Ready to build hotel near National Stadium, AKD tells Ramiz
Karachi business tycoon Aqeel Karim Dhedi has promised Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja that he will invest for the construction of a hotel near the National Stadium.
The PCB chief met the leader of the metropolis’ business community at the AKD head office on Monday, where he discussed with them ideas to help boost Pakistan’s cricket economy.
Dhedhi told Ramiz that he will single-handedly invest for the the construction of a 200-room five-star hotel around the National Stadium. He told him that it was very easy for him to pump in $8-9million for the project.
The hotel’s main purpose will be to accommodate touring international sides and further improve on the standard security arrangements PCB makes for them.
Ramiz praised Dhedhi for taking interest in investing in the sport. “We need such players,” Ramiz. “They will open [opportunities] for us and he has promised us that he will stand with us.”
The PCB chief said the board will guide Dhedhi and other investors on how to use their financial resources towards the development of cricket. “We will also tell him that how can he help us,” Ramiz said
“I thank him for inviting us. He understands the commercial aspect of cricket very well. We’ll involve him in the cricket setup in the future.”
Dhedhi said he was glad that the PCB was finally understanding the importance of the business community and is ready to hear them out.
“We had a lot of ideas for cricket but we were never asked to share,” said the business giant. “Now that Ramiz himself has come to Karachi to meet the `business community, we’ve told him a lot of things. Cricket in Pakistan will certainly change in the coming days.”
In the meeting, the investors, including Dhedhi, showed their intent to compete with India in the commercial aspect of cricket.