Aldar not to reduce foreign ownership

Aldar Properties will not reduce the percentage of foreign ownership in the company despite the exit of foreign investors that led to the fall of its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange's (ADX), said a top official.

Abdalla Zamzam, Chief Corporate Officer, said: "We do not have any intention to reduce the percentage of foreign ownership set at 40 per cent or increase it."

Replying to a question whether foreign investors would withdraw from Aldar's projects too, Zamzam said Abu Dhabi's real estate market is different from the stock exchange.

"The company's foreign investors will not withdraw. On the contrary, foreign investors want to increase their share of investments."

He added that foreign investors buy allocated shares in Aldar projects very quickly. An example was the Al Raha Beach project where they bought units on offer within a few days, he said.

"Foreign investors plan for the long term and direct their money to sectors where there is no high risk, like the real estate sector," he added.

Zamzam confirmed that foreign investments in the Abu Dhabi real estate market had increased following the sub-prime crisis.

"Abu Dhabi market has a lot of potential and is seeing an increasing demand for properties. Statistics show that Abu Dhabi needs 25,000 residential units for current year," he said.

Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Aldar's Chairman, told reporters at Emirates Palace Hotel on Sunday that properties in the capital will not be affected by the current global financial crisis or the US sub-prime crisis. That is because there was still an increasing demand for real estate projects in Abu Dhabi.

"There is no reason to worry. Projects by developers including Aldar are going according to plan.

"Abu Dhabi's overseas investments are not involved in the sub-prime crisis. In addition, foreign investments did not decrease in Abu Dhabi," Al Sayegh added.