Dubai World has said it would complete all projects currently under construction but would delay any new developments, including a plan to build the world’s tallest tower, until market conditions improve.

Dubai World unit Nakheel, developer of Dubai’s palm-tree shaped islands, said in January it would halt work on a one kilometre tall tower for a year as the former boomtown suffers from a downturn in its property market.

'The tower will be delayed until the market changes. You can’t build something like that in this kind of market,' Dubai World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said at a tourism conference.

The National