In the presence of Engineer Sherif El-Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, the second edition of "The Investor... Real Estate" conference, organized by Black Diamond, a leading conference and exhibition organizer, has kicked off, Tuesday, at the Nile Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Cairo, under the theme "Real Estate... Challenges, Initiatives, and Financing Solutions."

The conference held in several sessions, including an opening session featuring speeches by Eng. Ahmed Sabour, Secretary General of the Investor Conferences; Eng. Hesham Shoukry, Chairman of the Real Estate Export Council and Secretary General of the conference; Dr. Khaled Seddik, Chairman of the Urban Development Fund; Dr. Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority; and Eng. Sherif El Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities.

The first session, titled "Bank Financing: An Obstacle to the Launch of Egyptian Real Estate," will be moderated by Eng. Ayman Amer, General Manager of SODIC. It will include several important subtopics, such as the impact of rising bank interest rates on real estate companies, the obstacles facing financing real estate units under construction, how the real estate market and state projects can benefit from activating real estate financing, and an evaluation of the "off-plan sales" model and the need to change it. The session will feature: Mr. Mohamed El Etreby, CEO of the National Bank of Egypt; Mr. Ahmed Issa, Vice Chairman of Banque Misr; Mr. Akef El Maghraby, CEO of the Suez Canal Bank; Mr. Mohamed El Sayyad, Vice Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority; Eng. Abdullah Salam, CEO of Madinet Misr; and Eng. Ahmed El Adawy, CEO of Inertia.

The second session, titled "Challenges of the Real Estate Market in 2025. Moderated by Eng. Sherif Mostafa, CEO and Managing Director of IGI. It addressed the impact of the changes the real estate market will witness in 2025 in terms of sales, demand, and payment methods on the industry. It also addressed the need for a regulatory body to regulate the relationship between all parties (developer, financier, client, and broker), the role of real estate funds, and the possibility of companies relying on crowd funding. The session featured the participation of Eng. Fathallah Fawzy, Chairman of the Building and Construction Committee of the Egyptian Businessmen Association; Eng. Tamer Erfan, CEO of Mint Real Estate; Eng. Walid Mokhtar, CEO of Ewan; Eng. Ahmed Amin Masoud, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Memaar Al Ashraf; Eng. Fadi Abdullah, CEO of Urban Lines; and Ms. Sally George, Director General of Investment Funds at the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority.

The conference included the signing of a partnership agreement between the Kuwaiti company "Urbnlanes", a subsidiary of Emile Abdullah Investment Group, and Story-Hospitality, which manages a group of prominent hotel and commercial brands around the world and is affiliated with Abu Dhabi Capital Group, one of the most prominent Emirati investment companies.