Iraq Kurdish resort, worth $2bn to be built by Emaar

Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR) of Dubai and Kurdish company Faruk Group Holding will soon get indulge into a contract, worth of more than $2 billion to develop a resort in Iraq’s oil-rich Kurdish region in the north, a government official said.
Near the border at Sulaymaniyah, the Dukan tourist city will be built. Herish Muharam Muhamad, chairman of Kurdistan Regional Government’s investment board, stated this in an interview that was held in the regional capital, Erbil. Hotels, restaurant, residential areas and all other modern stuffs and amenities will be there in the resort that will be built over the artificial lake of Dukan.
The semi-autonomous Kurdish region has become a focal point for tourists and business visitors even as much of Iraq continues to face political and ethnic violence following the war that toppled Saddam Hussein. Emaar, which has the heaviest weighting on Dubai’s benchmark stock index, last year signed an agreement with Iraq government officials to develop housing and tourism projects in the country.
Faruk Group Holding comprises 12 companies in businesses including construction, telecommunications, cement, hospitality and retail. It has to be noted that the company has been marked as the largest company of Iraq, having 11000 employees throughout the nation, according to the data that have been derived from the website of the company.
Emaar is bidding for a $5 billion housing project in central Iraq, Mohammed Ameen, vice chairman of Iraq’s National Investment Commission, said in an April 1 interview in Baghdad. Iraq has allocated more than $31 billion to address a residential shortage estimated at more than 670,000 homes. However, Emaar has not replied on this context of resort project in the Kurdish region.
Emaar climbed as much as 6.4 percent today after MSCI Inc. upgraded the United Arab Emirates to emerging market status from frontier. The shares closed up 2.8 percent as of the 2 p.m. market close.