Minister Mustapa Mohamed said the construction of the hotel would enhance the image of the country as a destination for foreign tourists.

“Harrods is a great brand and if they decide to revive the project, it’s a good move,” he said.

He said this to reporters after a bilateral meeting with Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Trade, Sheikh Ahmed Jassim Mohammed Al Thani, here, today.

The Hotel Harrods project, located between Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan Conlay in downtown Kuala Lumpur, was announced in 2012 as a joint-venture project between Qatar’s investment wing, Qatar Holding LLC, which owns a 100% stake in Harrods, with local company, Tradewinds Corp Bhd, and entrepreneur, Desmond Lim Liew Choon.

The plan, which would have seen the opening of the Harrods Hotel in key cities such as Kuala Lumpur, New York and Paris, was cancelled in 2015 by Qatar without a clear reason.

Mustapa said Malaysia encouraged Qatar to invest in hotels here as it was one of the important industries in the country’s economy.

He said besides Kuala Lumpur, other destinations that were proposed were Langkawi and Kota Kinabalu that were tourist destinations but still short on hotels.

At the event, Mustapa also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Agreement between the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the Qatar Chamber of Commerce.

He also witnessed the exchange of MoU documents between local universities and centres of higher learning from Qatar.