tate-owned investment firm Qatari Diar has launched a luxury real estate project in Tajikistan worth at least $150mn, the Qatari News Agency said yesterday. The Dushanbe Diar project in the Tajik capital Dushanbe will include residential towers, a five-star hotel, shopping malls, conference centres and gardens when finished in 2012 at a cost of between $150mn and $180mn, the agency said. The project is Qatari Diar’s first in Central Asia. Qatar Diar is a unit of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Dushanbe Diar project was launched on Friday at a ceremony in Dushanbe with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon and Qatari Diar chief executive Ghanim bin Saad al-Saad. He said Qatari Diar would look into possible further investments in the Tajik agriculture and education sectors, the state news agency said. He told reporters the firm’s total investments around the world were around $60bn in 35 countries. Al-Saad presented a model of the project called, Diar Dushanbe, to President Rakhmon at the event held at Hyatt Regency Hotel. To be built on 68,000sq m of prime waterfront land located along Dushanbe’s picturesque Yavonon Lake on Nizomi Ganjavi Street, the Diar Dushanbe development, “would be carried out on stages according to local market requirements”. “It will be based on a master plan that aims to compliment and support the other developments in the area as well as the future growth of the greater city of Dushanbe,” Qatari Diar said. “Qatari Diar is proud to continue our strong growth and expansion, especially into new markets,” al-Saad said. “Our focus will be on creating in Tajikistan a high-quality, well-planned, desirable and innovative real-estate development that will deliver a high standard of lifestyle.” Dr Hassan al-Fadala, deputy CEO for operations at Qatari Diar, said the real estate company saw “a strong opportunity to develop an economically viable, high-quality, differentiated and integrated world-class development in Dushanbe that balances economic, social, and environmental sustainability”. Qatari Diar, wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, was established in December 2004 to support Qatar’s growing economy and to co-ordinate the country’s real estate development priorities. It owns 45% of Barwa Real Estate Company’s shares. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=311765&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar