Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday inspected the progress of work on the last phase of the Dubai Parks and Resorts project.

At the beginning of his visit, Shaikh Mohammad was introduced to designs and maps of the tourist, cultural and entertainment project, which is coming up over an area of 25 million sq ft. near Shaikh Zayed Road in Jebel Ali.

The Dh10-billion project, the first of its kind in the Middle East, consists of three main theme parks — Motiongate Dubai, Bollywood Parks Dubai and Legoland Dubai. The cities will represent a gathering point for families and will provide them with a pleasant entertainment and shopping experience.

During his visit, Shaikh Mohammad was briefed about the Riverland complex, which is located in the middle of the resort and which will have several retail sale shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and Lapita hotel as well as entertainment games.

Shaikh Mohammad also visited the Outlet Village, which is located near to Dubai Parks and Resorts and is being implemented by Meraas Holding. The village will feature a shopping mall that can accommodate 100 retail shops and restaurants.

He toured the shopping mall, which is unique for its engineering design inspired by Italian villages.

Briefing Shaikh Mohammad, Abdullah Al Habbai, chairman, Meraas Holding, said the mall would be opened for the public in October, noting that 70 per cent of infrastructure work has been completed and 88 per cent of the structural work is over.

Shaikh Mohammad expressed satisfaction on this huge project and praised efforts made by engineers, administrators and technicians, and especially efforts made by Al Habbai who is leading a joint working team. Shaikh Mohammad noted that the project will be one of the most important pillars of tourism industry in Dubai.

Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied by Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group and Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee; Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau; Engineer Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director-General of Dubai Municipality; and Mattar Mohammad Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority, as well as other Shaikhs and senior officials.