go into. Real estate went up in a very substantial way,” says Abdullah Saud Al-Rashoud, CEO of Blominvest Saudi Arabia.
“I believe that in some areas there is a potential for growth – Mecca, for example, or Medina, because the government is trying to make huge expansions for both Holy Mosques. The thing is that for those people who invest in Mecca, they cannot just go to invest in other places,” says Abdullah Saud Al-Rashoud, CEO of Blominvest Saudi Arabia.
“The penetration rate for credit cards is certainly lower than cash at present, but it is steadily increasing. I can see over the last eight years there has been a visible shift from a cash economy towards an electronic economy,” says Priyan L. Attygalle, CEO of American Express, Saudi Arabia.
“There has been a visible shift from a cash economy towards an electronic economy, in terms of cashless payments such as cards and the growth of internet payments and internet banking. It’s growing at an exponential rate,” says Priyan L. Attygalle, CEO of American Express, Saudi Arabia.
“In American Express in Saudi Arabia, we concentrate very much on the high-net-worth consumers and corporates. These are two areas in which we are very strong and we have very unique products,” says Priyan L. Attygalle, CEO of American Express, Saudi Arabia.
