Danube plans to invest Dh120m in Oman

Muscat: Danube group plans to open four retail stores, including two this year, in Oman, taking the total number of stores to five. The four retail stores are planned in Mabela, Nizwa, Sohar and Salalah with a total investment of Dh120 million.
“Beside our presence in UAE market, we have a strong presence in Oman through our retail stores and we intend to launch two new retail stores this year, and two more retail stores early next year, taking the total number of stores in Oman to five retail stores with investments worth Dh120 million in the cities of Mabela, Nizwa, Sohar and Salalah,” said Rizwan Sajan, the founder and chairman of Danube group.
Regarding expansion programmes in the GCC region, Sajan confirmed that the next two years will witness a significant expansion of Danube group in the GCC markets.
Over the years, Danube has invested Dh300 million in Saudi Arabia by establishing five building materials stores and one retail store. The month of May will see the establishment of Danube Properties’ sales office in Saudi Arabia, to meet the huge demand from Saudi investors to buy properties in Dubai. According to Sajan, this is their second sales office after establishing their first sales office abroad in India last month.
The past few years we have seen a large influx by Saudi tourists to Dubai. According to the Department of Tourism in Dubai, as many as 295,000 Saudi tourists visited Dubai during January and February month of this year while 223,000 tourists flew in from Oman to Dubai with 35 per cent growth.
According to Sajan, buyers of all Danube projects in Al Furjan and Discovery Gardens, can make 10 per cent return on their investment once they decide to rent out their property thanks to the payment of 1 per cent without any interest plan."If the buyer has purchased the unit (studio), for example, in one of our projects, where the cost of the studio range between AED 450,000 and AED 500,000 in Al Furjan area, which is an important strategic area as it is located in Jebel Ali, which serves as the headquarter of major international companies, near the metro line and very close to Dubai Expolocation which Dubai will host in 2020. That is why Al Furjan has become a preferred destination for real estate investors. The buyer will achieve an return on investment of Dh50,000 yearly, which is about 10 per cent of the total value of the property and when one has already Dh250,000 by the time we handover the apartment, it becomes easier from there on.”
Danube will invest Dh50 million to open their first retail store in Qatar early next year.
In Bahrain, Sajan said that they have established a building materials store as well as a retail store with a total investment of about Dh200 million.
Sajan considers UAE as Danube group’s headquarters and considered and the heart of their worldwide operations. To strengthen their business here, Danube will be opening two new retail stores this year, with an estimated investment of Dh50 million.
With regards to the real estate sector in Dubai, Sajan revealed that their Danube Properties portfolio has reached an impressive Dh1.8 billion, Sajan said that "Danube Properties” recently launched its sixth real estate project while confirming that all other five are 100 per cent sold out.