Work on a new BD200 million ($530 million) tourism resort in Bahrain, co-owned by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy and Lulu Tourism Company, is expected to begin by December.

The blueprints of the resort, which will come up north of the Pearl roundabout and cover a land and marine area of 740,000 sq m, have been completed with the assistance of British, Australian, Malaysian and local companies.

The project, expected to be completed in a year, will involve an island that comprises a five-star 500-room hotel, meeting and conference halls, a spa, a gymnasium, numerous restaurants, gardens, a children's playground, commercial shops and a 1,000-seat theatre exhibition hall with state-of-the-art technology and built according to the latest specifications.

The island will also have a beach, a private marina for large yachts, residential apartments with sea views and 70 villas with various specifications.