Dubai real estate company Emaar Properties is to launch a multibillion-dollar scheme in Indonesia as part of an initiative to build a 'new Bali'. Financial Times
The scheme is a joint venture with the Indonesian government for occupying 1,500 acres on the island of Lombok, east of Bali and follows Emaar’s assistance in rebuilding a village in an area affected by the 2005 tsunami.
Mohammed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar, which is backed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, said the resort and homes development on Lombok would be its last new international market debut. He said that in future Emaar would expand in markets that it had already entered, with the US as an important priority.
'The last country I want to do is Indonesia,' said Alabbar. 'We need to consolidate; to concentrate on our current portfolio.'
'The time is right for acquisitions in the US. With the [real estate] market slowing we might find some value there.'