LAHORE: In various government-to-government and business-to-business meetings held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) and the business community, investors pledged to invest around $600 million in various sections of the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project.

The pledges were made on the eve of the three-day Dubai International Property Show (IPS)-2023. During the three-day IPS event, the Ruda authorities represented Pakistan, attracting interested international investors, expatriate Pakistanis, and visitors from various business backgrounds. The authority, according to Ruda CEO Imran Amin, signed seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) at the event and four of the investors visited Pakistan for a site visit to mature the MoUs.

After the IPS event, 15 meetings with various parties were held, of which eight were successful and productive leading to portfolio management and inventory liquidation with different firms covering avenues like G2G, B2B and PPP projects generating the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of $600 million.

The authorities visited Dubai this week to explore best practices of G2G and PPP projects, H&S Global which is playing a leading role in servicing development giants like Emaar and Damac and ISHRAQ, a hospitality industry firm with a diversified portfolio of hotel property brands.

“These meetings provided an opportunity for Ruda to explore potential collaboration opportunities and promote its development projects to a wider audience. The follow-up visit to the UAE was also an excellent opportunity for Ruda to build on the success of our participation in IPS,” said CEO Imran Amin in a statement on Friday.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2023