Huge projects planned for Yemen, Djibouti

Middle East Development, a Dubai-based firm controlled by the Saudi bin Laden Group, is securing massive tracts of land in Yemen, Djibouti and Syria to build whole cities from scratch that would cost billions of dollars, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

The privately held group, which currently has assets under management of around $280 million, has also begun to look outside of the Middle East and North Africa for growth.

"The future will be the franchising of cities. Whole cities that are run by private corporations and businesses rather than governments and bureaucracies," Oussama Al-Dimashki, the chief executive officer of Middle East Development, told Reuters in an interview.

He said the projects would cost "hundreds of billions of dollars".

Oussama said the firm is in talks with a Singapore developer to build a commercial and residential complex in a second-tier city in China and is studying a proposal to invest in an office and retail project in Bangkok.

The China investment would be the group's first in Asia.

Oussama said the group's 38% held Singapore-listed subsidiary Middle East Development Singapore (MEDS) is likely to be involved in the China project.

MEDS - the result of a takeover last September by the Dubai group - is focused primarily on waterproofing and construction supplies.

Oussama said the Singapore firm will also expand into property development and real estate management, while following its parent into its projects in the Middle East and Asia.

"The Singapore company can assist (the parent) to expand into China," he added.