Tiger Real Estate to invest Dh2b in property development in Syria
Tiger Real Estate, part of the Sharjah-based Tiger Group, will invest nearly Dh2 billion in a series of projects in Syria, including the 50-storey Damascus World Trade Centre.
Tiger Real Estate, part of the Sharjah-based Tiger Group, will invest nearly Dh2 billion in a series of projects in Syria, including the 50-storey Damascus World Trade Centre, a company official said.
The Syrian government on Wendesday gave permission for the construction of the Damascus World Trade Centre, to be built at a cost of Dh440 million ($120 million).
Saleh Shereen, deputy general manager of Tiger Group, told Gulf News yesterday, "We have received government approval for the first of the five projects.
"It includes the construction of the Damascus World Trade Centre, a five star hotel, a shopping mall, residential and office towers, terraces, restaurants, theatres and associated structures.
"We are going to form a company in Syria which will oversee the construction and overall development of the project. Design and construction will be carried out by our own people."
Plans also include establishment and construction of a data centre, shopping mall and movie theatres. These activities are expected to generate 3,600 jobs.
The Syria Investment Office on Wednesday granted the company a licence, a first such move, as Damascus begins to woo foreign direct investment.
This also coincides with the finalising of the drafting of real estate investment laws aimed at attracting Arab and international capital into the Syrian market and ultimately bringing down high real prices in Syria in general and the capital in particular.
Mustafa Al Kafri, director of the Syria Investment Office, said this and similar projects would encourage Arab, foreign and Syrian investors to help develop the national economy.
Tiger Group officials met earlier Syrian Prime Minister Naji Al Utri and discussed this and other projects in the fields of industry and tourism, according to media reports.
This is the first of five development projects that will be undertaken in phases.
"Our total investment in the overall project will cross $530 million (Dh1.94 billion) when completed. We have ambitious plans in Syria and this is a first step," said Al Kafri.
Following the first phase, the company will submit proposals for the rest of the phases in succession, he added.
COMPANY PROFILE
Big presence in UAE
- Tiger Group which also runs Tiger Contracting, is owned by Syrian expatriates in the UAE. It was established in 1976 by Shaikh Rashid Al Qasimi and Waleed M. Mohammad, a Syrian-born businessman.
- The company has built 140 towers in the UAE, said Saleh Shereen, deputy general manager of Tiger Group.
- Tiger Real Estate launched two residential towers in Sharjah earlier this year. The first, Al Sondos Tower, is a 47-storey luxury apartment complex in Al Khan. When completed, it will be Sharjah's tallest tower.
- Al Taawun Tower, close to Sharjah's Expo Centre, has 25 floors of residential accommodation plus a seven-storey car park and offers a total of 250 one or two bedroom flats.
- Al Sondos Towers due for completion in December 2007 and Al Taawun Tower due for completion in December 2006.
