By Elsa Baxter www.arabianbusiness.com
The last batch of retail outlets on the Dubai Metro are being offered for lease, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Thursday.
More than 80 percent of the Red Line’s shops have been awarded to companies, the RTA said in a statement on Thursday.
“Contracts are being awarded through bids that witnessed intense participation in a way that reasserts the confidence pinned by investors in the economy of the emirate, and endorses the investment potentials created by the investment facilities on offer” said Abdul Mohsin Ibrahim, CEO of RTA strategy and corporate governance sector.
“Tens of thousands of commuters are now using the metro in their travels, thereby creating one of the most attractive opportunities in retail sector in Dubai.
In the three months since Dubai Metro opened on September 9 about six million passengers have used the Red Line.
Official figures released earlier this week revealed more passengers are using the metro each month.
In September a total of 1,198,699 people made a journey on the metro. In October this rose to 1,762,816 passengers and in November it reached 1,904,956.
“The RTA is currently tendering the remaining 26 outlets amid a remarkable increase in the number of offers made by companies which intend to invest in the retail outlets offered by the RTA,” Ibrahim said.
Several big companies have rented retail outlets on the metro, including UAE Exchange, Community Health, Netlink’s Internet Heroes, al Shaya Food and Beverages, Starbucks, Alphamed Group, Tradeline, LLC’s Chowking, Fresh Fruits company, and EPCCO’s Aqua.
