Dubai-based developer Omniyat Properties will focus on completing its launched projects this year before considering expanding outside the emirate, as a result of the global financial crisis.

'It's part of our long-term strategy to go international but with what's happening in the world, this is not the year to do it,' chief executive Peter Walichnowski said yesterday, adding that it would not launch any new projects this year.

'We believe that just focusing on the nine projects we have in Dubai and launching our asset management division is enough for us to do this year.'

Omniyat Holdings, the parent company of the private developer, launched Omniyat Asset Management yesterday.

The private developer has launched nine projects in Dubai worth around 13.5 billion UAE dirhams ($3.68 billion) and is on track to deliver three projects a year as planned, with the first three due in the second quarter of this year.

Six projects are under design phase 'for some time to come', the firm's executive chairman Mehdi Amjad said.

The company's total development portfolio is valued at around 28 billion dirhams, Walichnowski said.

In November, Omniyat Properties cut 69 jobs, but there would be no adjustments required in the future, Amjad said.-TradeArabia News Service