Lebanon's Going Ahead With $8 Billion Cedar Islands Project, Despite Dubai Debt

We reported earlier in the year that a Beirut-based property developer has designs to build a Dubai “World”-like set of islands in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon. Modelled after Dubai’s The World and Palm Islands, developers in Lebanon report that its $8 billion development project will not sink.

This is all despite a $26 billion in debt hold from a similar project in Dubai, albeit by a different developer. The after-effects of the debt problem have rattled world markets.

The series of artificial islands are expected to resemble a cedar tree, the national symbol of Lebanon, despite environmentalists objections and a $26 debt in Dubai from similar projects.

“We are not worried at all,” Mohamad Alraai, a partner in the Noor International Holding (NIH) in Lebanon, told Maktoob Business on Thursday.

The developers in Dubai called Nakheel have had ambitious plans for the world’s tallest skyscraper (bigger than Burj Dubai) and a massive collection of artificial islands — about 300 in the shape of a world map.

Meanwhile Noor is waiting for government approval and plans to go full steam ahead building luxury homes, hotels and shopping centres. All off the coast of Beirut, not far from Greece, Crete, Turkey and Israel.

::Maktoob Business

Author: Karin Kloosterman

Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]

Comments

comments