Dheeraj & East Coast targets enhanced participation of up to 20 percent from Chinese private investors in its UAE projects

The company, which is among the 10 biggest real estate developers in the UAE, will showcase its high-profile projects spread across Dubai, in a bid to attract big Chinese investors.

In his comments on the company's new strategy, Mr Dheeraj Wadhawan, Managing Director of DEC, said: "With MIPIM Asia 2007, we hope to make inroads and convert the excess liquidity in the Chinese market into investment opportunities by increasing awareness about our existing projects in Dubai and the attractive investment returns that they offer. The timing of the initiative is appropriate because business relations between the UAE and China are strong and this is reflected in the Sino-Dubai trade which has soared to a phenomenal $11.5bn.

"Chinese investors are very much aware of the booming real estate market in the UAE. Dubai in particular is atttracting a lot of investor interest. At present the Chinese private investor participation in our projects stands at 8 percent. There is a huge potential of further increasing this particaption, over the next year we are looking to raise the Chinese investment in our projects to at least 20 percent. In contract to the current position wherein all the Chinese investment in our projects is flowing through agents, participation in MIPIM will help us to tap the investments directly by opening up communication with big private investors directly. Additionally, we also intend to broaden our agent base in Chinese real estate market."

Dheeraj & East Coast L.L.C is a joint venture between India's Dheeraj Group and the UAE's East Coast Group. The company is well-established in Dubai's booming real estate sector with investments in its 18 projects running into $1.6bn. The company's projects in the Middle East cover an area of over 6.5 million square feet and in Dubai's Business Bay alone it has projects worth over Dhs1bn, which include three freehold commercial projects providing office space with cutting-edge amenities.

Prominent among the company's projects in the prestigious Dubai Marina are DEC's flagship venture - DEC Towers, which has an investment of over 300 million and Marina Wharf I and II. While DEC Towers is a semi-mixed-use real estate project, Marina Wharf features residential living and includes themed restaurants, boutiques and even a bowling alley.

In addition to its splendid achievements in the real estate development sector, the company has diversified into Dubai's lucrative freehold retail space segment, selling 90 per cent of its Dhs500m worth retail freehold retail space spread across 18 developments, in record time. DEC has also entered UAE's booming hospitality sector with the launch of two projects worth Dhs525m in the Dubai Marina that include an exclusive hotel apartment tower and twin serviced apartment towers.

As part of its expansion plans, the company recently announced plans to enter India's booming real estate market with projects in the cities of Bangalore and Pune in the first quarter of 2008. Details of these projects, for which feasibility studies have been undertaken, are to be announced later this year.