Featured Properties

Is Oasis Marina Beach Resort In Hurghada Like A Porsche?

Oasis Marina Resort reminds me of the day I got behind the wheel of a friends’ Porsche 911. A few minutes previously, on the look out for a replacement car I had been test driving a very worthy VW Golf.The difference of the Porsche 911 from the Golf was huge. A different league. Everything feels just so right in the  911. I felt more alive. I could feel the difference. And why my friend feels its worth the extra money fro the best.

Your Porsche costs three times the price. Not worth it? Yes but it is for some folks. And the same holds true for prime property, prestige locations and desirability.

So lets back down to earth and think property investment and not luxury toys.

But when I saw the Oasis Marina building site it was just like that special Porsche feeling.

But there is a difference

This is o Porsche location at VW prices. Clear uninterrupted views of the crystal clear Red Sea. The large protected beach in front your to wander over.

But, for me, this is not enough. Because its no use investing in property right now, unless its at a great low price and its really safe.

Developers can forget about attempting to come to market without full project funding and full plans. No Bank lending? Crunchie Credit times have stopped quite a lot of that.

And the irony is that Egypt has cash rich developers because so little debt was taken out.

We are seeing property here being sold at £12,800 ($19,000 14,000 Euros) because in the almost unique position for very little being paid for the land and exceptionally low labour costs. A good daily wage here is £5 for a site labourer. Now that raw material prices have come back down, then value property is still available. It just will not get cheaper because there’s no need. Developments in Hurghada, like Oasis Marina are selling. People who visit the Oasis site can see the scarcity of this premium location, the infrastructure and the safety of in built resilience to down turns elsewhere.

As property investors are waiting to see where property prices settle, in markets driven by speculation, and debt. So investor demand looks for sound alternatives. Egypt has a place in the property investor’s portfolio.

For those who just want some warmth and sunshine at VW prices, then I think this is one not to miss.

For more details on this Oasis Marina Beach Offer, contact Jet2Let Property Ltd:

http://www.jet2letproperty.com/eg/483-Oasis-Marina-Off-Plan-property-Hurghada-Red-Sea-Coastline.html

Tel: 044(0)113 3131000 or email: info@jet2letproperty.com

Read more about Is Oasis Marina Beach Resort In Hurghada Like A Porsche? ...

Egypt Wins Best Outsourcing Destination

Egypt’s outsourcing sector is getting a boost of international recognition. The country was recently awarded the prize for best outsourcing destination by the British National Outsourcing Association (NOA).

This comes as much needed encouragement, with the government trying to attract more investment to the sector at a time of international economic gloom.

Hazem Abdel-Azim, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), who
received the prize in the name of the Egyptian government, stated that it was “a source of pride for the Egyptian communications and information technology sector”, local media reported.

Similarly, other rankings and reports have singled out Egypt among emerging IT services countries. A recent study by the Yankee Group, a US-based consultancy firm, compared several Middle Eastern countries’ base for outsourcing services, concluding that Egypt “has the strongest position in the outsourcing market.”

The report praised Egypt’s IT services against those of countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and put Egypt on equal footing with India and China, stating that Egypt had a huge advantage in terms of the versatility of its language skills.

“The country’s multilingual capabilities make Egypt attractive to Europe-based countries“, the report said.

“By contrast, China does not have the same level of comfort with Western culture and traditions as Egypt. India’s bailiwick is its strong English-speaking workforce, which works well for US-based and UK-based companies… but the lack of other languages is a disadvantage in India when it comes to EU-based
countries.”

IT Services Exports

These assessments reflect the government’s efforts in recent years to attract investment and develop human resources to work in the outsourcing and offshoring sector. Egypt’s IT exports sector has attracted local and foreign investments worth more than $8bn over the past three years according to ITIDA.

In a recent interview with OBG, Egyptian Minister of Communications and IT Tarek Kamel stated that the country’s IT services exports were currently worth $700m, and that he expected this figure to reach $1.1bn
by 2010.

“Egypt is appearing more and more in the international arena of IT services,” he told OBG. “We help train the talent pool and provide low cost infrastructure and access to well equipped space. We will continue to do this.”

In a bid to expand the attractiveness of its IT sector and create more room for foreign companies, the country is planning to open bids to build a new outsourcing business park in the Southern Cairo suburb of Maadi.

The project will involve the construction of 30 to 40 technological facilities that will cater to Egyptian, Arab and international firms focusing on IT services, local media reported. Furthermore, the Yankee Group report also noted a deal that UK-based company SpinVox has signed to establish a business center in Alexandria.

Changing Business Risk Perception

Egypt will nonetheless face some challenges if it is to increase revenue from this sector. The Yankee Group report reckons that Egypt needs to upgrade some infrastructure as well as reverse a negative opinion about its level of business risk. “Egypt faces some hurdles, including outdated communications and transportation infrastructure, and the perception-especially in the United States-that it is a risky place to
do work”, the report stated.

The future of the sector also depends on how fast the government and the private sector can train its workers to join the country’s growing IT force. “It’s a question of the speed at which the country can educate the pool of talent,” Adel Danish, chairman of Xceed, Egypt’s biggest call centre, told OBG.
“Human resources are the main challenge in Egypt. But the good thing is the government is aware of it and taking the right actions.”

Egypt Credit Crunch Beneficiary

The country is also hoping that the global slowdown triggered by the credit crunch, which is affecting US and European economies, will not deter the growth of its outsourcing sector. As European and US-based
companies represent the majority of Egypt’s customers, a slowing in consumption might curtail the demand for support services from Egypt.

“It will be interesting to see what happens”, Danish told OBG. “Some people believe the recession will make companies cut costs, and so outsource even more services to lower-cost countries like Egypt.”

If you enjoyed this article, then please subscribe vis RSS or email subsription.

Please comment on what you think

Read more about Egypt Wins Best Outsourcing Destination ...

Bulgaria Forecast GDP To Grow 4.5%

Bulgaria is expected to experience leaner economic times over the coming year, but reports of an impending crisis appear to be somewhat unfounded, reports by the Oxford Business Group.

The report read, “The On November 3, the European Commission (EC) issued a warning that Bulgaria is set to face slowing growth, consumption and investment over the coming year, while the current account deficit and inflation will remain high.

The commission expects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to be trimmed from 6.5% this year to 4.5% next, as a slowing European economy acts as a drag on Bulgaria. Meanwhile, it forecasts inflation of 12.4% by year end, the second highest in the EU, while the current account deficit is expected to hit 23.9% of GDP - the bloc’s largest.

Europe has been hit by a serious economic slowdown, exacerbated by the global credit crunch. The wide EU economy is expected to grow at only 1.2% this year, according to the EC, while the international press has reported that the eurozone (which does not include Bulgaria) will grow at a meagre 0.1%. As European countries - particularly in the eurozone - are Bulgaria’s key trading and investment partners, it seems inevitable that the Balkan country’s burgeoning growth will be curtailed.

The EC expects inflation to fall over the coming years, to 7.9% in 2009 and 6.8% the following year, easing one of the key pressures on the economy, though not as much as policy makers would like.

The EC also predicts that the current account deficit will remain stubbornly above 20% of GDP in 2009 and 2010. This might seem surprising, given that a slowdown in growth would seem likely to scale back imported consumption, and that lower levels of investment should lead to lower imports of capital goods.

On the other hand, Bulgaria’s export markets are in trouble, and the prices of the products it sells overseas, such as steel and agricultural produce, are falling. International bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have long warned that the external imbalance is unsustainable, and serious concerns are now spreading. The deficit has been financed by inflows of capital from abroad - inflows that seem likely to fall considerably due to the credit crunch and lower growth in the eurozone and Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has limited scope to tackle the current account and inflation issues through monetary policy, as it is in a currency board arrangement that fixes its exchange rate against the euro. This obliges the Bulgarian central bank to track the European Central Bank’s (ECB) interest rate movements, and rules out devaluation of the Bulgarian lev to cheapen the country’s exports. At present, the ECB is loosening monetary policy at a time when higher interest rates in Bulgaria could help lower consumer demand, and therefore inflation and import levels.

The government and central bank have repeatedly ruled out the possibility of abandoning the currency board, which has helped underpin Bulgaria’s economic stability for the past decade. Indeed, adjusting the fixed regime at a time when currencies are fluctuating wildly could prove to be a disastrous move.

Furthermore, with growth expected to fall, and inflationary pressures easing, it may be that the ECB’s rate cuts will help buoy the Bulgarian economy. There is an increasing perception that a sharp drop in growth is rapidly overtaking inflation as the country’s primary economic concern. Some reports in the international press have cited the possibility of growth levels falling to well below the EC’s forecasts - 3% or even lower.

Indeed, on October 28, Kristalina Georgieva, vice president and director of strategy and operations at the World Bank, urged the Bulgarian authorities to prepare an emergency stimulus package to be activated if the economic shocks turn out to be greater than expected.

“For instance, what are we going to do to stimulate domestic demand if unemployment increases?,” she asked a conference in Sofia.

Three days later, the IMF and the Bulgarian government scotched reports that they were in the midst of negotiations for a Fund bail out scheme. Such “rescue packages” have already been extended to Hungary and Ukraine, and fears are growing that more countries in Eastern Europe may follow them.

As the government has pointed out, however, Bulgaria is in a relatively strong position in that it has a large fiscal surplus. Thanks to an IMF-designed plan aimed at securing stability and reassuring investors, the country has been running a remarkably tight budgetary policy for several years. Fiscal reserves are expected to reach $8.3bn by the end of the year, theoretically providing ample scope for government stimulus measures. Hungary, on the other hand, has been scrambling to tackle a widening budget deficit.

As Georgieva has warned, any fiscal boost would have to be well designed, particularly given continuing worries about corruption and misallocation of official funds. And the government would be wise to ensure that new spending rounds do not exacerbate external imbalances or the long-term budgetary position. Furthermore, a reinvigorated drive for structural reform to tackle the economic weaknesses exposed by the current situation should prove beneficial in bolstering stability and future growth.”

Over the coming weeks we will see important detail on how individual countries across the world will fare. A countries e conomic prospects are one of the key indicators for savvy property investors to study.

If you would like to be kept up to date with these important economic announcements as well as news and views of property opportunities then subscribe to www.OverseasPropertyTalk.com now.

Read more about Bulgaria Forecast GDP To Grow 4.5% ...