DUBAI, 20 March 2007 — The two-day Middle East Council of Shopping Centers (MECSC) convention started at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center yesterday, attracting over 300 delegates from around the world, along with more than 40 exhibitors from the region and beyond.
“In terms of retail, there is no more exciting place on this planet,” James Bellini, a journalist and futurist, said while talking on “Middle East Shopping Centers Come of Age”.
“Optimistic projections of the region’s retail real estate industry are more than valid”, Majid Saif Al-Ghurair, MECSC chairman and president of Burjuman, said during his welcome speech. The region’s shopping centers have become “case studies, both in terms of design and the services on offer,” he said.
Michael Kercheval, president of the International Council of Shopping Centers, said that the industry will undergo dramatic changes over the coming years.
Having entered into a phase of “globalization and diversification,” Kercheval said, shopping centers are being built without regard to borders, and are increasingly driving broad economic growth.
“Shopping centrers are key to the fiscal well-being of communities and nations,” he said. “They are the catalyst for true progress in our communities.”
Butti Al-Ghandi, second vice chairman of Dubai World Trade Center’s board of directors, opened the convention.
