# UAE developer Alabbar to invest $20B in Syria developments — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/a4fe1636629c933b

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-07-16 12:42 ingested 2026-07-17 08:06

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/07/16/2026/uae-developer-alabbar-to-invest-20b-in-syria-developments)

## retained text



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Dubai developer Mohamed Alabbar is planning housing and tourism developments in Syria worth at least $20 billion, including homes, resorts, and schools in Damascus and the coastal city of Latakia. The proposed projects — part of a wave of Gulf capital being poured into Syria’s reconstruction — align with a broader effort to keep the country out of Iran’s orbit. For UAE property developers that were facing a slowing home market even before the Iran war, Syria also represents an international growth opportunity.
Alabbar’s Syria ventures will be run through his Abu Dhabi-based firm Eagle Hills, which has close ties to the emirate’s ruling family, rather than via Dubai-based Emaar. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa calls him periodically to check on progress, Alabbar told Bloomberg, adding that he isn’t deterred by the risk: “We’ve had incidents, we’ve had bombings, but I’m from the Middle East … I know the game.”
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document fetched 2026-07-17 08:06 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/07/16/2026/uae-developer-alabbar-to-invest-20b-in-syria-developments