Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar launches real estate educational institute

Emaar Properties founder and chairman Mohamed Alabbar has launched a not-for-profit real estate educational institute.

The institute will aim to develop a talent pool of senior managers and professionals, which will help to expand the real estate sector in the United Arab Emirates. Alabbar, an experienced real estate professional, will also provide comprehensive training to those enrolled.

In addition, the institute will host visiting professors from renowned universities and successful real estate experts from around the world.

However, it remained unclear as to whether the institute would be backed by the Dubai developer Emaar, which Alabbar currently heads.

“Over the last two decades, the UAE’s property market has developed an international reputation for investment opportunities with the sector now accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP,” said Alabbar.

“This institute is a token of my gratitude and appreciation to the UAE and its leadership for ensuring a remarkable growth environment that promotes private sector enterprise.”

He added that the institute would prepare the next generation of professionals, who would be instrumental in developing the UAE’s real estate sector.

“It is important to prepare them for the new era of growth in the UAE, in which the property sector will have a central role in driving all-round infrastructure growth,” said Alabbar.

“By sharing our skills, experience and know-how, we want to prepare and enable professionals to execute to global standards that will add to the nation’s civic pride.”

The institute will target all real estate professionals from across the region including those who work in property development companies and financial entities.

It will also focus on training entrepreneurs as well as professionals from regulatory and governmental entities active in real estate and infrastructure development.

In the first phase, the institute is to offer short-term training courses covering a wide range of real estate development practices including sectors such as residential and commercial real estate, the retail sector and hospitality.

The curriculum at the institute will include courses on design, masterplan development, assessing the financial viability of the projects, marketing and customer relations management.

Dubai’s property sector, which experienced a severe downturn in 2009, had been widely criticised in the past over the lack of regulations to protect against harmful practices like the flipping of properties.

But the government introduced a number of measures to help regulate the market following the crisis in order to reduce speculation.

However, a return in speculative activity in 2013 – after property prices surged by 30 per cent – had caused further concern that another bubble might be developing.