Foreword

Real Estate, Construction and Hotels & Leisure

Welcome to this
month’s Law Update.

It would be fair to say that the regional real estate and construction sector has been turned upside down over the last year. Our growing team has been busier than at any time since the mid-2000s advising clients across the spectrum of the real estate industry on areas as diverse as hotel development in Egypt, multibillion-dollar fund investment in Abu Dhabi, and ground-breaking legislative change in the most exciting of all markets, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Over the last twelve months we have seen the first real tangible evidence of the impact of the Saudi government's investment into Vision 2030 and this, combined with the post-COVID 19 resurrection of Dubai as a real estate boom town, has created the dynamic and challenging environment.

Add these factors to the rise of Egypt as a serious competitor for inward investment and the potential impact of this year’s World Cup in Qatar, and we are likely to be entering a period of extensive legislative change across the Middle East as a whole.

In our selection of articles for Law Update, we have tried to reflect the diverse nature of the changes we have seen in the sector, as well as highlight issues that have caused our clients concern over the past year. Issues arising from hotel construction have been at the forefront during the resurgence of the leisure industry post-pandemic, and even in this time of aggressive development we have seen no real reduction in the advice required from clients with respect to construction arbitration.

We have also included in this edition a commentary and insights on KSA, this market is set to become the main bedrock of the region for years ahead and we felt it would be important to provide a perspective on what is in store for the future. As a Real Estate and Construction Sector team, it has been a year of growth.

We have eight more lawyers than we had a year ago and two new partners. We have launched our market-leading conveyancing service Wakeel into the UAE market and the firm has opened a new office in Morocco which has a real specialism in the hotel development space.We hope you enjoy this edition of our Update and we would be keen to receive any questions or feedback you have on any of the topics raised.