Dubai to impose Real Estate Taxes? September 3, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis.Tags: Decline, Dubai, Real Estate, Tax
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Rumors in the market that Dubai was to impose taxes on real estate have been quickly hampered when Sultan al-Merri, Director of the land and property department, denied such reports without further commenting on the issue. Rumors surfaced earlier this year that the Dubai government would impose a taxation system on real estate transactions or attempt to atleast ‘profit’ from such deals.
As noted earlier I predict that real estate prices will come down in the near future, to click here to read the article.
Dubai property prices to decline August 31, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis.Tags: Apartment, Bonyan International Investment Group, Dubai, House, Property Prices, Real Estate, speculation, uae
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According to Bonyan International Investment Group the UAE mortgage market will tripple in the next 3 years to 64 billion dirhams, (KD 4.656 billion). Although I believe that Dubai’s residential property prices are expected to decrease about 10% within one year due to the over supply of newly constructed residential areas and the expectation that supply will increase while demand decreases in the coming years. In a move to discourage speculation, off-plan property sales must be registered with the land department and the developers will no longer be allowed to charge transfer fees. UAE’s housing rent jumped a staggering 18.8% in 2007.
Cheering rain in zel am see August 27, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis.Tags: Arabs, Austria, Dubai, kuwait, Leo Bauernberger, Salzburg, saudi arabia, Tourism, uae, Zel Am See
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A small tucked away Austrian town in Salburg by the name of Zel Am See is home to approximatley 10,000 inhabitants. The small town has apparently emerged as Austrias second hottest spot for Arab tourists behind Vienna. Locals are amused by the behaviour of their Arab guests.
“When it starts raining, they run outside and cheer…”
-Leo Bauernberger, managing director of the local tourism authority
Atleast 1/3 of the 73,000 Arab tourists travelling to Austria per year visit Zel Am See. The visitors are mostly from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, & United Arab Emirates. During the high season Arabian guests account for atleast 15% of the tourism, to the extent that several restaurants now offer halal food and the tourist information office recently hired 2 Arabic speaking staff.
“There must be some word-of-mouth recommendation in Arab countries that says one has to visit Zell am See at least once in a lifetime”
- Hans Wallner, Zel Am See hospitality Manager
DW increasing stake in Mirage August 24, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis.Tags: Dubai, Dubai World, investment, MGM Grand, Sovereign wealth fund, uae
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New Jersey regulators have given the state owned investment group, Dubai World, approval to increase its stake in MGM Mirage by as much as 20%. MGM Mirage is one of the largest, most popular casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I’m surprised at the freedom allocated to UAE sovereign funds since no other Gulf country may publicly invest in the ’forbidden’ industries. Dubai World is already the second largest shareholder in the entertainment firm.
In more recent news according to an IMF working paper, the UAE’s oil reserves could last 100 years at present output levels and fetch the country net wealth of $1.6 trillion.
A List of Major Gulf Projects June 5, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis, bahrain, qatar, saudi arabia.Tags: Abu Dhabi, Al-Uqair Tourism Development Project, Aldar - Yas Island Project, construction, Culture Village Project, Dubai, Duqm New Town Project, Forecast, King Abdullah Financial District Project, kuwait, Masdar City Project, Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens Project, oman, Outlook, Projects, Sama Dubai-The Lagoons Project, saudi arabia, Tatweer Badawi Project, uae, United Arab Emirates
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Here is a list of major projects currently underway in the Gulf:
Kuwait
Silk City Project, Value $77 billion
Planned completion: Q4 2030
Current stage: Planning
100% Tax on Luxury Goods June 4, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis.Tags: analysis, bahrain, Doha, Dubai, gcc, Gulf Cooperation Council, kuwait, Markets, oman, qatar, saudi arabia, Tax, taxation, uae, Value added tax, VAT
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is planning to introduce up to 100% tax on ‘harmful products’ & luxury goods likely to include cigarettes, luxury cars, private planes, & yachts, among others. A team has been commissioned to list items that could be liable to the new tax from 2012. The GCC team looking into the proposed taxes would next meet in October. The GCC has already set 2012 as the deadline for implementing a new value added tax system.
Each of the Gulf countries suffers from lack of productivity and sophisticated staff, including a very bureaucratic environment in the public sector. The GCC is just that multiplied by 6, therefore I doubt any decision will be made anytime in the next 20 years regarding taxation (if anything useful).
Some notes to consider:
The rich - are the powerful - therefore taxing their latest toys will not make them very happy buying in their own countries and will therefore register items across borders. A good example would be to buy the yacht and register it in Yemen, for instance, and then take it to Dubai marina. This is a simple way to avoid taxes. This will move the companies to areas where the wealthy will pay a more reasonable rate than the 100%.
There will be an increase of ‘wastas’ (quanxi) at the ports and customs to avoid paying the tax. We are already bombarded by having to payoff officials to get the latest DVD, book or game in to the country just imagine bribing one of them to bring in a Ferrari, this will take things to a new extreme.
The Governments DO NOT need any extra income. The future plans and growth in Dubai, Bahrain, and Qatar all involve a marketing plan that clearly states ‘a tax free’ incentive for company’s & employees to relocate. Although everyone knows the slow pace of government policies any threats such as this will deter future companys/individuals from relocating.
Telecom Aquisitions coming soon… May 20, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis, rumors.Tags: Aquisition, Dubai, kuwait, Merger, NMTC, Q-Tel, qatar, Qatar telecom, Rumor, telecom, Wataniya, Zain
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Following Qtel’s aquisition of Wataniya Telecom aquisitions in emerging markets are extremely tough to predict in light of high valuations and tighter scopes for savings costs, although German telecom giant T-Mobile said it would not rule them out.
“Today, emerging markets seem to be hot, everybody wants to get into emerging markets… But ultimately you will have to pay a premium…nobody is going to hand over control of the business without an additional premium”
- Hamid Akhavan
Any indication of an M&A would surely send the stock markets surging skyward. The companies in the Gulf worth mentioning would be Zain & Q-Tel although both are massive and over priced, but are most advanced in terms of structure and expansion. A surprise aquisition of Zain or Wataniya would surely revolutionize the telecom industry in the middle east. A premium needed to be justified by cost savings, which were sometimes hard in emerging markets. Inorder to compete in the telecom industry companies are forced to comply with forceful takeovers and massive mergers to avoid losing their businesses.
Gulf bourses gain $60 bln in April April 27, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis, bahrain, saudi arabia.Tags: Dubai, kuwait, Market Cap, Money, oman, qatar, Stocks
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Gulf bourses shrugged off global market turmoil and surged ahead by more than $60 billion in April despite fluctuations in the previous month. The figures show that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar were by far the best performers. Starting at $1 trillion during the first of April, the market caps in the GCC grew to $1.126 trillion by todays (Sunday’s) opening.
“This year is expected to be a good one based on the market and economic fundamentals. But you have to expect instability from time to time because of speculation in some markets, mainly in Saudi Arabia and UAE bourse.”
- In a report by the AMF
Here is a detailed list of the exchanges increases (by region):
- Dubai’s International Financial Exchange (DIFX) – $8 billion
- Qatar’s Doha Securities Market – $19.8 billion
- Kuwait Stock Exchange – $1.2 billion
- Oman Stock Exchange- $2 billion
- Bahrain Stock Exchange- $1.5 billion
“All GCC markets have emerged as gainers so far this year and this shows their exposure to overseas markets is minimal… Another reason is that many foreigners are scared of volatile global markets and are finding a safe haven in this region… Since most of the listed companies are expected to make higher profits this year, the investors’ gains will be more”
- Ziad Dabbas, National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
Gulf currencies collapse 40% April 8, 2008
Posted by mylastresort in analysis, bahrain, qatar, rumors, saudi arabia.Tags: AED, bahrain, BHD, Central Banks, Currencies, Dirham, Dollar, Dubai, gcc, Gulf, kuwait, KWD, oman, OMR, qatar, Revaluation, saudi arabia, Saudi Riyal, US
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Many have called for a revaluation of Gulf currencies from the historical dollar peg. The flood of liquidity and rapid inflation has been hailed as a warning to the falling interest rates, decline of the US Dollar, and record high oil. The loss in value of the Gulf currencies has been partially responsible in the rise of inflation. The inflationary pressures, which should govern an increase in rates by the central banks, have created markets so liquid that deposits are being quoted at negative rates. The list below shows the Gulf currencies depreciation, in value, due to the Dollars decline.
