Ashraf AboArafe
The Future of Real Estate Forum 2024 concluded its work yesterday, with the signing of more than 50 agreements and memorandums of understanding, with a total value exceeding 100 billion riyals, over a period of 3 days, during which the focus was on new innovations in the real estate industry, the most prominent challenges, new opportunities and emerging trends in the sector, in addition to discussing Sustainable financing solutions, the impact of natural factors on the real estate industry, and its role in improving the quality of business, as well as providing advisory and administrative services in enriching sessions and valuable dialogues, under the slogan “The Power of Resilience… Sustainable and Prosperous Real Estate Building.”
About 300 speakers from 85 countries participated in the forum, representing the government and private sectors, along with an elite group of economists, investors, decision makers and experts in the real estate sector system, at the local and international levels. It was represented by more than 30 dialogue sessions and 25 workshops, which discussed a group of important strategic topics, It included an accompanying real estate exhibition to enrich real estate content, in which a number of major companies, local and international entities, and major investors contributing to the real estate system around the world participated. The exhibition pavilions showcased the latest developments in real estate technologies, advanced real estate products, and financing solutions.
During the forum, His Excellency the Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing, Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, confirmed that the real estate sector receives all the attention of the wise leadership – may God support it – because of its direct impact on human life, the stability of families, and the provision of a decent life that meets aspirations and improves the quality of life. In addition to its pivotal role in the national economy, he explained that the contribution of real estate activities to the non-oil GDP is 12.2%, while the contribution of the construction sector reached 11.3% until the third quarter of 2023. The sector is also linked to more than 120 economic industries, which confirms its importance and vitality.
His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, Emir of the Asir region, explained that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, led by His Highness the Crown Prince – may God protect him – seeks the necessity of finding alternatives and comparative advantages available in all regions of the Kingdom to diversify sources of income, indicating that determining the comparative advantages in each region and transforming it into competitive advantages that contributed to advancing development in each region.
Meanwhile, His Excellency the Minister of Justice, Dr. Walid bin Muhammad Al-Samaani, announced in a dialogue session entitled “Leading the Transformation in Decision-Making” that the Ministry has begun implementing the real estate identity, which ensures no duplication or overlap in the instruments, and the unified electronic platform for dividing the estate to speed up the division process and facilitate Procedures, from the death of the inheritor until the heirs receive their rights, stressing the continuation of the development of trading platforms through the real estate stock exchange, during the current year 2024, and the partnership with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing in many products.
His Excellency the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, pointed out that the Kingdom’s expansion in implementing major projects aims to develop the tourism sector and attract investments, in addition to competing for the 1.7 billion tourists in the world searching for things that are all present in the Kingdom, indicating that the Kingdom aspires Through major projects to reach 150 million visitors by 2030, the tourism sector aims to contribute to achieving 750 billion riyals in the national economy.
In its third edition, the Real Estate Future Forum addressed a number of issues of utmost importance related to the real estate system, including: urging and discussing global best practices and the latest technologies and ways to activate them, and contributing to promoting sustainable development towards a more developed and brighter future, in addition to discussing sustainable financing solutions, and the impact of factors. Natural impact on the real estate industry, and its role in improving the quality of business.
The forum also discussed, through its extensive discussions and sessions with the participation of specialized experts from inside and outside the Kingdom; The impact of the agencies’ strategy on the growth and sustainability of the real estate sector, leading the transformation of the real estate industry, the impact of technology on the future of real estate, technical developments and their impact on architectural creativity in cities, and enhancing urban flexibility. He also discussed the role of real estate in improving the quality of business, the hidden wealth of cities, technical services in real estate, and the future of real estate. Business, how to adapt and innovate, and its role in accelerating the growth of the real estate sector.
