DURRAT AL BAHRAIN TAKES FINAL STEP BEFORE VILLA HANDOVER WITH OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF DURRAT RESORT MANAGEMENT

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 6 November 2008 – Under the patronage of Mr Abdulhakeem Alkhayatt, Chairman of Durrat Al Bahrain, Durrat Al Bahrain, the Kingdom’s largest planned luxury mixed-use residential, commercial and resort development, will take the final step before beginning the handover of villas to homeowners with the official launch of Durrat Resort Management today.

Abdulhakeen Alkhayatt, Chairman of Durrat Al Bahrain, said, “Today’s launch of Durrat Resort Management is the last stage before we start the handover of villas to homeowners, a process that will start in the next few weeks.  With the launch of Durrat Resort Management, we are now testing and finalising all the services that will support our homeowners’ lives, including utilities, ICT infrastructure and other amenities.  We believe we are helping to create a new standard not only in Bahrain but across the region in community development with our investment in Durrat Resort Management.

Jassim Al Jowder, CEO of Durrat Al Bahrain and MD of Durrat Resort Management, commenting on the official launch of Durrat Resort Management, said, “Ours is a vision that goes beyond the physical development of Durrat Al Bahrain itself.  We want to create a sustainable community that will make a lasting contribution to the development of Bahrain.  To achieve this, we have engaged with Olive-vfm, one of the region’s leading facilities management consultancies, to create a world standard operation to manage and develop the community needs of Durrat Al Bahrain.

“Bahrainis are the foundation of any project in Bahrain and that is why we have recruited a 100% Bahraini team to manage Durrat Resort Management.  Since DRM’s inception last year, we have built up a team of 52 Bahrainis.  With this local talent on board, we now have a strong local management team and a strong team of employees, who will ensure the success of Durrat Resort Management.

“By developing a community infrastructure, we will create a vibrant community where residents and visitors and can live, work and experience the contrasting world of urban living in an island-based resort city.  Too often, this fundamental aspect of large-scale developments does not receive the attention it should from development managers.”

Durrat Resort Management has been established to create the policies, systems and procedures that will manage the community requirements of the $6 billion Durrat Al Bahrain project.

At a formal launch event to be held at the Durrat Al Bahrain site today, guests, including members of the government, Durrat Al Bahrain employees and consultants to the project will be briefed on Durrat Resort Management’s strategy that will ensure Durrat Al Bahrain will lead the Gulf region in community development.

An integral part of Durrat Resort Management’s mission is to create sustainable community facilities that will support the development of informal and formal groups across the Durrat Al Bahrain community, which will number 60,000 permanent residents upon completion.