Dubai-based Al Handal International Group and Abu Dhabi-based Bloom Properties have jointly announced signing an investment deal to develop the $4.5bn ‘City of the Future’ in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The residential project is spread across a surface area of 58m sq ft and can accommodate up to 150,000 people.
The project, which will be built in phases spanning seven years, will include 30,000 residential units, five shopping centers, 18 schools and 12 kindergartens, several commercial buildings, a hospital, a police and civil defense station, a mosque and as well as a health centre. The new project, which will be built to international standards and specifications, is targeted at most slices of Iraqi society, mainly the middle-income segment.
A signing ceremony took place in Baghdad in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al Maliki to announce the launch of the project which marks a unique Emirati-Iraq partnership; the first of its kind and the largest in the history of real estate development in Iraq.
The deal was signed by the chairman of the National Investment Commission, Dr. Sami Al-Araji and vice chairman of Handal International Group, Hardan Al Handal, and was attended by a number of prominent Iraqi officials and figures in the business and finance sectors.
The chairman of the National Investment Commission, Dr. Sami Al-Araji said that the City of the Future will become one of most prominent modern urban residential projects in Baghdad, emphasising that the National Investment Commission and all stakeholders in Baghdad will provide the necessary support to ensure the success of the project that would also encourage other investors to launch similar projects that would usher in a new era of real estate development and ultimately economic growth in Iraq.
The project features contemporary architecture designs of its residential buildings and 50% of its total surface area is green open spaces, making it environmentally-friendly and offering a modern sustainable lifestyle for the Iraqi family.
Mohammed Handal, general manager, Handal International Group, said that following necessary approvals from the authorities, the Group is ready to start implementing the project and work on the construction of the infrastructure.
He added that the City of the Future project will provide more than 10,000 jobs, in direct construction of the project as well as ancillary businesses and operations associated with the project.
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