SHARJAH, 27 December 2004 — A massive residential and tourist city called Emirates Pearl will be built at a cost of 35 billion dirhams on an island belonging to Abu Dhabi under an agreement signed between the government of the emirate and a consortium of three companies.
Encompassing an area of five million square meters, Emirates Pearl will be built on the Abu Al Sh’oom Island northeast of Abu Dhabi.The consortium includes Malaysia-based BBM, Al Ain-based Al Rayan Investment and Abu Dhabi-based National Company for Property Investment. “The Emirates Pearl project on the Abu Al Sh’oom island will be a distinctive landmark in the region and the world in terms of its superb buildings, advanced infrastructure and innovative architectural designs, suited for elite people,” said the BBM in a statement. Work on the project will start early next year as part of continuing the process of development initiated by the late Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahyan.
President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al- Nahayan has decided to allow part of the new city’s investments to Abu Dhabi Pension and Retirement Fund and Zayed Establishment for Humanitarian Works. Emirates Pearl will have luxury hotel, hospitals, university and family entertaining facilities within a modern city managed by the latest technologies, some of which would be used for the first time in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A bridge will connect the island with Abu Dhabi city. The project would make a quantum leap in the field of highly developed residential projects, business centers, tourist resorts and family entertainment at the regional and international levels and would add a new dimension to the concept of 21st century’s cities, BBM said.
