The Mall of Arabia will contain over 1,000 shops and 120 food outlets and will have a gross leasable area of 5.6 million sq ft including approximately 1.2 million sq ft of retail space in an outdoor area.

Colliers International has been appointed retail leasing agent for the centre which will form part of the Dubailand tourism, entertainment and leisure destination, calculated to span over two billion sq ft and which is being geared to attract 15 million tourists to Dubai annually.

Certainly I would expect there to be tremendous opportunities for Irish retail outfits to grow their business when this enterprise is up-and-running, " says Roderick Downer, director of Colliers Jackson Stops, with responsibility for business development. ?Perhaps there will be particular opportunities for Irish-theme pubs or shops with a particular Irish flavour to do well. Things should start to happen at the retail end within 18 months."

On completion, Dubailand will be twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, making it the biggest theme/amusement park in the world.

The development is being built in four phases, each of which will last for five years.

The first phase, from 2005 to 2010, will include the installation of initial roads and infrastructure. The entire development is due for completion in 2020. The initial infrastructure alone is calculated to cost $814m.

?I suspect that if the Tescos and the Monsoons of this world go in on what they would regard as a comfortable basis . . . and I think they will . . . then all the major retailers in the UK and Ireland will opt to set up business there, " says Downer.

Among retailers represented by Colliers are River Island, TK Maxx, French Connection, Vision Express, Virgin and Oasis.

Commercial regulations stipulate that any foreign business setting up in the UAE can only do so as a joint venture with a local enterprise.

?It is a slightly awkward situation. But I'm aware that a high number of UK retailers have already sought joint partnerships, " says Downer. ?One Dubai sheikh who's particularly commercially minded has set up business ventures with a number of UK shops, " he says.

The mall is being designed on a radial grid for easy customer navigation. Its vast selection of outlets will include hautecouture and designer hall, technology areas, clusters of houses and homes, sports and lifestyle outlets, Arabian souks, a cinema complex, bowling alleys and a major hypermarket.

?In some respects it all seems almost too good to be true, " Roderick Downer says.

?But you have to remember, these people have what are virtually unlimited amounts of money. They can afford to spend billions and billions without getting any return for many years. It doesn't worry them remotely. They've set out to create something so stunning that it will, effectively, become the playground of the world."