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Dubai: Dubai-based real estate firm Middle East Development expects to begin work next year on a $200 billion project to build the first bridge across the Red Sea linking Yemen and Djibouti, and new cities on both sides.
The group controlled by Saudi businessman Tarek Mohammad Bin Laden will invest at least $10 billion in the project and seek to raise the remainder from other investors and financial institutions, a senior company executive said.
"The Bin Laden family is originally from Yemen ... they want to fight poverty, unemployment and connect the Gulf Arab region with Muslim Africa," Issam Halabi, vice president for technical affairs, told reporters on the sidelines of a MEED conference in Dubai yesterday.
The bridge which will be the development's centrepiece will span 28.5 km, and carry vehicles, trains, natural gas and water, Halabi said.
Denmark's Cowi, the consultant for the world's longest causeway linking Qatar with Bahrain, is advising on the bridge.
It will cost $14 billion, with construction completed in phases over seven to 15 years, Halabi said.
"We will have seed capital of at least $10 billion ... and $190 billion in project fin-ance," Halabi said, adding that private investors would also participate, primarily through build-operate-transfer contracts.
The project has attracted interest from companies including US firms Bechtel and Hewlett-Packard, Sweden's Ericsson and Veolia Environnement of France, according to Halabi.
Bin Laden aims to house as many as five million people in Yemen and 1.5 million in Djibouti under the project. The "Noor" cities will include residential, commercial, healthcare and entertainment areas, Halabi said, and would create about one million jobs.
Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa, has faced unrest over unemployment and rising prices in the south and renewed fighting between government forces and rebels in the north.
Middle East Development Singapore is a unit of Middle East Development. The firm has projects in Syria, Dubai and Yemen, according to its website.
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