The Ras al-Khaimah government is willing to take over a Dh2 billion ($544.7 million) property project in the emirate from a Dubai real estate firm, a newspaper said on Friday.

"We won't make it complicated for investors," Khater Masaad, the chief executive of the Ras al-Khaimah Investment Authority (Rakia) told The National. "Those who have paid for a studio will get a studio. The project will be built," he said.

Khoie Properties said in March it was unable to meet a $15 million land payment to Rakia for its La Hoya Bay project, a waterfront residential and leisure project on the man-made Al Marjan Island off the coast of the northern emirate.

Khoie also said it was in discussions with Rakia for a possible handover of the project. Rakia will appoint another developer to finish the first phase of the project, the paper said.

Billions of dollars worth of projects in the United Arab Emirates have been delayed or cancelled, with Dubai particularly hard hit, as a result of the global financial crisis.

Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah are members of the seven-member United Arab Emirates federation.-Reuters