His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, today inaugurated the first session of the First Arab Land Conference, which was organised by Dubai Land Department (DLD) and will run from 26th to 28th February.
The conference is taking place under a ‘Toward Sustainable Urban Development’ theme during UAE Innovation Month 2018 in partnership with the World Bank, the Global Land Tool Network, UN-HABITAT, the League of Arab States and the Arab Surveying Union. Some of the organiser’s most important objectives are to share knowledge, develop regional cooperation, develop capacity, innovate in land management and real estate reform, and promote social and economic development in the Arab region.
During his speech, the minister discussed how the world has witnessed sweeping changes in urbanisation over the past few decades, which he attributed to various factors including population growth, economic development, urbanisation, climate change and land use changes. He confirmed that the UAE has faced a similar challenge for the past four decades, as both the population and urban areas have grown significantly. However, thanks to the prudent approach of the UAE’s leadership, the country has kept abreast of these changes and mitigated their social, economic and environmental impact. In the UAE, policies for urban planning and land management are firmly based on a profound understanding of the drivers of urban development. These policies also forecast future variables and how to prepare for them.
During the panel discussions of the First Arab Land Conference, His Excellency Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of DLD, praised the unprecedented achievements and developments made by DLD, which have been achieved on a regional and global level since the department’s inception in 1960. He also highlighted what has been achieved during this period, especially in relation to the segregation of land owned by the government and land granted to individuals, as there are no land claims in Dubai.
Bin Mejren added: “We are proud of the vital role that DLD plays in protecting the rights of all investors, including women, who now own about 30% of Dubai’s properties. We are also proud of DLD’s database, which verifies the ownership of 220 different nationalities in Dubai’s real estate market.”
Bin Mejren pointed out that 16 real estate development laws have been issued in order to provide the best services, stressing that Dubai follows regulations that allow customers to register their properties within 30 minutes, especially as all real estate data is registered in DLD’s database.
Bin Mejren added: “The initial registry law was first established in Dubai in 2008 and then amended in 2013, with Dubai registering over 75,000 real estate transactions annually. DLD has accomplished several achievements, including the transformation of its system with Blockchain technology. Over the next two years, we also look forward to launching our self-registration system, which enables customers to register from anywhere around the world, even if outside Dubai.”
The first day of the First Arab Land Conference included a high-level opening session that featured the presentations from a number of officials on many topics, including ‘The perspective of Arab countries on the importance of good land governance and land management to promote social and economic development’, and ‘The role of land professionals in promoting good land governance and management in the Arab region’. Other topics included ‘Application of geospatial information management and new technologies in support of good land governance and land management’, ‘How land governance can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in the Arab States’, and ‘Land governance reform: a global perspective’.
During the second session, the speakers addressed access to land for real estate, sustainable business and investment, with the main topics discussed including ‘Land management and agricultural investment: challenges and lessons from the Sudan perspective’, ‘New technologies to support land registration systems, property and property valuation policies and taxes’, and ‘Dubai rich experience in access to land for real estate, sustainable business and investment’, in addition to other subjects.
The third session was divided into three parallel technical sessions, which discussed: ‘Women’s land and property rights’, ‘Protection of land and property rights of displaced people and refugees’ and ‘New technologies to support land and real estate registration systems, property valuation and taxation policies’.
Similarly, the fourth session was divided into three parallel technical sessions which discussed: ‘Capacity Development on Land Governance in North Africa’, ‘Access to land for sustainable business and investment’, and ‘New technologies to support land and real estate registration systems, property valuation and taxation policies’.