{"id":115143,"date":"2026-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/?p=115143"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:56:21","slug":"alabbar-plans-usd-18-bn-fund-to-invest-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/2026\/05\/15\/alabbar-plans-usd-18-bn-fund-to-invest-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabbar plans USD 18 bn fund to invest in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syria\u2019s<\/strong> reconstruction effort is getting a USD 18 bn shot in the arm<\/strong>, with Emaar Properties founder Mohamed Alabbar announcing plans to set up a fund to invest in large-scale real estate, tourism, and infrastructure across the country (watch, runtime: 42:53<\/a>). This would mark one of the largest Gulf private-sector pushes into Syria since the lifting of sanctions<\/a> reopened the country to international investment flows.<\/p>\n

The proposed investment includes USD 10-11 bn for real estate in and around Damascus <\/strong>and USD 5-7 bn for coastline tourism projects<\/strong>, Alabbar said. Work could begin within 6-12 months, he added, stressing that \u201cthe time for Syria is now \u2026 the smart move is to act fast before others jump [at the chance].\u201d<\/p>\n

REMEMBER- <\/strong>Reports last week suggested Alabbar\u2019s international development arm Eagle Hills is weighing some USD 50 bn in developments in Syria<\/a>, including major developments in Damascus\u2019 Dummar area and Latakia. Alabbar didn\u2019t outright deny the figure, but signalled he wasn\u2019t aiming that high just yet.<\/p>\n

Tourism is central to the pitch: <\/strong>Syria could attract as many as 8 mn tourists within 4-5 years \u2014 up from roughly 4 mn visitors last year \u2014 potentially generating USD 5-7 bn in annual foreign currency inflows, Alabbar said. <\/p>\n

Alabbar joins a growing list of Emirati players betting on Syria.<\/strong> DP World is developing<\/a>Tartous Port<\/a> under a 30-year agreement, AD Ports is acquiring a 20% stake<\/a> in Latakia International Container Terminal, and the Investment Corporation of Dubai met with Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa during the Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum earlier this week to talk investments in real estate, tourism, and financial services. <\/p>\n

The push mirrors UAE-backed reconstruction and megaproject plays elsewhere<\/strong> \u2014 from a planned residential complex in Gaza<\/a> to the USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma project<\/a> in Egypt.<\/p>\n

The UAE isn\u2019t alone in eyeing Syria: <\/strong>Qatar\u2019s Estithmar Holding moved late last month to acquire 49% of Shahba Bank<\/a>, becoming the first big-ticket foreign investment in Syria since the end of the war. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The investments would be skewed more heavily towards real estate development projects, with around USD 5-7 bn earmarked for coastline tourism investments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2506],"tags":[2885,2538,2687,2646,2691,2562],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-115143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-emaar-properties","tag-enterpriseam","tag-investment-watch","tag-real-estate","tag-syria","tag-uae","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"a59ab3b0-2e33-4394-a81b-06f17930e8a4","order":"6","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/5\/803.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Planting 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