Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007

CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--U.A.E.-based Damac Properties said Tuesday it will invest $19.3 billion in three Egyptian projects, equal to more than half its investments worldwide.

"We are investing $26 billion in projects in six countries and Egypt takes a large proportion of that money," Hussein Sajwany, Chairman of Damac Holding, told reporters.

Damac's Gamsha Bay project near Hurghada on the country's Red Sea coast is worth $16 billion, the company said.

The privately held company is also investing $300 million in its Park Avenue project, a commercial and retail project in the Sixth Of October suburb outside Cairo, and $3 billion in a residential development in New Cairo.

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, wants to attract foreign investment to help capitalize on a boom in real-estate across the Middle East.

"Gamsha Bay is obviously our most ambitious project as it is a long term investment in a prime location," Sajwany said.

The Gamsha Bay resort, which spreads over 30 million square meters of land, is due to be completed in ten years, while it will take over five years to complete the New Cairo project and three years for Park Avenue.

"Our large investment in Egypt was a question of opportunity, we got this prime location in Gamsha which is worth the investment and so we went ahead with the project," Sajwany said.

Damac has so far funded its land purchases in Egypt through its own resources but plans to borrow from Egyptian banks in the near future, he said.

"We have good relations with several Egyptian banks and we are talking to them to raise money for the projects," Sajwany said.

"We have good relations with banks like Commercial International Brokerage, Al Watany Bank and National Societe Generale," he added.

Damac Properties has projects in the U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan and is looking to expand its investments into Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan and China in the near future.

-By Maha El Dahan, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires, +20122267850, mahaeldahan@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

17-07-07 1434GMT