Qatar plans $250mn Syria development

The property arm of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) plans to develop two real estate projects in Syria including a $250 million mixed-use development in Lattakia, the Gulf Times reported on Tuesday.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Company, which last month completed the purchase of London's Chelsea Barracks for 959 million pounds ($1.87 billion), is one of the vehicles used by the government of Qatar to invest windfall revenues from energy exports.

The $250 million Ibn Hani Bay resort near Lattakia will extend more than 244,000 square metres on the Mediterranean coast, the paper reported, quoting Chief Executive Nasser Al-Ansari as saying.

Diar has also agreed to build a 550,000-square metre commercial and residential district in the capital Damascus, the paper said without giving a value for the project.

Syria has come into favour with Arab Gulf ruling families looking for new ways to invest abundant petrodollars.

The authority, a sovereign wealth fund worth an estimated $60 billion, is diversifying away from the weakening US dollar which Qatar's customers pay for its oil and gas exports. (Reuters)