Emaar names new chairman and Mohamed Alabbar as managing director

Jamal Bin Theniyah was appointed chairman and Ahmed Jawa as vice-chairman

Emaar Development n Sunday named Adnan Kazim as its new chairman following a rule change by the markets regulator stating boards should not be chaired by directors with executive responsibility. Former chairman Mohamed Alabbar remains an executive board member. Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergShow less

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed developer by market capitalisaiton, named founder and previous chairman Mohamed Alabbar as its new managing director.

The company appointed Jamal Bin Theniyah as chairman.

The decision was taken to comply with regulations that prohibit combining the chairmanship with another executive position in the company, Emaar said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade. Ahmed Jawa was also appointed as vice-chairman.

Last week, Mr Alabbar said Emaar was holding back on launching new projects to help improve market conditions in Dubai in the wake of an oversupply and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government entities decided to stop new developments almost a year back but Covid definitely put the brakes on," Mr Alabbar told a UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit held as part of the Gitex technology exhibition.

Dubai's real estate market has slowed after a drop in oil prices that began in 2014, in tandem with an oversupply in the market as projects are completed. JLL's third-quarter UAE Real Estate Market report said about 26,000 new homes were scheduled for completion in the final quarter of this year.

The total stock at the end of the third quarter was 585,000 homes, the consultancy said.

A higher committee for real estate led by Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed was established in September last year to rebalance a market where concerns of oversupply have pushed prices lower in recent years.

The committee was formed to ensure that semi-government property companies did not compete with the private sector and to develop a strategic plan across the emirate for the next 10 years.