Many more Pakistani expatriates are planning to return to Pakistan in light of the latest series of recession related problems in the UAE and the rest of the world.Dubai is now follwoing the lead set by the western economies by making large scale redundancies, particularly in it’s real estate and financial sectors and developers are laying off staff and delaying their development projects.

Nakheel has made 500 of its staff redundant as it delays work on major projects including the Trump International Tower and Hotel on Palm Jumeirah, Waterfront, Palm Jebel Ali and The Universe, the company said yesterday.

The decision is another sign of the global economic slowdown affecting the property sector. Banks have tightened lending, prices have dropped and sales have slowed, forcing developers to review their expansion plans.

Damac Properties, the emirate’s largest private developer, laid off 200 of its 8,000-strong workforce, while 180 out of 350 staff at Tameer Holding, another Dubai developer, were told they would lose their jobs by the end of this month.

Omniyat Properties also confirmed 69 redundancies from its workforce of 350.

“It’s not unusual for companies to downsize during a recession,” said Peter Walichnowski, the chief executive of Omniyat Properties.

“Companies in Dubai are culling people left, right and centre,” he said. “It’s now a case of people not knowing each day whether they’re going to have a job or not.”

“It will be a lot harder for families, but people can’t afford to be fussy and they will also need to be more flexible and accept pay cuts.”

“It will be a difficult 12 months ahead,” he said.

Following on from economic problems in the western world, the UAE appears to be suffering from poor planning and over zealous development policies.

Thousands of buildings are being constructed in the United Arab Emriates during the current development boom but they have neglected one serious development issue - ELECTRICITY !! Many brand new buildings that have already been completed, stand in darkness while the owners of the apartments in these buildings stand frustrated. Many moved in furniture and belongings expecting the electricity to be connected with a few days but theey are still waiting months later and it seems that the problem will not go away until 2012 at the earliest.

in Umm al Qaiwain, a Dh30-billion project by the Dubai-based developer Tameer, Al Salam City, was put on hold in May due to the shortage of electricity and water. The delay in such a high-profile project, which was believed to have been 70 per cent sold, was a major blow to the emirate.

Safeer Mall, in RAK, which was completed in June, and has the largest hypermarket in the region, remains empty due to the electricity crisis. A spokesman for the mall said they have lost all hope of solving the problem and businesses are starting to withdraw stock.

In RAK alone, 3,532 building permits have been issued. But up to 2,145 buildings in the emirate are still waiting to be connected with electricity, according to the municipality.

In entire districts of Ajman, brand new high-rise towers, finished to perfection, have stood empty for months. At night, occasional lighting powered by generators highlights the idle buildings.

Developers, unable to persuade the federal or municipal authorities to switch the power on, are watching investments running into millions of dirhams show no sign of producing the expected return.

Ajman has signed a $2bn agreement with the Malaysian power producer MMC to build the Gulf’s first coal-powered electricity plant. The project will not be ready until 2012.
It is unlikely that the energy crisis will be resolved before 2013.

Mr Shaban spent millions on setting up business in the Emirate and is now facing ruin and haveing to return to Egypt with nothing and says others are in comparable predicaments. “Many people bought a flat here. They may have bought it for Dh900,000 and now they have had to sell it for Dh500,000.”

Without power, he says, there can be “no life, no development … you are nothing”.
“You can expect this to happen in other countries, but not the UAE,” he added. “How will the development of the city be achieved if all the business people leave? People are already saying there is no power in Ajman, so why are they still giving approval for the buildings?”

Many Pakistanis who invested in the property markets of Dubai, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah are now dumping their properties at below their purchase prices and are trying to take out whatever they can of their investments. Islamabad is experiencing a resurgence in real estate investment as much of this money s being repatriated to the safety of the federal capital of Pakistan.

Have you bought property in the UAE? Have you been made aware of this situation? Wat are your thoughts on this?

If it’s not Pakistans fault, it’s still the fault of Pakistan !”

With the recent attacks on the two hotels in India by the Deccan Mujahideen, tensions have increased between India and Pakistan. As is always the case when something happens in India, the indian media and some politicians are casting around to try and assign blame to Pakistan. Although the terrorist were Indians and the group appears to be a splinter cell of the Indian Mujahideen, India is trying to apportion blame onto Pakistan. The demands of the terrorists were to have certain indian prisoners captured in india for apparently terrorist related charges released from Indian jails…and yet India is still striving to connect Pakistan with the issue.

As in the past, it seems that whenever anything like this happens, fingers begin to point towards Pakistan, perhaps because it is a soft target or perhaps because it is politically convenient to blame a common enemy instead of taking responsibility for their own failings. Indian politicians have done little to ease their own internal tensions between the various faiths that co-exist in India and have been busy with other things that they deem more important. The resulting violence and rising militancy in certain groups - both Hindu and Muslim - has been ignored so it is little wonder that when thngs get out of hand as they did recently, the politicians find it easier to blame Pakistan rather than to have their policies and actions scrutinised.

It has been widely reported that they captured one of these militants alive so there is hope that they will get to the bottom of this but it is important to allow international access to this prisoner so that the full story can be heard which will undoubtedly prove that Pakistan had ZERO involvement.

However, as recently reported, anytime something happens, it is immediately reported that

“Pakistan was involved and if they weren’t then Pakistanis were involved and if they weren’t then the perpetrators live in remote villages in Pakistan and if they don’t then they were trained in Pakistan and if they weren’t then they have some link to Pakistan and if they don’t even have anything to do with Pakistan then Pakistan should still have done more to stop them and by not doing something it is Pakistans fault.”

Let’s hope that this pathetic form of Politics in India comes to an end soon and they actually try to take on the responsibility that democracy brings and also lets hope that Indians realise that the so called “enemies” of Pakistan who are currently parading as the friends of India, are nobodies friends and will use anyone and everyone to achieve their goals which has to be total world domination and control of all resources. Once they have used a particular country for their own ends, they soon turn on them and treat them like colonial slaves because they have capitulated in the past and MUST do so again.

Indians are a strong people - they should stand up and be counted and work to build the stability in this region so that they can achieve their aims to be an economic powerhouse instead of allowing the same old divide and rule policy to keep them busy whilst their country gets torn to pieces by their “friends”.

October 2008
We seem to be in a holding pattern right now in Pakistan. Not a lot is happening on the political front. Electricity load shedding has decreased drastically bringing some relief to businesses and consumers.  Clocks have been resynchronized with the world time zone once again from the end of October. The weather is cooler and Air Conditioners and Fans are no longer being used in Islamabad.

The Property Market is moderately buoyant with lower priced property being bought and sold. New property developments in the main sectors of Islamabad are still selling well. There has been an increase in the number of enquiries for land. It seems that during times of financial crisis, people still recognise that land IS the safest form of investment.

The Global Credit Crisis is in full swing and warnings are being issued daily all over the world about the economic meltdown. Scenes of the depression in the early 1900s are being replayed by many.
DUBAI and the Middle East

I’ve had calls from friends in Dubai who have been working in the real estate sector  for the past few years and they are telling me that no-one is buying property in Dubai anymore. One of the larger companies with 30+ agents sold a TOTAL of 4 properties last month compared to 8-10 PER AGENT in previous months!!! Expect many of the real estate companies in Dubai to run away as the market crashes. Anyone who has invested in Dubai property and still hopes to make money from it in the short term is way out of luck.

I get many emails every day from desperate sellers in Dubai who are now willing to dump their property on ANY willing buyer even if that means taking a bit of a loss.

There is also an apparent EXODUS of people from Dubai who feel that Dubai no longer offers the lucrative returns that it did in previous years and this is exacerbated by the various changes to the VISA regulations, labour laws, rent caps etc. that the government has been putting into place.

Many EMAAR buyers are apparently defaulting on their installments, preferring to lose the 5% deposit they have already paid rather than risk paying for a hugely ove rpriced property, just before a crash.

Some of the larger property developers are facing rumours that they are in financial difficulties. Thousands of properties are on the market for resale at very low premiums, zero profit or even at a loss on the purchase price. The authorities in the UAE have been making changes to the visa regulations and real estate laws and many of these are having a detrimental effect on the market there. Abu Dhabi, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah seem to be facing similar difficulties in their real-estate sector.
UK, Europe and the USA

Property is also taking a hammering in the UK as people are facing major financial difficulties. Credit is now harder to come by and many people have lost 40% or more on their investments in the stock markets and currency markets. A friend of mine recently made an offer for two properties at over £40,000 BELOW the asking price and his offers were IMMEDIATELY accepted.

Friends from the USA are reporting that property is on the market at SILLY MONEY…apparently there’s a rundown house in a bad neighbourhood up for grabs at $50 !!! Entire streets and small towns are sitting empty like ghost towns and the ongoing forest fires and storms aren’t helping matters much.

Iceland has recently had a complete failure of their banking system wiping out their status in the world and have had to take a loan from the IMF. Demonstrations and riots are being reported there and Airlines have stopped accepting debit and credit cards from Icelandic banks.

Currency Markets

The currency markets are reacting violently on a daily basis and HUGE swings are being seen in major world currencies on a daily basis. The UK Pound Sterling has dropped from close to 2 US Dollars per GBP to around 1.5 US Dollars per GBP (almost 25% in a few days !!). The Rupee seems to have dropped as far as it was going to for the short term and has remained largely flat for a couple of weeks at around 82 per USD. The Australian Dollar is at 5 year lows and shows no real signs of recovering.
BACK HOME

Back in Pakistan, the political scene is still far from stable with rumours flying around about the current government being in trouble due to their unpopular policies and actions. The economy is still suffering and the current governments requests for monetary assistance seem to be falling far short of the requirements. President Zardari seems to have exhausted all other options and a loan from the IMF appears to be the last resort. Assistance from the IMF will of course carry many conditions which some feel would be disastrous for Pakistans future. The opposition appears to be sitting back and almost “enjoying” the frustrated efforts of the present government - perhaps waiting for it to fall flat before they can step in to “save the day”.

It is notable that President Zardari’s entourage, on his visit to Saudi Arabia didn’t include Nawaz Sharif, who has a long history and close relations with the Saudi Rulers. Ex President Pervez Musharaf has apparently been predicting the failure of the current government within 2 months and there is much re-organisation happening within the various political parties as old faces change alliances and try to position themselves to scrabble back into power in case of an imminent change.
ISLAMABAD

Life in Islamabad, however, is carrying on as usual give or take the odd bomb scare and increased security. Although business is slow in most industries, residents of Islamabad have adopted the “life goes on” mantra and have slowly returned to their usual way of life.

Phantom of the Opera is the talk of the arts crowd in Islamabad and several other plays and events are on the calendar. Wedding season is just around the corner and visitors are still arriving thick and fast to spend Eid in Pakistan and attend a wedding function or two whilst they are here and perhaps to pick up a bargain property. There is some talk of many trying to cut corners on wedding expenses as inflation continues to bite into personal economies but most hotels are already booked to capacity with wedding functions to cater to.

Let’s see what the end of the year will bring ! Hopefully some relief from the current scenario of endless bad news.

Justice Arcade - G10 Islamabad - Commercial Plaza

Justice Arcade is now complete and only a few units remain available in this prestigious development, designed and constructed by the renowned builders of Islamabad - Red Sun Associates.

Conveniently located, just 100 yards from the new law courts and soon the district courts which are currently in sector F8 will move here aswell.

Justice Arcade features an open basement and central corridor allowing easy access to all the shops with stairways at the front and back of the building. Ample parking is available directly in front of the building. The units here have been selling very quickly and only the last few units are remaining to be sold in this building. Studio apartments are also available on the top floor of this building … from 22 lacs

The design is aesthetically awesome and everyone loves the look of this building which has quality fittings and construction to match !

You can buy a shop or an office on any floor of this beautiful building and setup your business tomorrow !

Prices are reasonable and the units will sell quickly so don’t delay.