The face of new Damascus is set to change for ever. Here's what's planned:

-a 50 storey hotel
-TWO forty storey apartment blocks
-TWO forty storey office blocks
-3600 new jobs

Damascus is set to have its largest development for decades. A 50-storey hotel - by far Syria's largest - and shopping centre complex is set to be built in Damascus.

The 'Damascus World Commercial Centre' will house two forty storey aparetment blocks, two forty storey office blocks, a cinema (Damascus's current western cinema is attached to the Sham Palace hotel) and a theatre.

3600 jobs will be created by the development - to build it and to staff the centre when it's open. The project is being carried out by Syrian expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates - a company called the Tiger Group.

It's one of the first projects to be allowed under a recent law to promote foreign investment. Before that law was passed foreign investors struggled to gain access to Syria's closed economy. The Four Seasons Hotel on the Mezzeh Autostrade became Syria's most prestigious hotel when it opened recently - a project pushed through by Saudi money.

It's not clear where the new development will be located or when building will start.