Omar Al-Hamamsi, CEO of Orascom Development, said that the company is interested in what is going on in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in terms of new projects and benefits for foreign investors.
Al-Hamamsi told Al-Arabiya at the company’s Suhoor event in Cairo that Saudi Arabia is working on big projects, especially tourism projects on the Red Sea. He also said, “There is no doubt that Orascom Development is one of the most important companies that has carried out similar projects in Egypt and in many other countries.”
When asked about what is going on in the real estate market right now, Al-Hamamsi said that it has been affected by a number of things over the last few years. The first of these was the sharp rise in the prices of goods and production sources in 2021. in about 80%, which, along with the recent change in exchange rates, hurt the profit margins of a number of real estate companies.
That is not all, he said. “Most real estate companies have raised their prices by 15% to 20%, and in some cases by as much as 30%.” The number of projects that Orascom Development worked on went up by about 10% in Cairo O-West and by 6% in El Gouna.
In recent months, Al-Hamamsi said that sales have started to slow down because the market is waiting for clarity of vision, especially when it comes to the exchange rate.
He also said that Orascom reviews its prices every six months because it does not like to make big or unfair price hikes.
What about hotel occupancy? Al-Hamamsi confirmed that El-Gouna hotels have had occupancy rates above 60% and may have hit 70% in the last quarter of last year.
He said that occupancy rates were going up nicely in the first three months of the year until Omicron went back to normal. In general, though, job rates are still good.
He said, “The amount of tourism from Russia and Ukraine in Orascom’s projects is around only 3%. This is because the company does not have much exposure to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. Of course, the war will also have an effect on tourism.” Europe because of the high price rates happening around the world right now “.
