The supply of mall-based retail gross leasable area (GLA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 11.3 percent to reach 8.3 million square meters by 2012, according to a recent report by Jiwar Real Estate Management & Marketing, a leading real estate company in the Gulf region and the marketing arm of the Saudi Bin Laden Group. The Saudi market is expected to produce an additional 1.5 million square meters of retail GLA within the next two years. “The outlook for the Kingdom's metropolitan mall-based retail market is excellent given the strong growth in demand and increasing occupancy rates. The government's strategic focus on expanding the non-oil economy is likely to lead to the development of additional commercial industries, of which mall retailing will be a major beneficiary,” said Dr. Saleh Bin Abdullah Al Habib, CEO, Jiwar Real Estate Management & Marketing. Jiwar is a leading player in the Saudi real estate market. The company actively pursues real estate opportunities based on feasibility studies undertaken in-house and with reputable consultants. The KSA's level of personal disposable income is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 percent to reach around SR659 billion by 2013. GDP per capita is also expected to rise at a CAGR of 7.3 percent to SR78,723 by 2014. Both the personal disposable income and GDP per capita are expected to grow faster than inflation. Another factor contributing to the momentum of the Saudi retail market is the youthful composition of the Saudi population, with 63 percent of citizens under the age of 30. The population growth in the KSA stands at 2.49 percent as compared to the global average of 1.14 percent. More than 12 million people visit Saudi Arabia annually, thus making retail tourism a key driver in the Kingdom's mall-based expansion. Jiwar constantly contributes to the growth of the domestic real estate market through the development, marketing and selling of prominent projects that help promote the KSA as a premier religious, residential, and cultural tourism destination. Jiwar was established in 2002 as a subsidiary of the Saudi Bin Laden Group of companies. It was founded to serve the Abraj Al-Bayt mega project, one of the most prestigious developments in the holy city of Makkah Al-Mukarrama. Providing overviews of Kaaba and Haram, the complex is one of the most prominent masterpieces and landmarks surrounding the Holy Mosque. Jiwar's approach to property marketing, management and development is founded on the creative concepts embodied by its vision and mission, which both commit to the provision of complete real estate investment services.
