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Make Way For More: Katara Plaza Launched in Qatar The Ali Bin Ali Group have announced the launch of Katara Plaza, a 38,000 sq. m. commercial project that will open its doors in 2016 at the Katara Cultural Village Foundation in Qatar.

By Aby Sam Thomas

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

The Ali Bin Ali Group
A rendering of Katara Plaza in Qatar.

With French department store Galeries Lafayette and the Middle East's first ever evian®SPA confirmed as anchor tenants, the Ali Bin Ali Group have announced the launch of Katara Plaza, a 38,000 sq. m. commercial project that will open its doors in 2016 at the Katara Cultural Village Foundation in Qatar. The plaza, which will be the country's first ever open, air-conditioned retail space, will also house the Children's Mall, which looks certain to be the cynosure of all eyes, young and old, given its quirky design as two gifts wrapped in red and gold.

(From left to right) Laurent Houel, Evian Global Director, Katara General Manager, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Nabeel Ali Bin Ali, Vice- Chairman and EVP, Ali Bin Ali Group, Laurent Haynez, Senior Vice-President, Strategy and Business Development, Galeries Lafayette Group, and Architect Bruno Moinard. Image credit: Ali Bin Ali Group.

Speaking at the launch of the new venture, Nabeel Ali Bin Ali, Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of the Ali Bin Ali Group, said, "It is with great pleasure and excitement that we have embarked on this project. We expect that Katara Plaza would unlock a unique world class shopping experience offering the Qatari market many first of its kind experiences that can be valued and enjoyed as never before."

The Katara Plaza is one in a series of projects planned by the Ali Bin Ali Group and Katara, with work already having commenced on the set up of the internationally renowned Galeries Lafayette store in the establishment by Paris-based architect Bruno Moinard. Another of the mall's flagship tenants is evian®SPA, which will be the first of its kind in the region and offer customers a spa concept based on the French mineral water brand's core values of "purity, health and youthfulness."

Rendering of the upcoming Katara Plaza project in Qatar. Besides Galeries Lafayette and evian(R)SPA as confirmed tenants, the Katara Plaza will also house the Children's Mall, designed in the form of two gifts. Image credit: Ali Bin Ali Group.

Commenting on the integration of the mall with Katara, H.E. Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, General Manager of the General Foundation of the Cultural Village, Katara, said, "We are working to achieve the cultural district goals as an economically profitable cultural institution, thus raising the slogan of culture comes first, so that investment may support it. Godwilling, we are reassured that the projects that will be added to the cultural district will create a higher demand for tourism for both Katara and the State of Qatar."

Aby Sam Thomas

Entrepreneur Staff

Managing Editor, Entrepreneur Middle East

Aby Sam Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Middle East. In this role, Aby is responsible for leading the publication on its editorial front, while also working to build the brand and grow its presence across the MENA region through the development and execution of events and other programming, as well as through representation in conferences, media, etc.

Aby has been working in journalism since 2011, prior to which he was an analyst programmer with Accenture, where he worked with J. P. Morgan Chase's investment banking arm at offices in Mumbai, London, and New York. He holds a Master's Degree in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.  

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