Market Background

Middle East - Right time and right place to be!

The Population of the ME region is 190 Million rising at 2.6 % per annum, which is one of the fastest growing population in the world. It is almost 25 times of the European Union and 3 times of the U.S . There are 4.8 Million babies born each year in the region. 22 % of the total population are below 10 years of age and & 11 % are below 5 years. In short Nursery industry is booming.

Why the U.A.E.?

The UAE is a time zone bridge between the Far East and Europe on the East-West axis and the CIS and Africa on the north-south axis. It has long been recognized as the MENA region’s leading trading hub and has emerged as the third most active re-export centre in the world, after Singapore and Hong Kong. The majority of the imported good are redistributed mainly to other GCC countries, Africa and the Indian sub-continent served by over 120 shipping lines and linked via 85 airlines to over 130 global destinations.

There is no place where retail is proliferating at a higher rate than in the UAE, and specifically in Dubai. It has the greatest mass of retail space in the whole of the territory with some 1.3 million square metres of gross leasable area already finished and more underway.

Despite having a smaller population compared to Saudi Arabia, the UAE is expected to better its retail spending compared to its largest neighbour, due to its status as a strong tourism, transportation, logistics and trading centre. Dubai's retail spending is estimated cross Dh27.89 billion (US$7.6 billion) by the end of 2009.