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Alabbar, who made his fortune as the chairman of Dubai's largest
listed property developer, Emaar Properties <EMAR.DU>, has been
moving into other areas, in particular technology.
Asked on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai on Tuesday if he
was considering launching a messaging app akin to WhatsApp,
Alabbar replied:
"Yes, soon," adding "it's regional" when asked if the service
would be designed for an Arabic-speaking audience.
He declined to give any further details.
Mobile phone penetration in the Gulf region is among the highest
in the world, with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates in the top seven globally with rates near to the
equivalent of two phones for every person.
The region is also home to a young and tech-savvy population -
Saudi Arabia is one of the top consumers of YouTube videos - but
there is comparatively-little Arabic-language online content.
Alabbar was behind the investment firms which in July bought out
founder Fadi Ghandour's stake in logistics firm Aramex <ARMX.DU>,
with a source at the time saying this was part of a strategy to
build an e-commerce platform for the Arab world.
And in April, he took a 4 percent stake in online fashion
retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter <YNAP.MI>.
(Editing by Alexander Smith)
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