The 5th Annual IPD/SAPOA property investment conference scheduled for next month, aptly themed “Globalization for Growth”, aims to answer exactly that question.

Well known for its high level of international and local speakers, the 2007 conference is expected to raise the bar even further, showcasing global views from participants like Hans Timmer from the World Bank, Nick Tyrrell from JP Morgan UK, David Rees of Mirvac, Australia and Patrick Sumner of Henderson Global Investors, UK.

International input is only one piece of the picture, however, and the conference includes a line-up of local property heavyweights who will be adding their experience and insight into the mix.

One of those local heavyweights is Colin Young,  Head Institutional Property Investments at  Old Mutual Investment Group: Property Investments, the lead conference sponsor  and one of the leading property asset managers in SA.

He has the task of setting the scene for the conference and kicks off on the first day with a look at how SA can best attract more foreign investors.

“It’s all about scale and size. And although SA  has been one of the top performers  in the global context  according to IPD over the past three years , foreign investors still own less than  3 % of listed property  sector , which is  very  low,” explains Young, who keeps abreast of what world-wide property investment companies are looking for in the international market.

“SA needs to move to a globally recognizable REIT structure, build up the scale of our  listed and unlisted investment offerings by investing both locally and offshore,  whilst keeping  property investments as liquid as possible.”

Want to know more? Other panel discussions will tackle the question of globalization and what it means for property investment in SA and what the property investment sector should be doing to prepare for escalating capital inflows.

The conference is being held on 14-16 November 2007 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Cape Town’s Foreshore.