ISLAMABAD, Capital Investment Overseas — an Abu Dhabi based company, will build a five-star hotel in Lahore, comprising 602 rooms with an estimated investment of Rs20 billion.

The construction of the hotel will be completed by the year 2011, said chairman of the company Abdulhamid Saeed in a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Monday.

This will be the second big venture of a UAE-based private company to make huge investment in the hotel industry during the last two years.

Mr Saeed informed the premier that as a result of stable economic policies and good governance, coupled with consistent growth in the economy, UAE looks at Pakistan as a destination for its investment.

He said that close links between the two countries would lead to UAE’s increased investment in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that a level-playing field to both local and foreign investors and government’s macro-economic policies and structural reforms has greatly encouraged foreign investment in Pakistan.

He appreciated the Capital Investment Overseas’ investment in the real estate sector in Pakistan and said that the government of Pakistan would continue to provide every possible facility to foreign investors.

Mr Aziz said this would add to the tourism and corporate interest in the historical city of Lahore, in addition to relieving pressure on existing hotels and creating job opportunities

He said that with a growth rate consistently ranging between 6-8 per cent, the expansion in middle class and significant rise in per capita income Pakistan has become a destination of choice for all foreign investors.