Phase one will offer up to 2500 hotel rooms and 1851 real estate units on an area covering 5 million square meters.

Altdorf/Cairo, 30 June 2009 - Today, Orascom Development Holding AG (Orascom Development) officially inaugurated the marina town of Chbika in Morocco in a well attended event. This is a culmination of Orascom Development's past efforts to ensure swell positioning as well as long term viability and sustainability for the project, which has been started in 2007 with a development agreement between the Government of Morocco and Orascom Development. The integrated and self-sufficient tourist destination will be developed by Oued Chbika Development, a subsidiary of Orascom Development, and in collaboration with Caisse de Dépôt des Gestion (one of the largest financial institutions in Morocco with extensive experience in tourism and real estate). Orascom Development will retain a majority stake of 65%.

The new Orascom town will be located in the southern part of Morocco, at Chbika on the Atlantic Ocean in the province of Guelmim (300 km from Agadir), covering a total area of 15 million m2. The project's philosophy is based on integration into the existing beautiful countryside between the Sahara dessert, the dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. By embedding the town into the cliffs, left and right of the banks of a nearby river, the town will provide perfect and harmonic shelter for its' inhabitants and visitors.

The planned resort will offer several hotels, residential units, a golf course, a town center along all related amenities and services. The Chbika project will be developed in two stages, with the first phase expected to be finished in 2015 and the second phase expected to commence thereafter. The first phase covers a total area of 5 million m2, comprising of:

8 hotels offering a total capacity of 2,500 rooms.

1,851 real estate units (apartments and villas).

All amenities and supporting infrastructure including a marina with 100 berths capacity, a golf course, congress centre, shops, restaurants, cinema, arts and crafts, sports centre, spa, staff housing, and medical installations.

-Ends-

About the Group
Established in 1989, Orascom Hotels and Development S.A.E. ("OHD") today is a leading integrated town developer in Egypt and the Middle East with almost 20 years of experience. OHD is a developer of fully integrated towns that include hotels, private villas and apartments, leisure facilities such as golf courses and marinas as well the supporting infrastructure. It has secured or is in the course of securing large land banks in untapped yet attractive locations with development potential in Egypt, Morocco, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. The high quality portfolio combined with a proven business model is expected to result in long-term growth opportunities. Currently, OHD operates two successful flagship towns, El Gouna and Taba Heights (both in Egypt), has secured, subject to certain conditions, or is about to secure, land banks of approximately 127 million square meters and has a workforce of approximately 18,000 staff. Since the settlement of the exchange and tender offer by Orascom Development for OHD, Orascom Development is the new parent of OHD. Orascom Development has a dual listing, with a primary listing on the main board of the SIX Swiss Exchange (Switzerland) and a secondary listing on the EGX (Egypt Stock Exchange). The company's shares are fully fungible (with the same ISIN code) and can be traded on both stock exchanges in Swiss Francs.

For further information, please contact:
Orascom Development
Mamdouh Abdel Wahab
Director Investor Relations
Tel: +41 79 846 55 60
+20 12 315 32 00
Email: ir@orascomdh.com

Swiss Media Office
Philippe Blangey
Tel: +41 41 874 17 11
Email: media@orascomdh.com  

© Press Release 2009