RIYADH, 8 February — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary general of the Supreme Tourism Authority and the president of the Urban Sciences Society, opened here the first real estate stock exchange in the Middle East on Wednesday.
In his speech in the inaugural function of the stock market at the Prince Salman Social Center, Prince Salman stressed the importance of the real estate sector which plays a major role in the development of the national economy. "The sector should be developed as it deserves support," the prince said.
The prince, who expected a surge in the real estate market, emphasized the close link between the tourism industry and the real estate market. He hoped that the stock-market project will offer better investment opportunities in both the sectors.
The new project will organize all the data on the Kingdom’s real estate markets, which will be supplied to the clients for a nominal fees on a daily basis.
The prince also thanked the Real Estate Services company for its generous support for the Disabled Children’s Society and urged other real estate companies to donate a part of their profits to charity.
Speaking on the occasion, Salman Abdullah Saeedan, director general of the Real Estate Services company, said the new stock market project aims at coordinating and systematizing the activities of the larger and smaller firms operating in the sector. He added that he expects that their business will grow by 30 percent when the computer network connecting the real estate firms will be completed.
The stock exchange project will also equip the sector to tackle future challenges such as the housing problem of a rapidly growing population in the Kingdom. At the annual growth rate of eight percent the population of Riyadh is projected to cross 10 million in 17 years requiring at the least 1.5 million housing units.
Saad Al-Rasees, chairman of the real estate committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who also spoke on the occasion, pointed out that the real estate sector is one of most important investment areas internationally because of the steady and safe income with comparatively lesser risk for the investments.
