The Blue City is a $15 billion megacity project started by the Oman. The Blue City project will take up roughly 34 square kilometers along the coastal region at Al Sawaadi, only 45 minutes from Muscat. When completed, the city will include 16 hotels, two hospitals, a large university.. Also, there will be an aquarium, a convention center and a sports village which will be hosting a lot of European and international football teams for the pre-season. The chairman of the Blue City, Anees Issa, plans to announce in 2006 with the association of one of the top football club in Europe and one of the celebrity players. Only the 500,000 resident Dubai Waterfront project is bigger.
About the Blue City
Located on a natural peninsula 30 minutes from Muscat Seeb Airport, The Blue City is a 32 square kilometer (12.36 square mile) waterfront city being built along 16 kilometers (9.95 miles) of shoreline adjacent to the Gulf of Oman.
One of the largest scale developments in the Middle East, the Blue City represents a total investment of between $15 - $20 billion. The first round of financing was secured through the issuing of a bond note by Bear Stearns on international markets raising $925 million US. The note was rated Baa3 by ratings agency Moody’s in March, 2007, following on from a BBB- rating by Fitch when the note was issued. Bear Stearns was subsequently awarded “Middle East Leisure Deal of the Year 2006” by Project Finance for the arranging of the Blue City note.
The organization behind the project is Al Sawadi Investment & Tourism Company (ASIT) which has the endorsement of the government of Oman to bring this massive urban development to life. Blue City will serve as a growth engine for the Omani economy and will radically expand the tourism facilities in Oman.
The city will generate large scale employment opportunities for Omani nationals, promote freehold property ownership for nationals and expatriates alike and serve as a hub for leisure activities in the sultanate.
Creating Jobs
Blue City will also be creating thousands of jobs. The first phase alone is expected to create 7,000 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect jobs.
"This is why we came into creating this urban economy, to create jobs. We thought about things that the country needs, so we went into hotels, shopping, entertainment, amusement parks, theatres and bowling. Furthermore, we will have one of the top universities from the United States, not an affiliation, but a real university," Mr. Issa was quoted in the December 15, 2005 edition of Our World, a USA Today insert.
The Blue City chairman is also negotiating with two international hospitals for cancer and heart treatment. "Again this will attract people from the Middle East or Africa to come and be treated here and that will create jobs for nurses, hotels and many other opportunities. This is how we create the economy and this is why the government liked the idea. The Blue City is a tourist project that we converted into a macro-economy
Some people already consider the purpose of "Blue city" is to become the new capital of Oman... I think I will come back in Oman in 20 years just to see how the country has evolved and if Muscat is still the capital ;)
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