Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company said it has signed a $543.8 million contract with Consolidated Contractors Company to develop two projects in Egypt.

Qatari Diar, the property arm of the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund, established in 2004 to invest in real estate assets abroad, counts London's Chelsea Barracks among its most high-profile overseas assets.

The contract allots $464.3 million to the company's Nile Corniche project in Cairo and $79.5 million to its coastal resort project in Sharm El Sheikh, Qatari Diar said in a statement on Sunday.

The mixed-use Nile Corniche project will include the construction of a five-star St. Regis hotel as well as office and residential accommodation, it said.

The first phase of construction for the costal Sharm El Sheikh resort project, intended to draw tourists, is scheduled for completion in June 2012, it said.-Reuters