The government of Kurdistan has started the construction of phase one of the USD 243 million Jihan City project, a source at the Kurdistan Board of Investment (KBI) told Zawya.
"This is one of the largest residential projects to be built in Erbil," said Kamaran Mufti, director of the department of promotion, assessment and project licensing at KBI. "The Kurdistan-based company Jihan Group has received license No. 7, allowing it to start the project in 2012." The procedures were completed in February 2013.
The initial plan was to build 682 residential units for an estimated cost of USD 176 million, but "due to requests for expanding the project, it will now include 12 buildings and a total of 1,404 apartments over a land area of 33,000 square meters," Mufti added.
The development, which is being carried out by local contracting company Jihan Group, is anticipated to be a modern city that will provide the relevant infrastructure, recreational facilities, as well as commercial and service spaces to serve its residents. Mufti said construction of the entire Jihan city project will likely take around five years to complete.
The region of Kurdistan is working on multiple residential projects as per the investment law released in 2006.
"There is a large gap between the demand and supply in the housing market," said Dr. Yasin Rasul, economics professor at the Salahuddin University in Erbil. "Such projects contribute [minimally] to [alleviating] the housing crisis, but by creating jobs, developing the infrastructure and providing medical and educational services in the region, they accelerate the economy and attract investors."
© Zawya 2013
