Anees Ahmed Moumina, CEO of SEDCO Holding talks about the real estate sector in Saudi Arabia.

He says, "This question comes at a very apt time for the real estate sector. Some tariffs are levied on white lands. At SEDCO, we look at this as something positive to the economy and to us as a group. The tariffs on white lands have been levied, but the technicalities will be introduced later. It has to be within the city limits. From the point of view of the economy, this helps to put a cap on the continuous inflation in the raw land prices, but it also helps developers to come in and help develop more housing, and low-income and middle-income projects. We look at this challenge as something positive.

With reference to your question, if you look at the industry and the real estate market right now, one of the problems is the limited number of developers in the market – quality developers are even more limited. Another problem is that the cost of raw materials is escalating. Previously, it cost just as much as the land, now the new regulations coming in would help. We, at SEDCO Group, along with our various operating companies, are looking into carrying out more developments. One of the companies we own is the Ewaan Global, which is in the development business."

Interview: http://www.marcopolis.net/sedco-increasing-investments-in-saudi-arabia.htm?highlight=WyJzZWRjbyIsInNlZGNvJ3MiXQ==