Beirut (APD) - Kuwait's Council of Ministers and the Higher Council for Planning met on Wednesday with two real estate companies to discuss the blue print of the KD 25 billion ($85.6 billion) City of Silk or Madinat al Hareer, the Kuwait-based al Qabas daily reported Thursday.
The two Kuwaiti companies behind the project, Tamdeen Real Estate Company and Ajial Real Estate Entertainment, exhibited their blueprint to the government. The discussions focused on legal aspects, guarantees, and transparency of the project which would be implemented in several stages over a 25-year period.
The city will cover 250 square kilometers and will be located in the Sabiya region on the northern shore of Kuwait bay.
Plans for the Silk City development first came to public attention in 2005. However, the initial plans represented a project vision rather than a concrete proposal and estimated the cost of the project as high as KD 50 billion. In the latest discussions, the planners based their calculations on half that amount.
The main components of this mega-project include:
(1) A finance city that will host seven business centers for international trade and finance.
(2) An entertainment and leisure complex featuring hotels, resorts, entertainment villages, a sports academy and an Olympic-sized sports city along with medical sports and marine sports centers.
(3) A cultural city that will promote the cultural heritage of Kuwait and the Gulf through the establishment of a research and development center for archaeology along with museums and art galleries.
(4) An environmental city covering a 45 square kilometers with wild life resorts, natural reserves, parks and lakes.
(5) A residential city which can accommodate around 700,000 people who will have medical, health and educational facilities.
(6) The Grand Mubarak Tower (Burj Mubarak al Kabeer) which is the centerpiece of the whole project and it is supposed to be the world's tallest tower with 1,001 meters.
(7) A commercial area including a free trade zone and an airport.
A network of road and rail infrastructure will connect the Silk City and free trade zone to national and international destinations. The city will be linked with Kuwait City through the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Causeway, one of the world's longest bridges, that is currently being built across the Kuwait bay.
The first stage will be completed between five to seven years and the whole project is expected to generate around 430,000 job opportunities.
Tamdeen Real Estate Company, which was established in 1982, is a real estate developer and land manager.
Established as Sanabel Real Estate in 1982, Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Company is involved in real estate investment and development.
Tamdeen's stock price decreased by 2.1% on Wednesday and closed at KD 0.465. Ajial shares increased by 3.29% and closed at KD 0.47 on March 22, their latest day of trading. [TS]
By Nadim Issa, APD Staff Writer in Beirut
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2006
