Qatar SWF property arm begins $400 mln Sudan project

DUBAI (Reuters) - The property arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has started work on a mixed-use project in Sudan's capital Khartoum, it said on Sunday.

The 20.6 hectare mixed-use Mushaireb project will include a 5-star hotel, residential towers, office and retail space, Qatari Diar Real Estate Co said in a statement.

The project will cost $400 million Qatar's daily newspaper Al Sharq said citing Hassan al-Fadala, the firm's deputy chief executive for operations.

Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has been on the hunt globally to snap up real estate bargains stemming from the global economic downturn, with excess cash from a six-year boom in the Gulf Arab region.

Diar, which counts London's Chelsea Barracks among its most high-profile overseas assets, in September appointed Qatar Islamic Bank as lead arranger for a $962 million loan earmarked to finance European investments.

Qatari Diar launched a luxury real estate project in Tajistan in August, its first in Central Asia, and has said it is eyeing investments in Vietnam.