If you think the headline seems a little juxtaposed, you’re wrong. But I guess there are many out there that would agree with me. This is a great time to pick up good quality but undervalued assets, expanding, as prices have dipped. There are of course still lots of potholes on the road to recovery, but a smooth ride is never what the stockmarket nor the economy has ever promised since the dawn of the industrial age.

Despite mounting personal debt by thousands of professionals, and potentially looming mortgage crisis since the real estate bubble in the smaller Middle East cities of Qatar and Dubai hit quite badly. Especially in Dubai which is one of the most populous of the seven emirates, which was turned into a gigantic construction site since 2006. Several property developments  there have come to a grounding halt. The rusting foundations and oversized cranes are but just a reminder of a real estate boom that has just gone Ka-boom.

But the middle eastern countries rich with money from their oil and gas fields are not so easily defeated, by financial meltdown in downtown New York, or collapse of large American financial institutions or car manufacturers. They’ve just pick themselves up, dust off some of the gritty desert sand, and keep on going.

Qatar announced a 20 billion riyal (S$7.9 billion) development project to rejuvenate 35 hectares of the capital’s downtown, the project developer said on Sunday. The five-phase Heart of Doha project, scheduled for completion in 2016, will include 226 buildings and more than 12 hectares of open space, Dohaland, a subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation, said in a press release. A national archive, a 500-700 person auditorium, three hotels and a primary school will be constructed, Dohaland said.

As for the UAE, where about 5% of construction projects being canceled,  another 14% put on hold, there is still a huge over capacity of hotel rooms. Despite all these, with the slowly recovering global economy, it is anticipated that many of these uncompleted projects should resume construction in the later part of 2010.

Many of the super wealthy individuals, have their private asset value reduced as a result of the global economic and financial crisis, but many of them are still enjoying positive cash flow and some that are more prudent in investing, have maintained healthy balance sheet. They are now looking to recapture some of the distressed assets that have potential.

China has also been fairly active since the global economic and financial crisis. With real financial muscle, China is presently supporting lot of the bad debt that is coming out of America and Europe. But at the same time, they are taking the golden opportunity to strengthen their position in Central Asia, and South East Asia.

China is reluctant to dump good money after bad money and funding bad financial and business practices in America and Europe.  But are willing to dish out thick wads of cash to help the Central Asian states to its west, handing over a US$10 billion loan to cash-strapped Kazakhstan in April and stepping up construction projects and investment from Ashgabat to Bishkek.

Many Chinese nationals are also purchasing property in Singapore, Malaysia and in Hong Kong, where prices have come down considerably, making it even more attractive for them to snap up choice premium units.

In time perhaps, we will see a new balance of power, shifting from the west to the east.