Asia Pacific's largest real estate conference highlights Abu Dhabi's investment potential

The two-day networking conference brought together high net worth investors, developers, promoters and various other players from the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe and the United States to discuss investment opportunities in the property sector. These include the hospitality, office, residential, commercial, industrial segments as well as real estate investment trusts and real estate private equity.

The keynote speaker for the event was one of the Middle East's most distinguished real estate developers, Ahmad Al Sayegh, Chairman of Abu Dhabi-based ALDAR Properties.

Mr Al Sayegh showcased the dynamic real estate market of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates, pointing out that the UAE's developments, valued at $230 billion, account for one-third of the entire Middle East's real estate projects.

He urged Asian investors to consider Abu Dhabi as an investment destination in the property asset class, pointing to signs of strong demand and tight supply in all four key segments: residential, office, commercial and hospitality.

Economic (for example, Abu Dhabi generates 70 per cent of the UAE's entire wealth and over 60 per cent of the UAE's Gross Domestic Product) and demographic (a population that has increased by 75 per cent in the last decade) factors, together with concerted government initiatives, are also expected to provide a sustained boost to Abu Dhabi's real estate sector.

"The discussions at the Citi Asia Pacific Property Conference were aimed at drawing attention to the depth and diversity of the real estate markets in the some of the world's fastest growing economies,"

said Mr Akbar Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Global Wealth Management Middle East.

"We have brought together some of the best researchers and most prominent players in the real estate sector in a unique forum, not only to provide ideas, but also to help our clients to build networks, joint ventures and other forms of business partnerships in the real estate sector," added Mr Shah.

"In recent years, Citi Private Bank has been especially prolific in expanding our real estate capabilities. We have been studying this asset class closely in how it complements our clients' wealth portfolios before creating the capabilities and investment opportunities for our clients."

The participants of the included 150 ultra high net worth clients of Citi Private Bank - the largest gathering of high net worth clients for a regional conference on the real estate sector.