|
Dubai: Dubai-based Emaar Properties, the largest Arab real estate company by market value, has agreed to develop projects in Syria with Cham Holding.
Emaar, which owns US company John Laing Homes, said on Wednesday it agreed to set up a $100 million venture to develop residential and commercial projects in Syria with the company controlled by Rami Makhlouf.
Makhlouf, a cousin of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, said last month the project will have government support to reorganise areas where illegal buildings are rampant in Damascus.
Emaar, which is expanding overseas to reduce its reliance on a maturing Dubai market, will own the venture equally with Cham Holding, it said.
A spokesman for the company could not immediately comment on doing business with a company owned by Makhlouf.
Emaar laid the foundation stone in June 2006 for a $500 million residential complex near Damascus but construction has not begun.
The company posted a record fourth quarter profit as a pick-up in countries such as India and Morocco offset a slowdown in US operations.
Its most ambitious project in the UAE is the Dh73 billion Downtown Burj Dubai development, which includes Burj Dubai, slated to be the tallest building in the world when completed.
|
