ADIH launches fashion city project in Morocco and creates 8,000 jobs
Sunday, Nov 23, 2008
Gulf News
Marrakesh: Abu-Dhabi Investment House (ADIH)of a $7 billion (Dh25.69 billion) project to build fashion cities in several parts of Asia and Africa.
The launch of the $400 million Porta Moda Marrakesh project in the current international circumstances goes to show that ADIH's investments and plans are not affected by the global financial crisis, company executives stressed.
"First of all," Rashad Janahi, board member and managing director of ADIH said, "we don't have any relation with the [international] banks that have declared bankruptcy."
Also, "the markets that we are choosing are successful ones [economically]," he told a press conference, referring to the great potential of some developing countries, including Morocco, where the economy is expected to grow up to 6 per cent next year.
The north African countries have "proven to be attractive for investments" he added."We are looking forward to more investment in these countries," Janahi said.
Apart from investments in fashion cities and real estate, Janahi told Gulf News that ADIHA is investing in other fields, such as agriculture and entertainment, while it also seeks to diversify its investments geographically.
"We have investments in the Gulf region, in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain," Janahi said. "We have various investments, not in Europe and the US, but in countries where we see we can invest in," he added. According to ADIH plans, Porta Moda Marrakesh, which was launched on Wednesday, is expected to be followed by other projects of similar concepts in Tunis, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and India. The total cost of the mixed-use development projects is $7 billion. Currently, ADIHADIH is working on the final details of its next investment in Tunis, company executives said.
Education
"Study has also shown that young adults are moving towards studying aesthetics and arts," ADIH noted in a press statement. "With Porta Moda being within their geographic reach, they will be able to get their education at the hands of the international talent and expertise," it added.
A Porta Moda Advisory Board was created especially to give advice on the implementation of the Porta Modas around the world. It includes some of the most famous style and fashion brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Bulgari, Christian Dior, London Fashion Week, Neiman Marcus, and London School of design.
The Marrakesh project comprises of a Medina, an academy, an entertainment and a sports centre, a clinic and a hotel. The Medina or down town Porta Moda includes residential complexes and luxury apartments as well as retail shops for international brand names and hand crafts. It is expected to be completed in the next five years. It will provide 8,000 jobs.
Key stats: Porta Moda project
--Porta Moda Marrakesh is a complete international city for fashion and style on an area of 300,000 square metres.
- The cost of the project is estimated at $400 million
.-The project is expected to provide 8000 job opportunities.
-The project is expected to include some of the high-end fashion houses, design institutions, entertainment facilities and housing units.
ADIH investments
- Abu-Dhabi Investment Housewas established in 2005 as an investment company which follows the rules and regulations of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates's investments are in many cities in the Gulf region, Asia and Northern Africa, including Qatar, Lebanon, India and Bahrain.
- Some of its main investments in many Arab countries include establishing "entertainment cities" at a cost of $ 10 billion.
- Apart from its headquarters in Abu-Dhabi, ADIH has two representative offices in Manama and Geneva.
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