Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) is planning to build an elite five-star hotel in Skenderija, as confirmed by Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, CEO of ICD.
“When it comes to Skenderija, our team finished all the preparations for the tender for the master plan in Skenderija three days ago. The way I see it, this is an ideal location for the construction of five-star hotel. But it is still too early to talk about the total investment. I can say that we will invest 300 million USD, but it means nothing to us. As soon as all the projects are done, then we’ll talk about resources. And we will build a hotel, that is true,” said Al Shaibani.
The Executive Director of ICD said that they want to build something special in Sarajevo, something unique and different, which will change the image of the city.
“Sarajevo has all the potential to develop like Dubai,” he said, adding that the aim is to attract people from Dubai to come in BiH. But, it is necessary to first improve tourism offer, accommodation and hotel facilities that will meet their needs.
Al-Shaibani is the right hand of Sheikh Mohammed Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one of the richest men in the world, and his fund has a portfolio worth 160 billion USD. Few days ago, ICD signed the Memorandum of cooperation with the Government of Canton Sarajevo in connection with investments in the capital of BiH.
“We are serious investors and we are not interested in small projects, we came in Sarajevo for huge investments. My suggestion is to take some of the workers from BiH to Dubai, in order to strengthen tourism capacities, and engage them in the international tourism market, to train them and to show them how the wholesale market works. Tourism is a great opportunity for BiH, but BiH still does not have enough capacity to meet the needs of guests from Dubai,” added Al-Shaibani.
He confirmed the interest for barracks in Jajce, for which he said that are placed on a great location, but he added that the priority for now is Skenderija.
(Source: ekapija.com)
