Nasser al-Sheikh, chairman of the Dubai-based mortgage lender Amlak Finance, says he is aiming for a 70 percent rise in 2008 profit on increased lending at home and contributions from foreign operations.

Sheikh told Reuters Islamic Finance summit in Dubai that Amlak would be “more aggressive” in its core business.

Hussain al-Qemzi, Noor Islamic Bank chief executive, tells Reuters Islamic Finance summit that Islamic banks are now part and parcel of the global banking industry. Qemzi is seeking to expand his United Arab Emirates-based bank to become the world’s largest Islamic bank in five years. 

 Asif Mumtaz, regional head of HSBC’s Islamic finance arm HSBC Amanah, called for more innovation to move Islamic banking further towards the industry’s mainstream. Mumtaz told a Reuters Islamic Finance summit in Dubai that there remained plenty to do in the areas of regulation and human development.

When one of the leaders of General Electric’s real estate operations travels to scope out opportunities in the U.S. or elsewhere, he uses his plane’s landing as a chance to scan a city’s skyline for an overabundance of cranes.

Too much construction is often a bad sign, indicating excess supply and possibly disappointing prices, Alec Burger, head of GE Real Estate’s North American lending division, told the Reuters Global Real Estate Summit. Of course, the parent company might not exit a crowded skyline emptyhanded — GE’s leasing arm helps builders obtain cranes worldwide.

Click here to hear Burger on the predictive power of construction equipment.

Mass-market retailers putting together their orders for the holiday season might want to prepare for the worst. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, said home price weakness may well worsen in the autumn, hurting consumer sentiment and retail demand heading into the end of the year. “I think retailing will be very, very soft, particularly for lower, middle-income households,” he told the Reuters Global Real Estate Summit in New York. However, luxury retailers should do fine as the well-off will be relatively unscathed by a housing downturn, Zandi said.

Dubai’s Istithmar will decide in the next month on whether to buy a controlling stake in a $4 billion Western European media company, the chief executive of the government-owned investment agency said. CEO David Jackson sets out the facts to Reuters Middle East investment Summit.

Taqa CEO Peter Barker-Homek gives Reuters Middle East Summit the latest details about the energy company’s purchasing plans for this year.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. chief operating officer Waleed al-Mokarrab al-Muhairi outlines the key difference between Mubadala and other investment firms. The company said on Monday it was considering bids from as many as 10 telecom firms to set up operations in Nigeria after securing a licence in Africa’s most populous country.

Dubai International Financial Exchange Chairman Henry Azzam talks oil — and what happens if crude prices stay above $60 a barrel. Azzam told Reuters Middle East Investment Summit that oil prices need to stay above $60 a barrel to prompt a recovery in Gulf equity markets by boosting investor confidence.

Dubai International Financial Centre CEO Nasser al-Shaali tells Reuters Middle East investment Summit about the importance of gaining a critical mass in Islamic finance to further expand its global reach.