Wednesday, April 25, 2007
KRg and Dubai company to build $400 mn 'media city'
Kurdistan, Commerce, Media, Construction
(Reuters) - The Iraqi Kurdish regional government and a Dubai firm are to build a $400 million (around Dh1.4 billion) "media city" in Arbil, officials said. International television networks will be attracted to the stable Kurdistan region because worsening violence stopped them having offices in Baghdad, they said.
Under the deal to create the Arbil City Media Company, the regional government will have a 60 per cent stake and the Dubai sound TV and Cinema Production company a 40 per cent stake. Start-up capital will be $40 million (around Dh147 million). The company, which will oversee the creation of a complex of television studios, hotels, shops and housing, will then be open to shareholders. Anwar Al Yasiri, an Iraqi who runs the Dubai company, said his firm and a British company would build the complex in a northern Arbil suburb within two years.
Opportunities
"The philosophy of the government to support such a project is to create job opportunities for the sons of the area and to support and develop the tourism and media city sectors," Civil Society Affairs minister George Mansour said. Mansour helped establish Iraq's media network after Saddam Hussain's fall in 2003. The project will include a television transmission and re-transmission centre with a capacity for up to 120 stations.
Under the deal to create the Arbil City Media Company, the regional government will have a 60 per cent stake and the Dubai sound TV and Cinema Production company a 40 per cent stake. Start-up capital will be $40 million (around Dh147 million). The company, which will oversee the creation of a complex of television studios, hotels, shops and housing, will then be open to shareholders. Anwar Al Yasiri, an Iraqi who runs the Dubai company, said his firm and a British company would build the complex in a northern Arbil suburb within two years.
Opportunities
"The philosophy of the government to support such a project is to create job opportunities for the sons of the area and to support and develop the tourism and media city sectors," Civil Society Affairs minister George Mansour said. Mansour helped establish Iraq's media network after Saddam Hussain's fall in 2003. The project will include a television transmission and re-transmission centre with a capacity for up to 120 stations.
Labels: Anwar Al Yasiri, Arbil, Arbil City Media Company, construction, Dubai sound TV and Cinema Production company, KRG, media
