The emirate of Dubai plans to build the biggest shopping mall in the world, with an area of more than 740,000sq metres and with room to receive 180 million visitors a year.

Dubbed the Mall of the World, it will stand on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, though the date for its opening has not yet been scheduled, according to a communique issued by the Dubai Holding group.

The project will also include a covered park for games, theatres and cultural events, medical centres and tourism offices linked to more than 100 hotels.

It will also have the biggest conference room in the Middle East, a hall for weddings, a film- and theatre-training centre, and a car park capable of holding 50,000 vehicles.

The emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said that “the high growth rate of the real estate sector and of family tourism oblige us to start preparing now for the future.

“I announced some time ago that we want to be the economic, touristic and cultural capital of the region and we take that vision seriously,” he said.

For his part, the chairman of Dubai Holding, Mohammed Al Gergawi, said the gigantic mall will be built in several stages, in line with the growth of tourism in the emirate, though no precise dates have been set.