05 June 2005
Muscat, Oman - Oman is to build a 15 billion dollar tourist complex to be known as "The Blue City" northwest of the capital Muscat, AFP quoted its promoters as saying. The first of its kind in this country of 2.5 million people bordering the Arabian Sea, the complex will take 15 years to complete.
Omani and Bahraini companies behind the development said Saturday that the city--one of a spate of tourist projects underway in Persian Gulf countries-will cover a 35 square kilometer (14 square mile) site at Barka, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Muscat.
The initial phase of building, costing $1.8 billion, is planned to start at the end of this year and be completed at the end of 2009. "This development will have a value, when it's completed, of no less that $15 billion," Ahmed Abubaker Janahi, vice chairman of Al-Sawadi Investment & Tourism Company (ASIT), told journalists.
"It will attract, we hope, over two million people per annum to The Blue City," he added. ASIT was set up specifically for the project. The Omani company, with a $1billion capital, is owned 30 percent by Oman's Cyclone LLC, with 70 percent to be held by Bahrain's AAJ Holdings and unnamed international investors.
Janahi said the project should create 50,000 jobs and on completion provide accommodation for some 200,000 people at any time. Oppenheimer of North America are lead financers, and director Jerald Belofsky told journalists: "We are not looking for individual investors. It's just big, institutional investors."
Oman, a small oil producer outside of OPEC, is trying to develop its tourist industry to diversify its economy. Mohsin bin Khais Al-Baloshi, tourism ministry undersecretary, said of the project: "It really fits in the objectives and goals that we've adopted."
Sultan Qaboos has designated the site "a strategic tourist zone" and awarded ASIT a 75-year concession on the land, which continues to be owned by the state. The promoters, refusing to give details, said The Blue City will be more than a simple tourist complex, terming it a "multidisciplinary city" which will incorporate specialist zones for education, health and sports.
Muscat, Oman - Oman is to build a 15 billion dollar tourist complex to be known as "The Blue City" northwest of the capital Muscat, AFP quoted its promoters as saying. The first of its kind in this country of 2.5 million people bordering the Arabian Sea, the complex will take 15 years to complete.
Omani and Bahraini companies behind the development said Saturday that the city--one of a spate of tourist projects underway in Persian Gulf countries-will cover a 35 square kilometer (14 square mile) site at Barka, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Muscat.
The initial phase of building, costing $1.8 billion, is planned to start at the end of this year and be completed at the end of 2009. "This development will have a value, when it's completed, of no less that $15 billion," Ahmed Abubaker Janahi, vice chairman of Al-Sawadi Investment & Tourism Company (ASIT), told journalists.
"It will attract, we hope, over two million people per annum to The Blue City," he added. ASIT was set up specifically for the project. The Omani company, with a $1billion capital, is owned 30 percent by Oman's Cyclone LLC, with 70 percent to be held by Bahrain's AAJ Holdings and unnamed international investors.
Janahi said the project should create 50,000 jobs and on completion provide accommodation for some 200,000 people at any time. Oppenheimer of North America are lead financers, and director Jerald Belofsky told journalists: "We are not looking for individual investors. It's just big, institutional investors."
Oman, a small oil producer outside of OPEC, is trying to develop its tourist industry to diversify its economy. Mohsin bin Khais Al-Baloshi, tourism ministry undersecretary, said of the project: "It really fits in the objectives and goals that we've adopted."
Sultan Qaboos has designated the site "a strategic tourist zone" and awarded ASIT a 75-year concession on the land, which continues to be owned by the state. The promoters, refusing to give details, said The Blue City will be more than a simple tourist complex, terming it a "multidisciplinary city" which will incorporate specialist zones for education, health and sports.
© Iran Daily 2005
