Arab billionaire and nephew of the sheikh of the Sharjah emirate Tariq Bin Faisal Al Qassimi plans to invest in the construction of hotels and towers in Bulgaria.

Al Qassimi is economy minister of Sharjah . He met Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev on September 15 in the United Arab Emirates, Standart daily reported.

On his way back from a work visit to India, Stanishev's plane landed in Sharjah to refuel. Al Qassimi and Stanishev met in the airport's VIP hall.

The sheikh's family owned seven-star hotels of the Palazzo Versace chain and 26-floor twin glass towers in Sidney and Dubai.

Emirates Investments Group would be interested to invest in Europe. The company owned hotels and banks and businesses in the insurance and petrol industries, Standart daily said. It had already invested more than six billion dollars in Australia, Singapoure and Pakistan.

The sheikh would invest in ski and sea tourism and in office buildings in Bulgaria. He would visit Bulgaria in October and meet Stanishev again.