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SAT, 25 MAY 2013 15:55 Erbil, GMT +3
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The "new Dubai" in Iraq is attracting investors

MON, 9 JUL 2012 19:01 | Wirtschaftsblatt

By Melanie Manner, Wirtschaftsblatt

In the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, there is a construction boom. There is need for everything, but there are also five-star hotels and luxury residences being built.

Twenty minutes from the new Erbil International Airport, next to the highway, it is created: the "Erbil Media City", modelled after the "Dubai Media City." In northern Iraq, the entrepreneur Anwar Al Yasri from the Emirates wants to build skyscrapers, media studios, but also a hotel, a shopping mall and a lake at a 500,000 square meters property. Costs: €1.27 billion.

In Erbil, the "new Dubai", one luxury project after the other is launched. The capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is considered to be one of the most promising growth markets in the Middle East. In the former crisis region, there is demand for: water, electricity and roads are a top priority, says Mustafa Ramazan, the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq in Austria. The rapidly growing population also needs housing. In Erbil and its surrounding areas there are currently around 1,200 construction sites of various sizes.

Hotels planned
Even luxury projects are not falling short in this regard. By 2015, eight five-star hotels will be built in Erbil, among them also the internationalMarriott and Sheraton chains. Houses for wealthy foreigners and Iraqis are created in the "gated communities" such as the € 211 million expensive Korean Village. It has been two and a half years since the Austrian Hubert Czernin is also involved in the Region with his resident Czernin Middle East Group.

In Erbil, the developer planned projects worth around two billion Euros with completion by 2015. These include the "Malls of Iraq", with 460 stores on more than 300,000 square meters and the "Palace Hotels & Resorts", with eight villages and a hotel with 500 rooms. Construction start for the € 755-million hotel is in late 2012. The complex includes the first golf course in Iraq and a cable car. Also, housing projects, industrial buildings and city hotels are being planned. "We are negotiating with three major chains and will begin construction in 2013," said Czernin. He is convinced: 3 "The North of Iraq is not more or less vulnerable than some European countries." He does not see the risk of a bubble and the comparison with Dubai. What is built here is really demanded and therefore creating lasting value.

Facts - investment
The foundation for the boom in Erbil was based on a new investment law which was passed in 2007. Among other things, foreign investors can purchase land, enjoy tax exemption for ten years, may repatriate their gains easily and do not have to pay any taxes related to their project. The Kurdistan region has attracted € 12.9 billion in foreign investment in the past five years. The majority of the 1918 foreign companies are from Turkey, Iran and Lebanon.

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