DUBAI-based developer Buroj Property Development said on Saturday it plans to invest €4.3 billion ($4.8b) to build a luxury tourist resort near Sarajevo, in what could be the biggest foreign investment of its kind in the Balkan country.

Bosnia, where Muslim Bosniaks are the largest of its three ethnic groups, has seen an influx of tourists from the Middle East in recent years and a growing number of Middle Eastern buyers of properties, attracted by the country’s mountain landscape.

“The initial investment in the project is worth around €920 million, while the total investment will amount to €4.3b” over the next eight years, Ismail Ahmed, the company’s manager, told a news conference.

The ‘Buroj Ozone’ will stretch over an area of 1.3 million square metres and include thousands of housing units, hotels and the largest shopping centre in Bosnia, Ahmed said.

It will be located in the municipality of Trnovo which lies below the Bjelasnica and Igman mountains, venue of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, around 20km from Sarajevo.

Ahmed said construction would begin in April or May next year pending a resolution of regulatory issues and necessary permits from the Trnovo municipality, which will lease the land to Buroj Property Development for 99 years.

The project will create at least 10,000 local jobs, he said.

“The aim of this unique project is to turn Bosnia and Herzegovina into a tourism leader of southeast Europe and to put its rich natural resources at the disposal of local and international clients,” he said in a report by Reuters.

“Many people associate this country with the war and this project will help change that image,” Ahmed added.

Since the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war, which claimed 100,000 lives, Bosnia has attracted scarce foreign investment.

Tourism is seen as an expanding industry in the Balkan country. Visitor arrivals in the first five months of 2015 were up almost 26 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties on Monday launched the second phase of sales for West Yas, a master planned residential development on Yas Island.

The new release comes as a response to the strong nationwide demand recorded in phase one where 300 units were sold to Emiratis.

West Yas features luxury villas that are integrated into large green spaces and adjacent to Yas Island’s major attractions.

Talal Al Dhiyebi, Chief Development Officer of Aldar, said: “We have seen significant demand for West Yas due to the elegant design of the development’s luxury villas, and its prime location on one of Abu Dhabi’s leading retail and leisure destinations, Yas Island.

West Yas, the next phase of the Yas Island story, appeals to Emiratis from across the UAE, who are looking for a long term investment opportunity, in addition to luxury community living that will enable tenants or owner occupiers to live and work in the capital. With over 1,000 villas making up West Yas, we expect it to become a major destination in its own right.”