At a glance...2007

Limitless - India

The company also announced its first official real estate project in India, a US$12bn development with DLF, one of India's top real estate developers. The announced plan has been to construct a mixed-use development on the outskirts of Bangalore that would house 750,000 people. Named Bidadi Township and spreading over 4000 hectares, the project is a 50-50 joint venture with DLF Group. Work is expected to start during the first half of 2008.

Earlier in March 2007, Limitless had signed US$10bn agreement with the same developer to build two townships in North and West India.

Deyaar

Dubai's Deyaar Real Estate announced this November plans to sign a deal to develop a US$5bn township in India with Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd.

The project will include building office and residential blocks for sale and lease in the suburbs of New Delhi, the Indian capital. No further news on the deal has been published this year.

Entrepreneurs & projects 2007

d1g.com

Launched in August, 2007, the social networking site is an alternative to networks such as Facebook, Orkut and MySpace targeting Arab online users. With Arabic as its default language, the founders of d1g.com claim it is the Middle East's answer to the web 2.0 craze. Only a month after its launch, d1g registered 150,000 users and has become one of the fastest growing Arabic communities on the web. While the website's CEO, Majied Qasem, admitted that he based the site on Facebook, he pointed out that there were many differences.

"The main difference is that the Middle East has different communities and needs. Online social networking is not a case of one-size-fits-all. While the other sites cater to the needs of the populations of America, Europe and many of the Western educated people in this part of the world, as these cities grow in complexity, language begins to become a barrier," said Qasem.

This, however, was definitely not the only reason that prompted the creators to launch the website. While many might perceive social networking sites as a waste of time, it is undeniable that they bring in big money.

In 2006, Yahoo's bidding for Facebook reached US$1bn, while Google signed a US$900m deal to add its search engine facility and advertising into MySpace.

Forsa

In January, 2007, the first company dedicated purely to female entrepreneurs, was launched in Dubai with the aim to raise a US$272m in investment funds to encourage more women to start their own businesses. Forsa was formed by Dubai World and plans to create a series of funds for women investors and entrepreneurs in a variety of sectors including real estate, retail, health, education and technology.

"With robust investment platform, the women-only exclusive investment fund will use the expertise and global perspective of world-class managers to ensure superior returns and successful long-term growth for all participants," said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World at the time of the launch.

Forsa will focus on three categories of women including investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Bin Sulayem explained that Forsa would offer different investment opportunities, long and short-term, depending on investor strategies. "By forming equity relationships with promising start-ups, Forsa will ensure optimal returns for investors as well as business owners. Our goal is to provide every woman who has the capability, the skill set, the desire and the commitment to run and grow her own business and the means to be able to do so," said Shamsa Noor Ali Rashid, CEO of Forsa.

Entrepreneur Business Village

Targeting young entrepreneurs and aiming to foster the development of new businesses in the UAE, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders (MBRE) has announced the Entrepreneur Business Village (EBV), a US$130.5m landmark project, in November 2007.

The EBV will be strategically located at the Clock Tower roundabout in Dubai's Deira area, and will take up a space of 1 million sq ft. It will also be the first commercial venture dedicated to unlocking the vast business potential among aspiring entrepreneurs. EBV is planned to be designed as a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs by catering to different businesses needs, whether they are small or medium enterprises, new businesses seeking a platform to start or existing businesses in pursuit of expansion plans.

The greening of the GCC

The GCC may not have a very good reputation for green initiatives, but in 2007 it began to address environmental fears in earnest. While the numerous projects that have been announced are still at an early stage, and vary in ambition, their objectives are similar: respond to global warming at home, as well as diversify the Gulf's oil-based economies.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi created a splash in the real estate market with almost every project it announced this year. Its green initiatives were a large part of that. Early June, 2007, the Abu Dhabi Energy Company (Masdar) made headlines when it announced a US$5bn ‘first in the world' entirely green city. The project, which will cover an area of over 6 sq km, is set to create an environment with zero carbon dioxide emissions, zero waste and a car-free habitat. An investment of US$350m in solar energy generation is also part of the project.

The green city will house Masdar's new headquarters, in addition to a new university dedicated to research and development of new ideas for energy production. Moreover, it is possible that a variety of special economic zones and a center for innovation will be included in the plan. The city will offer a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere for people to get from one point to another on foot, as well as public transportation that will ensure that none of the city's inhabitants will have to walk more than 200 meters before meeting part of the transportation link.

With late 2009 as its completion date, the green city is only one of a series of projects planned by the UAE's capital to limit the greenhouse gas effect on the environment. This includes plans to build a 100 megawatt solar power plant, which will be expandable to 500 megawatts, with a target to generate enough power for 500,000 households.

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