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19 March 2024

Pakistani businessman takes cues from Dubai to build mega complex

Burj Khalifa is currently the world’s tallest tower (FILE)

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

A Pakistani businessman is taking cue from Dubai to build a master development that will boast of an education, net and health clusters to even the world’s tallest tower and largest shopping mall.

Bahria Town Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Ali Riaz Malik and US real estate tycoon Thomas Kramer have recently signed a $20 billion agreement to develop Bundal & Bodha Islands, Karachi - Pakistan’s first ever island city.

Sharing project details with Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the News International quoted Malik as saying the Bodha Island City project will comprise Net City, Education City, Health City, Port City and other infrastructure projects would have the world’s most modern shopping mall.

In a statement, the company said a joint consortium of international investors, including Middle East, will soon join hands to develop the project.

Covering 12,000 acres of land, this project will be developed in a span of five to 10 years with the residential communities being handed over to from 2016. The global attractions of the project include world’s tallest building, world’s largest shopping mall, sports city, educational and medical city, international city and a media city, all having the most modern facilities & amenities and the most advanced infrastructure.

Island City will be connected to Defense Housing Authority Karachi via a six-lane modern bridge. The entire city will be a “high security zone”, having its own drinking water (converting sea-water into drinking water) and power generation plants to enable it to be self sufficient for power.

The project will have mosques, cinemas, spas, golf clubs, school, hospital and other global standard amenities to furnish a modern lifestyle.

Dubai has already been successfully running purpose-build business clusters such as Internet City, Media City, Health City and Knowledge Village for years now. These clusters are free zones, which offer 100 per cent ownership, no tax on corporate gains or personal incomes, 100 per cent repatriation of capital and profits and exemption from import and export duties.

The emirate is also home to the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, and one of the largest malls in the world, Dubai Mall, which is currently going through an expansion phase.

Plans have already been unveiled to build a mega development called 'Mohammad Bin Rashid City' which will include a park 30 per cent bigger than Hyde Park in London, "Mall of the World", the largest in the world and have over 100 hotels and a family entertainment centre developed by Universal Studios that will be attached to the mall.

The News International quoted Malik as saying “if he was given a chance he would turn Pakistan into Dubai and Europe.”

In February, Reuters reported that Abu Dhabi Group had cancelled a tentative agreement, which included building the world’s tallest tower, with a Pakistani businessman that envisioned spending $45 billion on a real estate project in Karachi over 15 years.