U.S. Agency for International Development Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counsellor Dr. Maura O'Neill; Qtel Group CEO Dr. Nasser Marafih; Australian Agency for International Development Assistant Director General Jenny Da Rin; and GSMA Development Fund Managing Director Chris Locke today announced the launch of the GSMA mWomen Design Challenge: Redefining the User Experience at this year's Social Good Summit in New York. The GSMA mWomen Design Challenge is seeking to engage the global digital design community for solutions that will make the smartphone user experience more intuitive, particularly for women in developing countries who, because of lack of opportunity, struggle with technical literacy. Mobile phone use in the developing world is exploding, yet women are at risk of being left behind. On average, GSMA research shows women to be 21 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone in low- to middle-income countries. The resulting mobile phone gender gap represents as many as 300 million women in the developing world who do not have access to this potentially life-enhancing tool. AusAID Assistant Director General Jenny Da Rin, in kicking off the challenge, remarked that, "In East Asia and the Pacific, there is a significant gap between women and men's access to mobile phones. A mobile phone could change the life of a woman in a developing country in a quantum leap - immediate contact with a health centre that would otherwise be days of travel away, instant information about food prices and markets, mobile banking - all at the touch of a button." More»

Sharjah rents returned to stable position in the third quarter after witnessing a six per cent decline in the second quarter of the year, Asteco said in its latest report. Last quarter, Sharjah apartment rental rates declined due to stricter accommodation rules introduced by the Sharjah government, according to the property management company. "The new regulations require tenants living in Sharjah to share their accommodation with other members of their immediate family only. This forced many tenants who had previously shared with friends or colleagues, to move to smaller more affordable units, prompting a decline in rental rates, especially for larger apartments," Asteco Property Management chief executive officer Elaine Jones said in a statement. The commuter belt of Al Khan (Mamzar) and Al Nahdah which were the least affected rental markets at the half year, along with the sought after Corniche and Mina Road areas, recorded the highest rentals rates in Sharjah ranging from Dh43,500 to Dh54,000 per annum for three-bedroom units. It was a similar picture for villa rental rates in Sharjah, but it was due to a general lack of availability and many tenants secured on long-term leases. Rental rates for three-bedroom properties in Al Khan (Mamzar), Shargan and Al Quz remained in a range from Dh70,000 to Dh77,500. More»

Salwan LLC, the Dubai-based real estate brokerage service company that specialises in leasing, sales, property management and advisory services, today announced its participation in Cityscape Global 2012. With over 18,000 listed properties within the retail, residential and commercial sectors, Salwan has selected Cityscape Global as the ideal platform to showcase its portfolio to investors and industry stakeholders. With a current client base that includes some of Dubai's most well-known real estate developers, Salwan will be looking to expand its third party business with local and international property developers at Cityscape Global. The company will be exhibiting at its first standalone, 108 sq meter stand, located in hall 8, providing an opportunity to meet and do business with existing and potential stakeholders and customers. "We have seen positive signs within the real estate industry of late. As a result, there is an increased demand for quality leasing and property management from landlords and developers" said Saeed Bushalat, Chief Executive Officer at Salwan. "Cityscape Global provides the ideal opportunity for us to bring our expertise, industry knowledge and marketing capabilities to both existing and new customers." More»

The Ministry of Housing considers launching plots for investors with usufruct for 60 years. The plots will be used in establishing fully developed communities in new cities. Dr. Tarek Wafiq, Minister of Housing and New Urban Communities, stated that the apartments will be offered for rent, given that the largest proportion of the citizens cannot afford making the down payment required for owning an apartment.  He confirmed that the Urban Planning and Development was assigned to preparing the pilot sites, which will include Arabia Mall, Sadat city, and the 10th of Ramadan city. This was stated during the minister's meeting with The United Nations Human Settlements Programme "UN-HABITAT," in which a report was presented on the the social housing project held currently by the Ministry, in addition to suggesting a work plan for developing the housing sector in Egypt. More»

Dr. Tarek Wafiq, Minister of Housing and New Urban Communities emphasized that the Ministry is currently working on redistributing the population, moving them out of the valley, given that the population is concentrated in no more than 6% of Egypt's space. He also pointed out that the Ministry seeks to establish new development centers based on economic and environmental aspects, noting that the next period will witness a boom in development, particularly in the Suez Canal region, the North Coast, in addition to other areas.  This comes in the framework of the national strategic plan. More»

Eng. Hassan Abdel-Aziz, Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors, revealed that the Federation has reached a settlement with a number of governmental bodies regarding amending the price differences in favor of contractors. The governmental bodies highlighted that they were only unable to realize the nature of this file, and that they were not trying to escape the payment. He added that the Federation holds regular meetings with these bodies in order to explain the price differences that emerge as a result of the long-term implementation of projects and the change of building materials' prices during the implementation period. He also noted that Dr.Tarek Wafiq, Minister of Housing will hold a meeting within the next two weeks to prepare the final draft of the contract that will be concluded between the state and contractors in order to present it to the cabinet and then the People's Assembly. More»

Eng. Nafisa Hashim, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Housing, stated that the committee formed for considering the old rent law will hold a meeting this week with land-lords, tenants, and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations. Hashim also emphasized that the committee is expected to finalize drafting solutions within six months starting from the date of its formation. She further added that Dr. Tarek Wafiq, Minister of Housing  and Urban Communities, is deeply concerned with this thorny issue. Whereupon, he formed a higher committee under his chairmanship, including experts in national and regional urban planning, experts in public, legislative, and constitutional laws, social research, the  Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, in addition to some NGOs concerned with housing. The committee will depend on the Ministry's data base that include all  proposals and complaints filed by landlords and tenants as well as what has been published in the newspaper in this regard in order to reach legislative solutions that can create a balanced relationship between parties of a lease contract, taking into consideration the unprivileged. More»

The National Authority for Roads and Bridges has confirmed that the Nasr General Contracting Co. has won a Sudanese tender for establishing two roads in Sudan.In press statements, Eng. Barakat Mohamed Saleh, Manager of the company's branch in Sudan, noted that the first will be the Tokar-Karora route, which links Sudan to Eritrea. He added that the implementation of this route, which will be held  on the borders of the red sea, will take 42 months.The second road, the Simsim - Al Qadarif route, having a length of 145 million km, will act as a linking point between many Sudanese states. It will be built in 36 months. Saleh added that the volume of the company's investments in Sudan has exceeded EGP 1.3 billlion. More»

The administration of the Egyptian Exchange has received a statement from Delta for Construction and Rebuilding Company (DCRC) including the content of a meeting held by the company's board of directors on the 22nd of September 2012, for changing the board's representatives. The board approved activating the decision issued by the Delta Agricultural Development's board after the 21th of July 2012 meeting, in which the board chairman suggested assigning Dr. Mounir Ibrahim Abdel-Magid Saleh Hendy and Eng. Sameh Abdel-Latif  El-Sayed Ahmed, in addition to himself to represent the company in meetings conducted by the board of directors and general assembly of DCRC. More»

Serviced apartments sold by Emaar Properties on Saturday in The Address The BVLD were put up for sale in the secondary market on the same day with a brokerage firm seeking a premium ranging between 12 and 20 per cent. Adverts posted on a local website by a real estate agency said they were seeking a 12 per cent premium on 1450-square feet, two-bedroom apartment, which was facing the sea and Sheikh Zayed Road, while it sought 20 per cent premium for another two-bedroom (1285 square feet) with a full fountain view. The original price of the apartments were Dh2.8 million and Dh3.45 million, respectively. According to investors, the units were priced between Dh21,000 (Dh1962 square feet) and Dh28,000 per square metres (Dh2600 per square feet). In July, Emirates 24|7 reported that the Dubai Land Department had urged developers launching new projects to "discourage" investors from re-selling "off plan" properties unless the project had reached an advanced stage of construction. "We don't have any regulation to prevent people from reselling their property. The developer should discourage people from selling off-plan properties until the project has reached an advanced stage," the department had said. More»