Qatar Real Estate Forum’s inaugural edition begins in Doha

Image: Twitter/GCOQatar

The first edition of the Qatar Real Estate Forum, organised by the Ministry of Municipality began on June 4 at the Sheraton Grand Doha Hotel, Doha.

The forum was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. The keynote address was given by Qatar’s Minister of Municipality, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie. In his address, he highlighted the critical role that the country’s real estate sector has to play in the country’s growth story.

معالي رئيس مجلس الوزراء وزير الخارجية يفتتح أعمال النسخة الأولى من منتدى #قطر العقاري 2023#قنا #اقتصادhttps://t.co/MyBWJcfHXC pic.twitter.com/jnU6gdaISO

— وكالة الأنباء القطرية (@QatarNewsAgency) June 4, 2023

The two-day forum brought together the real estate supply chain operating in the country under one roof. Qatar’s government institutions and investment companies, banks, construction and master developers, property managers, and proptech companies are being represented at the event.

HE the Minister of Municipality reaffirmed #Qatar‘s desire to achieve urban development in a balanced and integrated manner, to create a prosperous climate for the real estate investment sector and to encourage Qatari nationals to participate.#Qatar_REF pic.twitter.com/cGUykrBRVF

— مكتب الاتصال الحكومي (@GCOQatar) June 4, 2023

Qatar’s real estate industry

The forum’s larger objective is to foment conversation as well as breakdown silos of information through the theme “Regulations and Legislations for an Optimal Quality of Life and a Sustainable Real Estate Industry”. The forum, through various panel discussions hopes to shed light on regulations and legislation, and their role in achieving a sustainable real estate industry.

The launch of the forum comes in the backdrop of the recent establishment of the Public Authority for Regulating the Real Estate Sector. The announcement was made in April 2023 with the regulator expected to put in place new policies aimed at developing the sector and ensuring transparency in real estate dealings.

The first day of the forum looked at — Future trends of real estate, Governance of real estate sector, The digital innovation for sustainable real estate industry, Qatari real estate investment (stages, challenges and solutions).

الجلسة الثانية في اليوم الأول من #منتدى_قطر_العقاري 2023: “استشراف مستقبل القطاع العقاري”.https://t.co/23vHzQ7hqG

The 2nd session of the #Qatar_REF
Future directions in the real estate sectorhttps://t.co/ufwZ3S7g5x pic.twitter.com/qGa03jIMOc

— وزارة البلدية | Ministry Of Municipality (@albaladiya) June 5, 2023

The speaker lineup included Hamad Ali Sulaiman Al Nazwani, undersecretary of Oman’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning; Abdullah Saud Al-Hammad, ceo of the Real Estate General Authority, Saudi Arabia, Marwan bin Ghalita, ceo of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, Dubai Land Department, Essam Abdullah Khalaf, chairman of the board of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Bahrain.

Qatar has witnessed a real estate construction boom as it hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup last year. A session titled “The real estate sector post hosting the World Cup” will introspect on the sporting event’s larger impact on the country on June 5. The forum hopes to ride on the momentum of the growing built industry which currently comprises a significant percentage of the country’s GDP.