ISLAMABAD, 15 March 2005 — Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal whose group manages a network international luxury hotels, said yesterday he will set up three major hotels in Pakistan.
Alwaleed said after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the hotels would be built in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. “We have approved the initiation of the study of the tourism industry in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi,” he said at a joint press conference with the Pakistani premier, adding he hoped to launch the projects after completion of the study in about two months.
The prince did not specify the estimated cost of the projects, but expressed interest in investing in other sectors of Pakistan’s economy. “We are very eager, anxious and willing...to invest in those transactions that have national impact,” he said, adding: “We will invest as needed.”
Praising the country’s economic recovery since President Pervez Musharraf seized power in 1999, he said: “Pakistan is on the right track, it is the golden age in the new history of Pakistan.”
Aziz said Pakistan had come out of an economic crisis and was expected to achieve a growth rate of seven percent in 2005. “Funds are not an issue with his royal highness,” Aziz, said. Any investment from Alwaleed’s group “will be a tremendous vote of confidence for Pakistan and will send the right signals all over the world,” he said.
Alwaleed has investments in 105 countries and runs or shares ownership of 250 hotels around the world, Aziz added. A group of financiers including Alwaleed this year bought the Savoy hotel, London’s luxurious landmark hotel overlooking the River Thames.