REBEC 2023: Meeting the Already Ongoing Future

Representatives and leaders of the biggest companies in the field of real estate development will meet from June 19 through 21 in Belgrade at one of the leading specialized event events in Southeast Europe, called REBEC 2023.

For the sixteenth time in a row, Belgrade will host the most prominent representatives of international companies from more than 40 countries, responsible for shaping the global trends in the field of real estate development.

During the three days of the event, through 26 panels, the burning issues from the fields of the development of hotel management, retail, offices, logistics and industries, as well as apartment building, will be presented. We will present new tendencies in legislative procedures, banking, as well as new trends in modern urban planning and architecture.

The participants of this year’s REBEC come from the following companies: Bogl Architects, IBI Group, Immofinanz, Colliers, Coreside / Savills, Reify, mstep, Louvre Hotels, Accor, Hyatt, Radisson group, PlanRadar, Ecovis SEE, MPC Properties, Delta Real Estate, CTP, Alpha Hotel Management, alfa real estate, Besico, RealPad, Art Strategies Group, Danubius Hotels, Maxmakres, Isson asset management, Bigova Bay, STR, Conza Properties, Kadena Properties, "Desk & More", spaceOS, Marera Construction, SF1 Group, Liburnia hotels & Villas, Lovric Novokmet Partners, Horwath HTL Budapaest & Belgrade, SOM, Home Capital Group, SMC International, Optim PM, complexRE, Erste Bank Novi Sad A.D, Leko Architects, Domotex … And many others.

A big transformation of the global society

In the post-Covid era, which is characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and inflation movements, there are many questions converging into a single topic. The world as we know it is moving toward a significant transformation, like a larva which shortly turns into a butterfly. The upcoming metamorphosis, as well as the accelerated changing of the regulations, are visible all around us, although we are not capable of grasping the true dimensions of the coming changes. For that reason, one of the leading topics of this year’s REBEC will be the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) regulations, that is, the ESG set of business conduct standards.

Investors, as the first in the chain of decision-makers, already use the ESG principles in rating potential investments. This set of standards will be not just inevitable in decision-making, but also fully regulated in all phases of development of all kinds of real estate projects. Companies which fail to implement ESG standards will soon cease to exist. European regulations will condition foreign companies to operate exclusively with companies which comply with ESG principles. The supply chain of all raw materials, assemblies and services by a partner – producer on one project will also be limited by and conditioned on compliance with the ESG procedures.

Responsible business operations, internal control and reduction of all risks arising from unethical business practices are increasingly encouraged and this change is inevitable if a company even wants to exist in the business world in the coming era. Digitization is also on the trail of the big global transformation, as is the unusually accelerated tempo of the development of artificial intelligence.

Everything, from science, through business, to the society itself, will be transformed. The positive influence on human creativity and productivity will be enormous.

Companies will have to radically reassess how jobs are done. Focus needs to be placed on the development of operations, compliance with procedures and the training of people, just as much as on the technology.

Already now, companies need a strong digital core and investments in people so as to responsibly use the value of AI.

Will the CO2 footprint wake us up and orient us in a positive direction?

The reduction of carbon emissions and the raising of energy efficiency are crucial to the real estate sector, guided precisely by the Paris Agreement and EU regulations, but also the demand and the new requests of the tenants and investors. REBEC 2023 will pose the question: how does said industry react to these changes and what are the key trends in the sense of transformation toward a future with low carbon emissions?

It is necessary to have a discussion about how these trends affect capital flows and decisions on investments, which strategies are in place for the solving of decarbonization with the reduction of the risk of blocking the assets, what the upcoming regulatory driving engines are in terms of ESG, as well as which strategies exist that can be used to reduce the risk to a minimum and protect the property in the future.

It should be emphasized that, even before Covid, European engineering legislatives focused on favoring a greater use of natural materials, especially wood and stone, in the material content of the investment projects dedicated to real estate development. In the post-Covid period, the topic of the energy sustainability of the planet was launched, in the sense of the balance and the burden of the production and consumption, especially from renewable sources.

Some types of real estate projects that we can see simply as “hectares under a roof” are becoming increasingly interesting for the financing and construction of solar power plants on those roofs. Industry and logistics, shopping mall and retail park project, and less so apartment and office space buildings, belong among the projects which are ideal for the construction of these installations. In Serbia it is necessary to constantly upgrade the existing laws which systematically regulate this field.

Where are we compared to the region and the wider environment?

The Western Balkans project is becoming complete. The value of the real estate market of Serbia has been estimated at around EUR 7.5 billion, based on the transactions realized last year, which are statistically recorded by the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGA). It should also be noted that there has been a range of very valuable transactions (already implemented or in the phase of final realization), namely: in office products on two building portfolios, on one part of a block of office buildings and on one spv logistics project, on three transactions in the hotel sector entailing existing hotels, several grand residential locations have changed ownership, and they were owned by companies, and through several agreements on the basis of management contracts by world hotel brands in locations in Subotica, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Nis and on Kopaonik. When we look at everything listed here in terms of the value of those properties, we can add to said annual number from the RGA another EUR 500 to 600 million.

In comparison with the surrounding real estate markets, relative to the number of citizens and the GDP, Serbia is slowly, but surely, climbing toward the top of the regional list, as sufficiently acceptable and sustainable from the aspect of business risks, the degree of investment return and the adequate quality of the provided services.

Belgrade is the only major city in the region between Milan, Istanbul, Budapest and Athens.

This year as well, REBEC will make its modest contribution to Belgrade’s said status, gathering numerous regionally and internationally important speakers and visitors.

We will see you from June 18 through 21 at the programs and features you can find at www.rebec.rs

Immofinanz Services d.o.o. Beograd

Colliers international d.o.o Beograd

Coreside d.o.o. Beograd

PlanRadar d.o.o. Zagreb

Balkans Real Estate d.o.o. Beograd

Ecovis SEE d.o.o. Beograd

Delta Real Estate d.o.o. Beograd

CTP invest d.o.o. Beograd

Alfa Real Estate d.o.o. Beograd

BESICO REAL ESTATE d.o.o. Beograd

Bigova Bay d.o.o. Kotor

Kadena properties doo Beograd

Marera Construction doo Kraljevo

Horwath HTL d.o.o. Beograd

SMC INTERNATIONAL DOO

Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad

Leko Arhitekte internacional Beograd

Bogl Architects

IBI Group

Immofinanz

Colliers

Coreside Savills

Reify

mstep

Louvre Hotels

Accor

Hyatt

Radisson group

PlanRadar

Ecovis SEE

MPC Properties

Delta Real Estate

CTP

Alpha Hotel Management

alfa real estate

Besico

RealPad

Art Strategies Group

Danubius Hotels

Maxmakres

Isson asset management

Bigova Bay

STR

Conza Properties

Kadena Properties

Desk and More

spaceOS

Marera Construction

SF1 Group

Liburnia hotels and Villas

Lovrić Novokmet Partners

Horwath HTL Budapaest and Belgrade

SOM

Home Capital Group

SMC International

Optim PM

complexRE

Erste Bank Novi Sad AD

Leko Architects

Domotex

REBEC 2023

real estate conference