MASDAR GREEN REIT

His Excellency Abdulla Ahmed Balala is the chairman of Masdar City and Abu Dhabi's assistant minister for energy transition and sustainability affairs.

A seasoned commercial executive, urban planner, and civil engineer, H.E. has extensive expertise in developing strategies to accelerate profitable commercialization and partnership development for large-scale projects. This includes sustainable urban developments, some of which have required creative bespoke solutions, as well as asset monetization and optimization of financial operations. 

H.E. oversees development and operations at Masdar City, driving the growth of its strategy, partnerships, and industry clusters. He also led the successful establishment of the Masdar Green REIT, first green REIT in the MENA region, which is now worth over AED 2.8 billion. H.E. also serves on several boards of directors including Ennovate LLC, Masdar EDF ESCO JV, and Emerge Limited.

Previously, Balalaa served as the executive director of sustainable real estate and the director of real estate development and asset management in Masdar's Sustainable Real Estate Division, where he was responsible for formulating and executing strategies to establish Masdar City as a global R&D hub. 

He holds an executive education degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Paris Sorbonne University, a leadership diploma co-validated by the University of Cambridge Abu Dhabi, and a bachelor’s degree in applied science and civil engineering from the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi.

Francisco Galan is the director of development and portfolio management at Masdar City. He is responsible for development and investment in residential and commercial projects across their full cycle, and for management of Masdar City’s real estate portfolio.

Galan leads the Masdar Green REIT, the first real estate investment trust in the UAE to invest solely in sustainable assets. The REIT’s portfolio currently includes 11 commercial properties in Masdar City with a value of around AED 2.8 billion.

A real estate industry veteran with over 20 years’ experience, Galan joined Masdar in 2016 as senior development manager, responsible for phases 1 and 3 of the Etihad Eco Residences project. Before joining Masdar, he was the general manager for auction.com, an online real estate platform in his native Spain. He has also held management positions at Hines Interests Spain.

Galan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management, a post-graduate diploma in urbanism and real estate development, and a master’s degree in finance from IE Business School.