 Egypt's Sixth of October Development and Investment (Sodic) is looking to expand abroad, and is eyeing Saudi Arabia, in particular, to tap the kingdom's huge demand for real estate.
"We are now casting our net a little bit wider," Ahmed Badrawi, the firm's chief business development officer told Reuters at the Cityscape property exhibition on Monday.
"We are looking at opportunities abroad but we have to compensate for the fact that we are strong in Egypt," he said.
Sodic is looking at residential property opportunities abroad towards the end of 2010, depending on financing, Badrawi said.
"Of all the markets we are looking at, Saudi looks the most interesting. Saudi shows the same trends seen in Egypt."
Construction firms in the region have been eyeing opportunities in the kingdom to diversify their revenues and weather a financial downturn in their home markets.
Earlier this year, Dubai's Arabtec, the largest construction firm in the UAE, launched a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.
"We want to get our mixed-use projects in Egypt right before we repeat them abroad," Badrawi said.
He said the firm is currently focussing on its existing projects, and in December will launch two mixed-use projects in Cairo, Westown and Eastown, which were scheduled to be launched at the end of last year.
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