United Real Estate Company

Kuwait was affected by the global economic crisis but not as severely as the others.  We are facing a recession but there are positive signs of recovery due to the latest plans presented by the government and parliament.  From a United Real Estate perspective we see the participation of the private sector under this plan as a positive thing that is promising.  One of the main challenges in Kuwait is a lack of funding and attracting foreign investors will be beneficial.  In order to attract foreign investment the government will need to provide the framework to facilitate these investments and provide funding/lending for the projects.  The BOT project will also be essential for making all of these pieces operational in order to encourage the private sector.  In the government package goes operational by April I think this will attract more investment to the Gulf region, but specifically in Kuwait. 

United Real Estate has a special business model.  How different are you from other real estate companies in Kuwait and what is your unique selling point?

Our strategy is to expand locally and in the MENA region.  If you consider United Real Estate as the real estate arm for the KIPCO group then you can see that we have a lot of opportunities to be involved in their projects.  Internationally, we are a major player in Jordan and the Abdul Ali Mall project.  We also have many investments in Egypt, specifically in Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh where we are working on building a large resort area.  United Real Estate is a developer, owner, and an operator- this helped us survive the crisis because we have such a versatile strategy to generate cash flow and sustain our position as a leader in the region. 

Can you comment on your key projects?

One of the largest projects we have in Kuwait is the United Tower.  United Tower is 59 stories tall and has 37 floors of office, 11 residential, and a retail component to it.  The strategy of the project is direct sales and this is the second type of property like this in Kuwait.  The residential part is targeted towards executives because of its location as well.

How difficult is it to sell this project or does it sell by itself?

You have to have a very strong marketing and sales strategy to position yourself against the many competitors in the area.  The economic crisis did hurt Kuwait but the residential part wasn’t as hurt compared to the commercial side of things.  Many projects are underway and once they are all finalized there will be more supply than demand and then a real crisis may take place unless the government does something about the current regulations.  In the next two years, the government needs to re-work the current framework to help the economy and boost the brewing situation at hand here.

In terms of your current marketing and communications strategy what is the one thing you would like to change?

It is hard to get what you want.  If I could change something I would change some of our initial strategies in order to boost our sales and marketability.  

How does United Real Estate Company deal with the challenges brought on back the lack of government support?

Between a lack of funding and other things, it doesn’t make our job any easier.  As a result a lot of real estate companies are becoming very conservative about their investments.  You need two hands to help you move forward and if the government doesn’t work closely with the private sector I cannot see any positive impact being made on the economy.  Oil is not the only answer to Kuwait’s problems because there are other resources that need to be focused on that can be helpful in other ways to Kuwait.

How efficient are your marketing and communications strategies compared to the competitors?  Do you see yourself as a benchmark in the industry?

In the industry in Kuwait we are considered to be leaders in the market from our projects and our corporate identity.  Strategies are fluid and can be changed at a moments notice and you have to be adaptable to when the situation calls for change.  Until 2012 we would like to sustain our projects and proceed with our developments until they are finished.  Once all of our projects are finalized then we will seek new opportunities. 

Who are your major clients?

It all depends on the project.  For example, one of the projects that we will soon be announcing in Sallala, Oman will be Sallala World Mall that will be built in 64,000 square meters. It will be a luxury hotel, a mall, fine dining, cafes, movie theaters, bowling alleys, a theme park, and have a huge court yard with a large theater to accommodate activates in Sallala, Oman.  In this case we are targeting multiple clients because it will serve the tourism sector.  In Egypt, one of residential projects will be targeting those individuals seeking a new residence.  In each case there is a certain client, with a certain vision, and a certain budget in that region. 

Where do most of your clients come from?

We have a very international client base.  There is no specific area that we draw our clients from.

Are your corporate communications centralized?

We have tried to centralize our marketing for several projects but this has been difficult.  Before the crisis we used to look for the right clients for our projects but currently this is very difficult so we have changed our communication strategy by finding the right project for our clients. 

How did these changes affect your operation?

There is a little improvement and confidence returning to the market.  Enhancing BOT will give indication that there will be a further return of confidence in the market.

If you are internationally based you cannot be affected wholly by the rules of Kuwait.  How does that changed your strategy?

Like I mentioned, our strategy is to expand regionally and internationally.  So far the only areas that United Real Estate has an investment in are Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, and Oman.

How do you see the company developing in the near future?

I think that if we stick to our strategy and our vision for expansion I see United Real Estate Company becoming not only a major player in the Kuwaiti real estate market, but also as a major leader in the MENA region.