Al Habtoor Meets Prince Alwaleed In US

(MENAFN- Arab Times) During his recent visit to the United States of America, the Chairman and Founder of the Al Habtoor Group, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor met with Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the 'Four Seasons Hotel Chicago'. HRH Prince Alwaleed, a businessman and investor, is Founder and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), one of the world's unrivalled international holding companies. The meeting between Al Habtoor and the Prince was unscheduled but welcomed by both businessmen. They talked about the steady economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the booming tourism sector in the GCC. They discussed future cooperation between the two Groups. Both gentlemen have large investments in the hospitality industry. KHC owns stakes in several hotel management companies including the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts and Fairmont Raffles Holdings International. Al Habtoor Group has owned and managed hotels in the GCC since the early 80s, it will open the Waldorf Astoria on the famous Palm Jumeirah by end of this year. The Group recently unveiled 'Al Habtoor City', a major real estate and hotel investment valued at AED 11 billion (US $3 billion). The development is situated on a prime location on Sheikh Zayed Road overlooking the Burj Khalifa in the Business Bay area and near the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Prince Alwaleed and Al Habtoor are known not only for the business endeavours, but also for their philanthropic efforts and their limitless commitment to the betterment of societies around the world, regardless of race or religion. Alwaleed founded the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundations in the late 90s, while the Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Foundation (KAHF) celebrates its first anniversary in January 2014. The KAHF combines all the charities that Al Habtoor was involved in through the years. Following the meeting Al Habtoor said, "I am honoured to know Prince Alwaleed in person. He is an internationally acclaimed business leader, and as Arabs, we should all be proud of his achievements." At the end of the meeting, HRH gifted Al Habtoor with his biography 'Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince' by Riz Khan. In return Al Habtoor presented to Prince Alwaleed a copy of his awards winning autobiography, which was released last year, 'Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor - The Autobiography'.