Among the numerous presentations at the ‘Aqaba: turning Vision into Reality’ event there was an announcement that stood out from the rest: the Talal Abu Ghazaleh Group announced a project to develop a Smart Village in Aqaba. This village will consist of serviced office facilities as well as a convention center. The village is to have and advanced technical and business services infrastructure. Mustafa Nassereddin, Executive Director of of the Talal Ab Ghazel Group announced that the project will start soon and that a number of clients have already expressed their interest in renting facilitates at the village.

Most of the other project presented today were ones that were announced before, such as the Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba (who showed an impressive 3D rendition of the project, Al Qabas Red Sear Resort, Tala Bay, Tala Hill and others. What is noticable that all these projects combine hotel facilities with residential real estate. Wether such real estate will be used for long term residency (versus weekend stays) is an open question. The prospect of having ‘ghost towns’ during weekdays could be real if this real estate is bought mainly by people looking for second homes. However, if the economy here grow fast, these homes might be filled with ‘real’ residents.

I will be reporting on any other interesting announcements from future sessions.

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