By Mirvat Ammouri

Beirut - A Lebanese group unveiled plans Monday to build the first five-star hotel in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. Malia Group and Rotana Hotels announced the signing of a partnership agreement for the construction of a $55 million hotel in the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan at a news conference in the Rotana Hotel in Hamra.

The Erbil hotel should open in October 2009 and will be owned by Malia subsidiary Hotel Line and managed by Rotana, said Malia Group president Jacques Sarraf and Rotana Hotels president and CEO Selim al-Zyr.

The 205-room hotel will feature five-star amenities such as a pool, ballroom, restaurants, conference halls and other recreational facilities. It will be built on 20,000 square meters and will cater to both businesspeople and regional and international tourists.

The workforce will consist of both Lebanese and Kurds. Trained experts in different fields of the hospitality sector will transfer to Erbil to begin construction and oversee operations, while at the same time Kurds will be trained and hired, each in his or her respective field. Therefore, the project will help create jobs for Kurds and expand the job prospects for a few Lebanese citizens looking to extend their efforts in the Middle East.

The primary investor in the project is Malia Holding. "Potential investors, however ... are still welcome," said Sarraf.

The aim of the alliance is to add the tourism sector to Malia's interests in the Middle East by capitalizing on the brand equity that Rotana has created over the years in the region.

Both companies said their objective was to expand their operations and influence inside the Middle East. The presidents of both companies explained their vision of a successful venture in Iraq, specifically Erbil, which has been considered recently by many business men to be the gateway to Iraq.

"There is great synergy from the Malia-Rotana team" Sarraf told journalists.
The alliance hopes to combine Malia's experience in Iraq since 1997 and in Erbil since 2003, with the experience Rotana has in the hospitality industry to create a venture that, according to both presidents, will be the first of many in Iraq.

Growth forecasts of the Kurdistan region, coupled with stability and government support for investors through tax relief and other incentives, triggered interest in the area.

Iraqi Kurdish officials are keen to have tourism play a more important part in the region's economy. The opening of a new international airport in Erbil, and increasingly well developed and regulated banking and financing sectors are expected to facilitate the hotel venture's future operations.

Mostly free from the violence that affects many parts of Iraq, Kurdistan has been relatively peaceful in the wake of the US-led invasion in 2003.

Malia Group, first founded in 1935, is a leading Lebanese organization, consolidating subsidiary companies dealing in the production of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tobacco, food and other consumer products, marketing and distribution, and recently in tourism.

Rotana Hotels, founded in 1992, is a Middle East-born hospitality firm operating in many Arab countries, including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Jordan, and Sudan, and currently has 29 more hotels under construction, which will make it the largest hotel operator in the region.