Dubai: Meydan will continue to develop components of the horseracing-themed city as the economies of Dubai and the UAE show clear signs of a return to health, a senior official said yesterday.
"I think it is important to realise that the market is now showing signs of a return to health. Institutions and financial organisations that are working with project developers like us will benefit from this turnaround," Meydan chairman and chief executive Saeed Humaid Al Tayer told Gulf News.
"People with a proactive approach, those who are ready to go full throttle when the opportunity comes, will benefit and make headway," he said on the sidelines of a media briefing to announce that Meydan has tied up a long-term financing strategy with India's IDBI Bank.
The financing, whose size, tenor or rate were not revealed, will be used for roads, utilities and telecommunications infrastructure as more elements of the Meydan master plan are developed, Al Tayer said.
This is the first infrastructure-financing deal for IDBI Bank outside India, closed through its subsidiary based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
IDBI Bank deputy managing director Bharat Pal Singh said the financing deal is the largest for an infrastructure project in the Middle East for IDBI Bank to date, and is also the bank's first overseas financing of its kind.
The launch of a signature mall is top priority for Meydan, Al Tayer said. "We are working with strategic partners to evaluate the commencement of the signature mall. That is the highest priority on our list now," he told Gulf News.
"We are working on finalising a partner. When things are signed and sealed and we are happily married, we will announce it." he said.
