stability

6 LEBANON PROMOTIONinvolves glass structures, including complexfacades and aluminum structures. Glasslinehas worked on the Larnaca Airport buildingin Cyprus and the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix arena, and is now looking to CentralAsia for new markets.Such is the level of interest in the propertymarket in Lebanon that one Beirut realestate developer, Dr. Mohammad Saleh,says he has created an online real estateindex called Noorex that will displayaccurate daily prices per square meter onproperties anywhere in the world. Heplans to make it available this year.Dr. Saleh, an engineer, is the chairman ofNoor International Holding, a Beirutbasedgroup that lists among its projects thedevelopment of 11 buildings in Beirutand 12 residential complexes across theMiddle East.It has announced the launch of a walledresidential project, Al-Fares, which has a seaview and is located in the Beirut suburb ofDawhet El Hoss, less than five miles fromthe Lebanese International Airport.The group’s strategy is to enter intoalliances with major international companiesto provide the highest global real estatestandards. According to Dr. Saleh, Noor’svision is to transform plots of land intoflourishing and productive communities. Itsmission is to develop and execute worldscalereal estate projects distinguished bycreativity and original designs in accordancewith the highest standards of professionalcompetence.“Our employees are our best asset,” saysDr. Saleh. “We are investing huge efforts inbuilding a leadership spirit in our affiliatesand personnel.”One of the companies in the Noor groupcontributed to the development of the 1,090-foot-tall Rose Tower in Dubai, described asthe world’s tallest hotel building.Noorex, the group’s ambitious Web site“We are investing hugeefforts in building aleadership spirit in ouraffiliates and personnel.”Dr. Mohammad Saleh,Chairman,Noor International Holdingproject, will contain search engines for morethan 1.23 million real estate brokers. Thesite will provide an index for real estatemarkets that is related to stock marketsworldwide and available on five continents.In conjunction with Noorex, the GlobeProject will build a massive globe-shapedtower 22 floors high, designed to house anexhibition and conference center and toaccommodate, under one roof, law firms,banks and a variety of companies operatingin fields such as investment, contracting,building materials and energy supply.According to preliminary studies, Dr.Saleh says the total cost of the global towerwill be around $266 million, and thetower will be replicated in several locationsaround the world.The motivation for the Globe Project isto move the international market closer toreal-time operations. The intent is to makeit possible to get everything done in oneplace much more quickly. It will be possibleto carry out transactions more efficiently,with private-sector players from allover the world located in the same buildingas consular representatives, chambersof commerce, banks and lawyers.The project aims to incorporate internationalchambers of commerce to facilitatecommercial interactions between countries.Noorex will be on the bottom floorof all Globe Project buildings, and interconnecteddata will make the market dataavailable in real time.Dr. Saleh notes that another result willbe increased competition and innovationbetween top real estate companies, as theywill become increasingly aware of whattheir competitors are doing at an internationallevel.The group is promoting yet anotherlarge-scale project with the development ofan artificial landmass off the Lebanesecoast, to be called Cedar Island. With thenew Lebanese government in place, theproject can proceed and should ultimatelygenerate 50,000 new jobs. It will take fouryears to complete. ❖