Superb September Surprises at Corp Amman Hotel in Jordan

From discounts on bed and breakfast rates to big savings on Eid stays, Corp Amman Hotel in Jordan has got fabulous offers lined up for guests all through September.

As a part of its Summer Celebrations 2016, the hotel is offering a 20 percent discount on bed and breakfast rates on all bookings till September 30, 2016. Also, customers who choose to stay at the hotel for more than 3 nights can avail a 10 per cent discount on the best available rates.

Nizam Bou Antoun, General Manager of Corp Amman Hotel, said, “It is the holiday season in the region given we have a long break coming for Eid Al Adha. We are well placed at Corp Amman Hotel to meet the expectations of our guests. Offering the best of service, we are an ideal family destination. Due to heavy inflow of both regional and global tourists during this season, we advise travelers to book early in order to take advantage of our various promotions.”  

Here’s what is on offer:

SUMMER CELEBRATION 2016

Enjoy 20% off ‘Bed & Breakfast Rate’

Valid and bookable until 30th September 2016

Advance Purchase Offer up to 3 days prior to arrival

Full pre-payment upon reservation, non-refundable rate

Rate subject to availability and taxes

STAY 3 NIGHTS & SAVE 10%

10% off on our ‘Best Available Rate’

Minimum stay of 3 nights required

Offer valid 7 days a week upon availability

About Corp Amman Hotel

Corp Amman Hotel is a 4-star property featuring 108 elegantly appointed rooms and suites equipped with the finest facilities. Designed to be one of the city’s prestigious addresses, the hotel boasts three multi-functional meeting rooms and a spectacular ballroom equipped with the latest technology and facilities. Diners too have an excellent choice of restaurants with the hotel’s culinary team offering an extensive selection of regional and international flavours. One may opt for all-day-dining restaurant ‘The Boulevard’ or the roof-top Lebanese restaurant ‘Mood’. ‘Snug’ lobby lounge is ideal for tasty nibbles and refreshing cold and hot drinks. For relaxation, the hotel offers a trendy fitness centre ‘Orange’ where you can enjoy an invigorating workout followed by a pampering soak in the temperature controlled outdoor swimming pool or indulge in tranquil spa treatments.

For more information about the hotel please visitwww.hmhhotelgroup.com/corpamman

Orhttps://www.hmhhotelgroup.com/subscribenow

مفاجآت سبتمبر الرائعة في

فندق كورب عمان في الأردن

من التخفيضات على أسعار الإقامة مع وجبة الإفطار إلى التوفير الكبير في إقامة العيد، أعد فندق كورب عمان في الأردن عروضاً رائعة للضيوف طوال شهر سبتمبر.

كجزء من الاحتفالات الصيفية لعام 2016، يقدم الفندق خصماً 20٪ على أسعار الإقامة مع وجبة الإفطار لجميع الحجوزات حتى 30 سبتمبر 2016. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يمكن للعملاء الذين يختارون الإقامة في الفندق لأكثر من 3 ليالي الاستفادة من خصم 10٪ على أفضل الأسعار المتاحة.

قال نظام بو أنطون، المدير العام لفندق كورب عمان "إنه موسم العطلات في منطقة و الذي يتزامن مع عطلة طويلة قادمة بمناسبة عيد الأضحى المبارك. نحن في وضع جيد في فندق كورب عمان لتلبية توقعات ضيوفنا. بتقديمنا لأفضل الخدمات نحن وجهة عائلية مثالية. و بسبب التدفق الكثيف للسياح من المنطقة و من مختلف أرجاء العالم على حد سواء خلال هذا الموسم، لذا ننصح المسافرين بحجز إقاماهم مبكراً من أجل الاستفادة من عروضنا المتعددة".

و تجدون عروضنا أدناه:

إحتفال صيف 2016

استمتع بخصم 20٪ "على أسعار الإقامة مع وجبة الإفطار "

يسري العرض حتى 30 سبتمبر 2016

العرض على الشراء المقدم حتى 3 أيام قبل الوصول

يجب الدفع الكامل مقدماً عند الحجز، غير قابل للاسترداد

تخضع الأسعار للتوافر والضرائب

أقم 3 ليالي و وفر 10٪

خصم 10٪ على "أفضل سعر متوفر"

الحد الأدنى للإقامة 3 ليالي

يسري العرض طوال الأسبوع و يخضع لمدى التوافر

حول فندق كورب عمان

يحمل فندق كورب عمان 4 نجوم ويضم 108 غرفة وجناحا أنيقة الأثاث كلها مزودة بأرقى الخدمات. الفندق مصمم ليكون واحدا من أفخر العناوين في المدينة، ويضم ثلاث غرف اجتماعات متعددة الأغراض وقاعة حفلات مبهرة مزودة بأحدث تكنولوجيا وخدمات. الضيوف القادمون لتناول الطعام لديهم أيضا اختيارا ممتازا من المطاعم مع فريق الطهي بالفندق الذي يقدم اختيارات متعددة من الأطباق الإقليمية والعالمية. قد يختار الضيف مطعم "ذا بوليفار" المفتوح طوال اليوم أو المطعم اللبناني "موود" على الروف. "سناج" قاعة اللوبي مثالية لماكولات خفيفة شهية ومشروبات منعشة باردة وساخنة. للإسترخاء، يوفر الفندق مركز لياقة عصري "أورانج" حيث يمكنك الاستمتاع بتدريب منشط تعقبه متعة الاستحمام في حمام السباحة الخارجي الذي يتم التحكم في درجة حرارة مياهه أو تدلل بجلسات السبا الهادئة.

للمزيد من المعلومات حول الفندق، رجاء زيارة: www.hmhhotelgroup.com/corpamman أو https://www.hmhhotelgroup.com/subscribenow

TOP 5 MUST-VISIT NEW DESTINATIONS THIS EID-AL-ADHA HOLIDAY

(Dubai, UAE – September 2016) Summer’s almost over and Eid Al Adha is almost upon us. It is set to fall during the second week of September, so this is the time to start planning a last-minute holiday, be it a four-night minibreak or a week-long excursion. With about two weeks to book, destinations around the world are offering attractive Eid packages, including airport transfers, all-inclusive meals, luxury escape, free stays for children and family deals, detox tour, discounts on spa treatments, shopping and much more.

Whether you’re looking for a solo retreat, fancy holiday for two or a family-friendly getaway, there’s plenty to choose from. The following deals are valid during Eid Al Adha and include all taxes.

Quick Getaway Deals

If time is short, but you still want to get away, there’s still a place for you to relax and reconnect with the world. Slovenia is readily accessible, offering some great outdoor activities and wellness retreats without taking up too much of your precious time getting there.

LOVE Your Body in Slovenia

Spend four nights reconnecting with nature, family and yourself and indulge in a health and wellness tour including thermal spa, body detox and organic farm stay as part of Slovenia Tourist Board’s ‘I Feel SLOVEnia’ Travel package for Middle East travellers. The package includes return economy flights with FlyDubai, two nights in select hotel in Ljubljana, one night family-friendly fam stay including organic farm activities, one night thermal spa resort stay, complimentary Ljubljana city tour, complimentary airport and hotel transfers. Prices start from Dh3,300 per person. Call (04) 375-3578 or email ifeelslovenia.me@aviareps.com<mailto:ifeelslovenia.me@aviareps.com><mailto:ifeelslovenia.me@aviareps.com>

Family Deals

With summer almost coming to an end and school time is just around the corner, it’s your last chance to treat your kids and the whole family to a well-deserved holiday vacation that they will never ever forget. OC California and Philippines are all host to a fun-filled, family-centered packages that the whole family will absolutely enjoy.

OC California Dreaming

Stay seven nights in the heart of Southern California exploring world renowned family attractions such as the original Disneyland, Universal Studios, LEGOLAND, Knott’s Berry Farm, Disney’s California Adventure plus an array of amazing shopping at world’s best shopping destinations such as South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island and Irvine Spectrum as part of ‘OC&ME’ Travel Package. Book ‘OC&ME’ Travel Package that includes return economy flights with Etihad or Emirates plus seven nights in select four or five star properties and receive an exclusive ‘OC&ME’ Privilege Card which includes complimentary VIP shopping and leisure discounts such as: complimentary VIP personal shopper experiences, gifts with purchase and discount vouchers at OC’S premier retail destinations such as South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island and Irvine Spectrum, the OC&ME card will now also offer an extended offering of value at South Coast Plaza which has increased its discounts to 20% and expanded the number of retail partners, within South Coast Plaza, where the card is accepted. Prices start from Dh11,000 per person. Call (04) 375-3298 or email CBandara@aviareps.com<mailto:CBandara@aviareps.com>

It’s More Family-Fun in the Philippines

Seven days in the island paradise of the Philippines is more than enough to create and treasure new family memories that will last a lifetime. Explore the best of both worlds with the country’s top rated islands of Boracay, Cebu, Palawan and Bohol plus the trendy and cosmopolitan city of Metro Manila, for all families to enjoy. Book Philippines’ ‘Kids Stay Free’ Travel Package which includes four star accommodation, airport transfer, city tour and access to select amusement parks. The package is aimed for families with two children under the age of 11 and offer them an array of activities, food, accommodation and other experiences all on a complimentary basis. Additionally, the packages allow families to twin both the Philippines capital Manila with another exotic Philippine destination such as Cebu, Palawan, Boracay, Bohol, Davao or Bicol, allowing for both an urban and idyllic getaway experience. Prices start from Dh4,000 per person. Call (04) 375-3295 or email FKhan@aviareps.com<mailto:FKhan@aviareps.com>

Luxury deals

If you’ve got a bit of cash to spare, why not go all out? Soak up the culture and history in Japan or grab your friends and family and indulge yourself with sushi, ramen, pokemon, manga and samurai or get fancy and treat yourself for an ultimate spa retreat in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Turning Japanese: KYOTO & TOKYO plus HOKKAIDO in 10 days

Spend ten days in Japan’s old and new capital exploring key attractions, including Disneyland Tokyo, Universal Studio Japan, a stay in a traditional Ryokan-style accommodation plus an extended trip to Japan’s northern gem, Hokkaido. The package includes return business class flight with Cathay Pacific, domestic flight from Hokkaido to Tokyo, Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kyoto, Two nights in Art Hotels Sapporo, 1 Night in Rusutsu Resort, 3 Nights in Shinjuku Prince Hotel and three nights in Hotel Granvia or similar, Private Tours in Hokkaido, Tokyo and Kyoto, 1 Day Pass at Tokyo Disneyland, 1 Day pass at Universal Studio Japan, Complimentary airport transfer with English speaking drivers and complimentary fruit picking tour in Hokkaido including strawberry, cherry, etc. Packages start from Dh25,500 per person. Call +971 (4) 375-3297 or send an email to Kyoto Convention and Visitors Bureau Dubai Office at Tyamamoto@aviareps.com<mailto:Tyamamoto@aviareps.com> (Takao Yamamoto). Promo valid until 31st December 2016

Amazing Thailand Luxury Retreat

Indulge in a five-night luxury spa journey to Thailand to enhance your aesthetic virtue and confidence with specialized treatments. Attend to retreats to help you regain younger-looking skin and a more youthful appearance with minimal recovery time and long-lasting results. The package includes five star accommodation, Health and Wellness activities such as: Physical & Skin Analysis, Scalp Massage, Spa Dinner, Thai Massage, Health & Wellness Consultation, Fitness & Leisure Activities, Body Polish, VIP airport assistance and land transfer. Airline fee is excluded. Packages start from Dh18,065 per person. Call +971 529952758 for more details

Asteco H1 UAE Cityscape real estate report: A tale of two cities

Dubai sales market forecasted to bottom out by end 2016; trend towards affordable development persists with increase in single-unit buyers expected in 2017

• Government cuts to budgets expected to impact rental rates and sales transaction volumes in Abu Dhabi in H2 2016; 3% drop in rental rates recorded from Jan-June with 2% average decrease in apartment sales prices

Asteco, the Middle East’s largest full service real estate company has released a special Cityscape report on the current status of the UAE real estate market revealing a general slowdown in all emirates, but highlighting marked differences between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Dubai experienced a slow first six months, but for different reasons, with developers slowing the pace of project completions and handovers due to the forecasted oversupply of residential properties in the market, which prompted a slight decrease of around 2% and 1% respectively on rental rates for apartments and villas.

The cumulative effect of falling oil prices and the resulting cuts to government budgets over the last 18 months has been the catalyst for the slowdown in Abu Dhabi, where resulting job cuts in the last 6-8 months led to H1 2016 residential rental rate declines of 3% on average, with high-end units down by 4%; and a subdued sales market.

“We are seeing two unique pictures emerge for the residential sector in both emirates. What is interesting to note in Dubai is the decision of families to downsize and even send spouses and children home in an effort to save money,” said John Stevens, Managing Director, Asteco.

“We are seeing signs of this in Abu Dhabi with a migration or downsizing mainly from high-end large units, to more affordable developments; which has led to a rise in vacancy rates for larger units and which could prompt an increase in rental rates for smaller units in more desirable buildings,” added Stevens.

Dubai added 2,000 new primarily mid-level and affordable apartments and 200 villas and townhouses in H1 2016, with affordable developments such as Siraj Tower at Arjan and 400 units in Dubai Silicon Oasis; the mid-range Ajmal Sarah Tower and Dubai Sports City, Canal Residence West; and, at the top end, Palm Jumeirah’s Osaimi Apartments.

The Asteco report highlighted substantial interest in Jumeirah Village from both end users and investors with buyers recognising the potential of the community from a locational point of view in comparison to newer projects launched south of Mohamed Bin Zayed Road. 


Apartment prices in most communities continued to be under pressure with an overall price reduction of 3% during H1 2016, however prices are still 64% higher than 2011. For the villa market, rates were broadly stable over the last six months with an average increase of 0.3%, with a trend towards smaller two to four-bedroom homes in communities such as Arabian Ranches, The Springs and Mudon, still prevalent.

“We expect to see further marginal declines in values over the next six months as the market looks likely to bottom out by year end with, at most, a 5% decline. This could be offset by potential increased transaction volume as lower prices unlock demand and stimulate renewed interest from single-unit buyers for soon-to-be-completed buildings.

“From a rentals perspective, demand for studio, one and affordable two-bedroom units is likely to remain strong, with a potential increase in rates in some areas as occupancy levels improve,” said Stevens. 


Limited supply of new H1 released supply in Abu Dhabi helped to limit any major reduction in rental rates with just 800 apartments added including Wave Tower on Reem Island, resulting in an overall drop of 3%. This trend was replicated in the villa market, however at a reduced rate of just 1%.

Transaction levels in the capital have been largely quiet with asking rates still relatively high in comparison to other emirates (nominal 2% decline recorded) despite owners putting units back onto the market; and the ongoing lack of affordable units stymying prospective investors with limited budgets.

“We are still seeing good levels of demand for affordable products like the Al Ghadeer and Al Reef townhouses, with no decline in sales prices, which confirms the appeal, and shortage, of this kind of product in the market,” noted Stevens.

Asteco will be exhibiting at Cityscape Global in Hall 02 on stand S2A40. For more details, please visit www.asteco.com

A copy of the full Asteco report: http://www.asteco.com/report_library

شركة أستيكو تطلق تقريراً حول واقع القطاع العقاري في دولة الإمارات بمناسبة انعقاد معرض سيتي سكيب

• تقرير حديث يحلل سوق العقارات في الدولة خلال النصف الأول من عام 2016
• توقعات بتسجيل انخفاض أكثر في أسعار المبيعات في سوق دبي بحلول نهاية العام الحالي
• تخفيض الإنفاق الحكومي يمكن أن يؤثر على أسعار الإيجار والمبيعات أبو ظبي خلال النصف الثاني من العام 2016
• تسجيل انخفاض بنسبة 3٪ في معدلات الإيجار خلال الأشهر الستة الماضية في أبوظبي مع انخفاض بنسبة 2٪ في أسعار مبيعات الشقق

أصدرت "أستيكو" أكبر شركة للخدمات العقارية المتكاملة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط تقريراً خاصاً بمناسبة انعقاد معرض سيتي سكيب وذلك بهدف تسليط الضوء على واقع سوق العقارات في دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة وحالة التباطؤ العام في جميع أنحاء الدولة مع إبراز أوجه الاختلاف بين مدينتي أبوظبي ودبي.

وأشار التقرير إلى أن دبي قد شهدت حالة من التباطؤ في السوق العقاري خلال الأشهر الستة الأولى ولكن لأسباب مختلفة، وخاصة مع انخفاض وتيرة سرعة استكمال المشاريع وتسليمها من قبل المطورين نظراً لزيادة المعروض من العقارات السكنية في السوق، الأمر الذي تسبب بالتالي في تسجيل انخفاض طفيف بنسبة 2٪ على أسعار إيجارات الشقق السكنية و1٪ لأسعار تأجير الفلل.

كما ساهم الأثر التراكمي لانخفاض أسعار النفط وتخفيض الإنفاق الحكومي على مدى الأشهر الـ 18 الماضية في تسجيل تباطؤ أيضاً في سوق أبو ظبي، حيث أدى خفض الوظائف خلال الأشهر الماضية إلى انخفاض متوسط الإيجار السكني 3٪ في النصف الأول من العام الحالي، فيما شهدت الوحدات السكنية الراقية انخفاضاً بنسبة 4٪.

 وبهذا السياق قال جون ستيفنز، المدير التنفيذي لشركة أستيكو: "إننا نشهد في الوقت الحالي مشهدين مختلفتين للقطاع السكني في إماراتي أبوظبي ودبي. وقد لاحظنا مؤخراً ظاهرة مثيرة للاهتمام في دبي تتمثل في قرار بعض العائلات بعودة بعض أفراد العائلة لموطنهم من أجل توفير بعض المال". وأضاف بالقول "كما أننا بدأنا بمشاهدة بوادر هذه الظاهرة في إمارة أبوظبي من خلال الانتقال من الوحدات السكنية الكبيرة والراقية إلى مشاريع أخرى بأسعار أقل. وهذا ما ساهم في ارتفاع معدلات الوحدات الشاغرة ما قد يؤدي إلى تسجيل زيادة في أسعار الإيجار للوحدات الصغيرة في المباني المرغوبة".

وكانت مدينة دبي قد شهدت خلال النصف الأول من هذا العام إضافة 2000 وحدة سكنية جديدة من المستوى المتوسط والمقبول ونحو 200 فيلا وتاون هاوس، وذلك فضلاً عن العديد من المشاريع الأخرى بأسعار معقولة مثل برج سراج تاور في منطقة أرجان، و400 وحدة سكنية في واحة دبي للسيليكون؛ وبرج أجمال سارة، ومشروع كانال ريزدنس ويست في مدينة دبي الرياضية، بالإضافة إلى مشروع العصيمي للشقق السكنية في نخلة جميرا.

وأبرز التقرير الذي أصدرته "أستيكو" أيضاً الاهتمام الواضح في قرية الجميرا من قبل المستخدمين النهائيين والمستثمرين والمشترين نظراً لما تتمتع بها هذه المنطقة من مواصفات وإمكانيات بالإضافة إلى موقعها المميز بالمقارنة مع المشاريع الجديدة على جنوب شارع محمد بن زايد.

وسجلت أسعار الشقق في معظم المناطق بدبي انخفاضاً بنسبة 3٪ خلال النصف الأول عام 2016، ولكنها لا تزال أعلى بنسبة 64٪ بالمقارنة مع الأسعار في عام 2011. أما بالنسبة للفلل السكنية فقد كانت المعدلات مستقرة على نطاق واسع على مدى الأشهر الستة الماضية مع زيادة يبلغ متوسطها نحو 0.3٪ مع وجود اتجاه واضح نحو المنازل الأصغر (2-4 غرف نوم) في العديد من المناطق مثل المرابع العربية والينابيع ومدن.

وأردف جون ستيفنز بالقول: "نتوقع أن نشهد المزيد من الانخفاضات الهامشية على مدى الأشهر الستة المقبلة، ومن المحتمل أن يشهد السوق انخفاضاً بنسبة 5٪ بحلول نهاية العام. ويمكن أن يشهد القطاع حالة من التوازن نظراً للتوقعات بزيادة حركة الشراء مع مساهمة الأسعر المنخفضة في تعزيز الطلب من قبل المشترين على الأبنية التي اقتربت من انتهاء أعمال الإنشاء. أما بالنسبة لسوق الإيجارات، فإنه من المتوقع أن تحافظ شقق الاستوديو والشقق بغرفة نوم واحدة وغرفتي نوم على مكانتها القوية مع احتمال زيارة الأسعار في بعض المناطق مع ارتفاع معدلات الإشغال".

وساهم العرض المحدود من الخيارات السكنية في أبوظبي خلال الأشهر الستة الأولى من العام 2016 في الحد من تسجيل انخفاض كبير في معدلات الإيجار مع تسجيل 800 وحدة سكنية جديدة فقط بما في ذلك برج ويف تاور في جزيرة الريم، مما أدى إلى تسجيل انخفاض بنسبة 3٪. وينطبق الأمر ذاته في سوق الفلل السكنية ولكن بانخفاض قدره 1٪ فقط.

واختتم ستيفنز كلامه بالقول: "لا تزال أبوظبي تشهد مستويات جيدة من الطلب على المعروض السكني بأسعار معقولة مثل منطقة الغدير والريف دون تسجيل أي انخفاض في أسعار البيع، مما يؤكد على وجود إقبال ونقص في هذا النوع من المنتجات في السوق".

ويذكر ان شركة أستيكو ستشارك في معرض سيتي سكيب جلوبال بدبي، ويمكن للراغبين زيارة جناحها S2A40 في القاعة 2.

How and Why the Public Cloud can be used by Enterprises in Egypt to Get Work Done

By: Gregg Petersen, Regional Director, MEA and SAARC, Veeam Software

At almost every conference, event or analyst meeting you attend, you’ll hear someone discuss how your business can benefit from the Operating Expense (OPEX) model, greater agility, and faster deployment speeds offered by the public cloud.

But let’s be honest: If you go to your internal IT staff and propose the public cloud, you’ll get a lot of pushback. They’ll talk to you about a number of issues, most notably security, legal compliance and a loss of control over the company’s valuable data.

When talking to infrastructure professionals, C-level management and development groups about using the public cloud, the one thing that always comes up is that each group has a different vision of how to use the public cloud, and it’s difficult to get their visions aligned. Difficult, but possible.

Today, on-premises (or private cloud) infrastructure is still the most-used solution for production environments. Slowly, we’re seeing the adoption of hybrid environments (a combination of private cloud and public cloud where the public cloud is considered an extension of your data centre) where certain front-end workloads are moved to the public cloud.

Workloads like websites and new apps are popular candidates for a move to the cloud, but often the data itself stays on premises in your private cloud.

The problem is that debates within the business about using the public cloud are often dominated by discussion of production environments instead of exploring opportunities where the cloud could help save time, effort and money. However, things are looking positive. The public cloud services market in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to grow 18.3 percent in 2016 to total $879.3 million, up from $743.1 million in 2015, according a recent report by Gartner, Inc.

Let’s have a look at some common use cases where those benefits can be gained.

A Test/ Development/ Acceptance Environment

Every business needs an environment for testing solutions, development and acceptance. In an ideal world, these should be three separate environments and they should be the same as (or at least very similar to) your production environment.

Unfortunately, the number of enterprises that have the resources available to use best practices is very limited. And those few that have the technical resources to do this often complain that there aren’t enough other resources (people) to maintain such environments and that time is limited.

Why not use the public cloud for these scenarios? Organizations can create copies of the production environment (at least the important parts of it) in a public cloud and grant access to developers, test engineers, workload owners and more to that environment. After a project is finished, that environment can simply be shut down.

Developers, test engineers and quality control teams love this approach because it allows them to work on production data (while not being on a production environment) and perform testing at scale.

Management likes the pay-as-you-go approach, and more importantly, they find that these scenarios allow the business to work faster and get to market faster with new and improved solutions.

Patching, Updates and Upgrades

Many enterprises have a change advisory board (CAB) that needs to approve all changes (bug fixes, security patches and functionality enhancements) that will happen in a production environment.

The best practice is to implement these as quickly as possible but only after they have been tested thoroughly to prevent any major issues making it to the live environment.

The best way to do this is to mimic your production environment as well as possible when testing changes. Again, this is impossible for most companies due to a lack of resources.

Enter the public cloud again. By using copies of the production environment and restoring them into the public cloud, organizations can conduct effective testing and documenting of all those changes and feed that information into the change request plan. What’s even better is that potential back-out plans can also be tested, so the organization can be prepared in case something wrong still goes into production.

After all the tests and documentation, the environment in the public cloud can be turned off (or even destroyed) to save on costs.

IT professionals will lose less time in setting up those environments, have better documentation of changes and perform better testing that matches the production environment. CAB decision makers can be certain that the upgrades are tested more thoroughly and can sign off easier. And management is reassured that business will not be interrupted by the maintenance performed by different IT teams.

Disaster Recovery Testing

How frequently does your business test its backups or its disaster recovery plans? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Yearly maybe? Or perhaps even never?

In many cases, leadership teams are not even aware of this and believe that these plans are readily available, updated and tested on a regular basis. The reasons why this doesn’t happen are similar to the previous two scenarios: There aren’t enough technical resources, people available to do it or time to do it in.

Can we use the public cloud again for this scenario? The answer is obviously yes, and the way to do this is again very similar to the previous scenarios. By using the latest copies of the production environment, organizations can restore the full production (or specific workloads) to the public cloud, make sure backups are quarantined from the production environment, and perform backup and recovery tasks and tests with speed.

And the cloud brings even more advantages. You don’t need to have the resources on premises, the process takes less time and effort and it’s easier to perform. You gain peace of mind with the knowledge that, even in a worst-case scenario, you can restore your production environment using the public cloud if there are no on-premises resources available.

Conclusion

The public cloud is certainly something that needs to be considered by every business in Egypt. Which scenarios fit your business will depend on your specific environment, and your use cases can only be decided after careful evaluation.

But many day-to-day supporting operations such as the scenarios above can and should be considered by nearly all businesses because they can help save time, money and resources. And even more importantly, the public cloud can help lower the risk of interrupting the production environment during maintenance operations, something which isn’t acceptable anymore in an Always-On™ world.

Booming education sector creates opportunities in Alternative investments across the Middle East

Alternative Real Estate investments gain traction

• Education sector is leading the way as an increased number of real estate investors, developers and builders seek ‘alternative investments’ to diversify their portfolios
• The total school age population within the five major Middle East cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riyadh and Cairo is expected to increase by over 1 million by 2020, resulting in continued demand  to add more schools
• Research by JLL suggests a total of more than 1,100 additional schools will be required across these five cities by 2020, with around 350 schools catering for the growing demand for private education
• JLL will release a major new study entitled ‘School’s In’ at Cityscape Global. This report assesses the opportunities the expanding education sector will create for real estate stakeholders across the region

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2016 – The massive increase in demand for private schools is stimulating interest from real estate investors, developers and builders seeking ‘alternative investments’ as the supply of quality assets in more traditional sectors such as offices, retail, residential and hotels remains limited, according to JLL’s latest report.

To be released as part of Cityscape Global in Dubai, ‘School’s In’ reveals private schools are becoming increasingly preferred in the MENA region. The demand for private education is being driven by both the growth in the number of expatriates and the desire of more national families for better quality education for their children.

“The requirement for around 350 private schools presents significant opportunities for real estate investors, developers and builders,” says Mr. Craig Plumb, Head of Research, MENA, JLL, who will deliver a keynote presentation at the Cityscape Global summit tomorrow.

“The education sector has sparked the interest of many real estate investors right across the MENA region. Private equity firms in particular have been very active in recent years, and they will continue to play a pivotal role in the expansion of the private education sector here.”

Historically, real estate investors and developers in the MENA region have focused on four traditional asset classes - residential, offices, retail and hotels. However, ‘alternative investments’ including the likes of education, healthcare, infrastructure, logistics and student housing have become more popular in recent years.

“The shortage of quality income producing assets in traditional sectors and declining returns in some locations has further prompted the interest in alternative asset classes,” added Mr. Plumb.

“With new investment vehicles facilitating the investment in schools, alternative investments diversify the investor portfolio and have the potential to improve the overall risk-return profile. Both retail investors and institutions are seeking greater exposure to non-correlating alternative investments that provide consistent income with low volatility.”

As the school age population is growing in the region, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah and Cairo all require investment in new private schools by 2020. According to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), the majority of students in the UAE attend private schools, with the total number of students reaching 629,000 last year, 75 per cent of which were in private schools.

While the percentage of pupils in private education is somewhat lower in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, this has been the fastest growing sector of the market in both countries in recent years. Private schools in Saudi Arabia have increased from 5 per cent of new enrolments in 2011 to 11 per cent in 2014. Similarly, in Egypt the private sector accounted for 10 per cent of the total of 18 million students enrolled in the academic year of 2015-2016.

The growing demand for private schools has resulted in strong financial returns from this sector of the market. According to a report prepared by Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) in 2015, private schools in Abu Dhabi earned close to AED 3 billion in profit over the preceding four years. Investment in private schools in Abu Dhabi between 2010 and 2015 reached AED 2.3 billion between 2010-2015, with 45 new private schools being delivered.

“Education is regarded as a lucrative business opportunity,” said Mr. Plumb. The school age population is growing and this is the main attraction for the education sector. In Dubai, for example, we expect the expatriate population to grow at average rate of 4.7 per cent over the next five years, and as expatriate workers move with their families, this creates demand for private education facilities.”

“There are three major drivers of the education sector for real estate investors; the strength of demand, the attractive financial returns available and the alignment of this sector with government policies to improve educational standards across the region.”

Country summary highlights

United Arab Emirates

In its 2021 vision, the UAE Government emphasizes the importance attached to improving the education sector. Following the safety of its people, knowledge was addressed early in the vision summary, indicating the weight it holds.

• Dubai has one of the fastest population growth rates in the region. According to Oxford Economics, Dubai’s population is forecasted to increase from 2.54 million in 2016 to reach 2.90 million people by 2020, representing a CAGR of 3.5% per annum. A total of 53 new schools are likely to be required in Dubai by 2020, with the majority (36 of these) being private schools.

• Abu Dhabi: The population of Abu Dhabi (defined as the Abu Dhabi region, not the entire Emirate) stood at 1.72 million people in 2015. It is estimated that the population will grow at a CAGR of 2.9% per annum between 2016 and 2020 to reach 1.99 million people. Abu Dhabi has a relatively young population with 70% falling below the age of 40 years.  A total of 44 new schools will be required in Abu Dhabi over the next five years, split almost 50:50 between the public and private sectors

Saudi Arabia

Recognizing the need to improve the quality of education in KSA, the government has allocated an average of 23 per cent of the national budget to building new schools and improving existing schools over the past ten years.

• Riyadh: As of 2015, expatriates accounted for 42.1 per cent of Riyadh’s population. Although this percentage is below the level recorded for Jeddah, this segment is expected to reach 42.8 per cent. A total of 395 new schools will be required to house the growing school age population of Riyadh by 2020, with 154 of these in the private sector.

• Jeddah: The school age population in Jeddah currently stands at just over one million students. This number is expected to grow by average 2.2 per cent per annum to reach 1.2 million persons by 2020. The growing school age population will add pressure on existing schools creating an opportunity for the private sector to capture some of the growing demand.  A total of 194 new schools are forecast to be required in Jeddah by 2020, with 67 of these in the private sector.

Egypt

In its “2030 Egypt Vision”, education and training was a main pillar for the Egyptian government. The vision highlights that a high quality education and training system will be available to all, without discrimination within an efficient, just, sustainable and flexible institutional framework, providing the necessary skills to students and trainees to think creatively, and empower them technically and technologically. The students will then be aa  creative, responsible, and competitive citizen who accepts diversity and differences, and is proud of his country’s history.”

Cairo is the largest city in the region and benefits from a young age profile, with 28 per cent of the total population aged between five and 19 years. Cairo is forecast to require a total of 424 new schools by 2020, with 68 of these being in the private sector.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

Given the growth of the school age population (which JLL has defined in the report as 5-19 years of age), and our assumptions regarding the public private split and the average number of students per school for each city, JLL has calculated the total number of additional private schools which will be needed by 2020 as follows:

City	Number of additional private schools needed by 2020
Dubai	53
Abu Dhabi	44
Riyadh	395
Jeddah	194
Cairo	424

*Source  JLL

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Contact:	Kathryn Athreya		Halima Islam
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About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6 billion, JLL has more than 280 corporate offices, operates in 80 countries and has a global workforce of approximately 60,000.  On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 4.0 billion square feet, or 372 million square meters, and completed $138 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $58.3 billion of real estate assets under management.

JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.

About JLL MENA

Across the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, JLL is a leading player in the real estate market and hospitality services market. The firm has worked in 30 Middle Eastern and African countries and has advised clients on real estate, hospitality and infrastructure projects worth over $1 trillion in gross development value. JLL employs over 300 internationally qualified professionals embracing 35 different nationalities across its offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar and Cairo. Combined with the neighbouring offices in Casablanca, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi, the firm employs more than  1,100 staff and provides comprehensive services in the wider Middle East and African (MEA) region. . For further information, visit www.jll.com; www.jll-mena.com; www.jllvantagepoint.com