Electricity sector requires $1bn investments annually

The experts discussed the latest trends and developments in the real estate industry, with the aim of uncovering ways to enhance the concept of sustainable development at a time when the property market is maturing.

The objective of the debate is to help the industry to arrive at a unified agenda that will help it achieve the objective of environmentally sustainable development.

Speaking of the occasion, Dr Mohammed Dulaimi, Awareness Programmes Coordinator, said, 'Modern real estate development has seen enormous growth for purely economic reasons, in many cases ignoring environmental and life cycle issues. This may jeopardize the positive aspects of the current real estate boom. Global warming could lead to a 20% decline in the world's economic growth rate over the coming years, according to environmental reports.'

Mr. Montaser Zamzam, Award Judging Panel Coordinator said, 'The emergence of Sustainable Development as a superior goal at the top of the government agendas for many countries has created an urgency for the industry to develop and adopt a new mindset, along with tools and practices that cater to the requirements of the real estate boom, while simultaneously maintaining a clean environment, for the welfare of the entire community.

The UAE has a leading role to play in supporting global initiatives in this regard, through the development of strategies for obtaining alternative energy sources, implementing green building projects and encouraging sustainable development and a series of initiatives to maintain the environment and combating the greenhouse gas emissions that result in global warming.'

Attendees of the forum called for the organization of more events of this nature, in order to facilitate the exchange of opinions and views among corporations and individuals.

Other voices were raised in support of continuous communication between government parties and the construction industry to maintain the positive aspects of the current real estate boom.

A recent report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry indicated that the electricity sector in Dubai will require around $1bn worth of investments annually over the next six to eight years in order for it to meet the growing demand, with the emirate of Dubai alone requiring an increase of its power generation capacity to 9.5 GigaWatts by the year 2010.