The Gulf emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and Georgia have agreed on a business partnership to implement a USD 817 million real estate investment project in Georgia, GulfNews reported on February 18.

The deal was discussed during the meeting between Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who paid a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on February 15-17.

The deal includes construction of the residential space "Tbilisi Heights" near the Georgian capital, which will cover a total of 2 million square meters, and construction of the largest shopping mall in the country, which will cover 150,000 square meters, according to GulfNews.

The agreement also includes investments in Georgia’s tourism industry.

“The experience of how a country like the UAE managed to transfer its economy from an energy dependent economy into a widely diversified one offers us great hope in Georgia that we can do the same. The transformation we see here is a hope for us, for the fact that if it is possible here then it would definitely be possible in Georgia and in other countries,” Georgian President Saakashvili told GulfNews.

He also said that Georgia and Ras al-Khaimah, a northern Emirate of the UAE in the Persian Gulf, managed to establish “a strong partnership in a short period of time.”