Fouad Takla Construction completes Four Seasons, Damascus
January / 2005
source: http://www.propertyworldme.com/content/html/779.asp

Syria’s Fouad Takla Construction Company (FTCC) has completed the construction of the Four Seasons, Damascus, the first five-star hotel to be built in the Syrian capital in the last two decades and the country’s largest. The project was completed on time.

The 23-storey, 300-room hotel, in Damascus city centre close to the Damascus International Fairgrounds, is due to open next summer and has been described by Four Seasons Group management as ‘the jewel in the crown’ of the luxury chain. It is owned by the Syrian Saudi Company For Tourism & Investment, of which Saudi prince and billionaire Al-Walid Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz owns 65 per cent.

“The on-time delivery of this project has confirmed the reputation of Fouad Takla Construction as a major force in the Middle East’s building industry,” said engineer Talal Fouad Takla, Managing Partner, FTCC.

“This luxury property, which boasts five restaurants, three meeting halls, a health club and swimming pool, is spearheading and providing momentum for the expansion of tourism facilities in Syria. It will greatly help the country develop its huge potential as a prime travel destination,´ he said.

He further stated: “With construction work matching the high standards demanded by Four Seasons, confidence in Syria as a safe investment destination has grown, and this will lead to the birth of similar projects. It has also assisted the redirection of the Syrian economy towards international investment and, at the same time, exposed local contractors to modern project management concepts and service standards.”

Construction of the Four Seasons, Damascus, is the latest in a series of prestigious projects undertaken by FTCC.

“We were gratified to have won this project against fierce international competition, and to work on a project which is assisting the economic development of our country,” explained Takla.

FTCC was the only Syrian company to qualify to bid for the US$42 million Four Seasons, Damascus project and tendered successfully in a year-long bidding process against seven of the Middle East’s most important construction giants.

Work on the project began in December of 2001.