Minister of Municipality and Chairman of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, H E Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah
Doha, Qatar: Qatar has a unique opportunity to lead the use of artificial intelligence in urban planning and smart cities, enhancing the sustainability and accelerating its pace.
Speaking at panel discussion entitled ‘Global Real Estate Horizons: Navigating Growth & Demand’ during the Qatar Economic Forum, Minister of Municipality and Chairman of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, H E Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah highlighted how the real estate remains among resilient economic sectors despite the challenges, considering that understanding local culture and consumer behavior is the basis for successful real estate investment.
As far as real estate Qatar, he pointed out that Qatar is the safest country in the world with best schools. “We are building on these values to provide a different and safer lifestyle, and this is what we are showcasing in our smart cities.”
Qatar National Vision 2030 was built on learning from others when it comes to the infrastructure. “We have the best infrastructure in the world. Our infrastructure is the most ready infrastructure to utilise AI because we have all the data. I believe that the Gulf as a whole has a unique opportunity to actually lead in smart cities and use of AI in our urban planning,” Minister Al-Attiyah said.
Replying to query about the US President’s visit in the region, the Minister said, it’s a historic visit; it’s the first time an official state visit of the US President to Qatar. We were very proud of this visit and this highlights the great relationship that we have with the United States and we will continue to have.”
He mentioned that Qatari Diar signed a strategic agreement with Dar Global to develop Trump International Golf Club — a luxury 18-hole golf course, golf club and an exclusive collection of Trump-branded luxury villas, as part of the landmark Simaisma coastal project located 40 kilometres north of Doha.
“The actual negotiation happened in October of last year, we were very happy about this partnership. One of our biggest touristic destination projects, which is Simaisma. The heart of Simaisma will be the Land of Legends, a huge theme park, and it will have the golf course,” he added.
Post World Cup, Qatar has gained a big movement in infrastructure. According to IMD World Smart Cities rankings, “we are considered number one globally in basic infrastructure. So, we have built our infrastructure on that success by building tourism. We have a very clear focus for Qatar and a very big focus on family tourism, So Simaisma will be a great project for that.”
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Looking at numbers that took place in the first quarter of 2025 on cross-border investment between countries, Minister Al-Attiya said, there was an increase of 57%, which shows that the capital is there, but you need to be selective about where the capital goes.
He noted that global real estate transaction figures show strong signs of recovery.
The value of transactions in the Americas, in the first quarter reached $93bn which is an increase of 37% from the first quarter of last year. In Europe, Middle East and Africa it was $55bn which is a 41 percent increase from last year and in Asia they actually achieved $36bn which is 20% increase compared to same period in last year.
The appetite for real estate will always be there. The boom of AI is amazing, but there is an opportunity and a window that needs to be captured.
“I always believe that the biggest place that can invest in AI is the Middle East because we already are prepared, we have a very modern infrastructure, the cheapest energy in the world and all the infrastructure ready for databases,” he said.
The Minister added, “I think real estate globally is picking up from where it was last year, and there are very good opportunities, interest rates are coming down, and I believe they will continue to come down.
“We are very excited and believe that the market will grow this year globally, but obviously, some uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and trade policies will put pressure on it.”
