Syria's Fouad Naim Takla Company said it had won a $42 million contract to build the 300-room Damascus Four Seasons hotel on Saturday, October 6, which will become the country's largest.
The company's general manager, Fouad Takla, told AFP seven other groups had placed bids for the contract, including Kuwait's Mohamed Abdulmohsin Kharafi and Sons, Cyprus' GandP, and Lebanon's ACC.
The hotel will be completed in 32 months; he said during a ceremony to mark the start of construction, attended by Saudi prince and billionaire Al-Walid Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz and Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Miro.
Al-Walid holds a 65 percent stake of the $96 million capital in the Syrian Saudi Company for Tourism and Investment, which owns the Damascus Four Seasons. A 13,000 square meters plot of land in the center of Damascus was offered by the Syrian government in return for the remaining 35 percent of the shares.
The 23-storey hotel will be located near the Damascus International Fair grounds, one of the most prized spots of the city center. The official Syrian Arab News Agency said Al-Walid met with President Bashar Al-Assad and they discussed "investment and development projects" in Syria. — (AFP, Damascus)
© Agence France Presse
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