Dubai Real Estate Corporation (DREC), announced the establishment of ‘wasl’, an asset management group to oversee its rapidly expanding asset portfolio.

Key business areas that ‘wasl’ will be focusing on are project management, property management, hospitality and investment.

In line with its long term strategic ambitions wasl’s project management capability will cover residential, commercial, retail, light-industrial, public utilities, educational institutions, leisure and entertainment sectors.

The divisions are expected to eventually operate as independent business units, while remaining committed to wasl’s global benchmark of business excellence in day-to-day operations.

DREC chairman Ahmad Bin Byat  said growth was paramount in Dubai’s mandate for the real estate sector and as an organization that manages a sizeable land bank for Dubai, DREC and its new subsidiary, wasl would contribute to the city’s strategic goals for the sector and beyond.

'What makes this launch even more noteworthy is that wasl will take the key experiences from Dubai’s real estate sector growth to new levels of innovation and excellence,' he noted.

Hesham Al Qassim, DREC chief executive officer, will simultaneously lead the ‘wasl’ group operations in the same capacity.

He said: “The launch of the new entity is in line with DREC’s endeavours to expand its asset base, and multiply its existing resources through investments in a richly diversified portfolio. This is a natural progression of our ambition to grow into a globally competitive enterprise.”

The newly formed entity’s vision is ‘to value and be valued’ by its stakeholders and holds the core values of people, integrity, diligence, innovation and transparency. ’wasl’ will function as a customer-centric, knowledge oriented corporation, founded on a firm commitment to its employees, shareholders and the community.

Al Qassim added: “The name, ‘wasl’ represents our connection to the past, our current stature and our vision for the future. ‘Wasl’, which stands for connection in Arabic, and given its history in Dubai also energizes our mission of creating a legacy by acting responsibly and encouraging initiative, developing transferable knowledge and expertise and building trust and respect.'

'Moreover, this is really an exciting period for our team. As key contributors to the growth of Dubai, we have spearheaded the creation of Dubai’s initial infrastructure of residential apartments, villas, commercial offices, shops, warehouses, showrooms and industrial areas. Today, with the launch of ‘wasl’, we are poised to take our contributions to the next level by securing a more sustainable growth for Dubai in the real estate sector and beyond.'

In achieving its ambitious objectives, ’wasl’ will endeavor to create a synergy between its distinctive business units and develop a robust Knowledge Value Chain within the Company.-TradeArabia News Service