Sharjah woodland project: $125m in contracts awarded for first phase of Masaar development

Construction of the first residential phase of Masaar, Sharjah's woodland community project, is set to begin after two major contracts worth Dh460 million ($125m) were awarded.

The project will have 4,000 villas and townhouses in eight gate districts, and a “green spine” of 50,000 trees. It will cover an area of 19 million square feet.

A contact worth Dh228m was awarded by developer Arada to Kuwait’s Mohammed Abdulmohsen Al-Kharafi & Sons (Al-Kharafi) to build 142 villas in the Sendian district.

A second contract worth Dh232m was won by Sharjah-based contractor Intermass to build the remaining 288 homes in the Sendian district.

Arada said construction will begin immediately and work will take 14 months to complete. The entire Masaar master plan is expected to take seven years to complete, Arada said last year.

“These contracts are a key moment in Masaar’s journey to completion, and we have agreed [on] an accelerated construction programme with the contractor in order to deliver Sendian rapidly, efficiently and to an exceptional level of quality,” said Arada group chief executive Ahmed Alkhoshaibi.

The area will also feature an experience centre that is set to open in June, which will include a children's adventure playground, a skate park, an outdoor amphitheatre and Zad, the popular food district already present within Arada’s sister community Aljada.

In March, Arada awarded a Dh75m contract to Sharjah-based contractor Al Marwan General Contracting Company for infrastructure works at the central precinct and the buffer zone in Masaar.

Containing thousands of trees, the buffer zone will feature a two professional looped cycling and jogging tracks, each 6.6 kilometres in length.

A further Dh43 million contract for landscape works was awarded for the same areas in Masaar to Al Qalamoon Garden Designers, also based in Sharjah.

Arada said all homes in the Sendian district are now sold out, while homes in Masaar’s second phase, Kaya, were put up for sale in October 2021.

The developer will bring forward the launch of the third phase of the community to this quarter, “thanks to strong buyer demand”.

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

Zidane's managerial achievements

La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE

Flexible work arrangements
Pension support
Mental well-being assistance
Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
Financial well-being incentives

What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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