Dubai-based MBF Group has signed an agreement to build an integrated medical city within the 100,000 square metre Gulberg Greens housing project in Islamabad, Gulf News reported on Sunday.

The project will be undertaken by MBF Group, which operates in the fields of healthcare, IT and retail, in collaboration with Ibchez Housing and Nixon. The group will be represented in Pakistan by Nixon.

According to MBF founder Shaikh Mohammad Bin Faisal Al Qasim, the project will include a 400-bed university hospital that will provide healthcare facilities of international standards.

"The medical city will also feature the country’s first medical mall, therapeutic and recreational areas, a regional cardiology centre, and an orthopaedic centre," he was quoted as saying in the report.

The medical city is expected to serve nearly one million patients and client per month, he said. It will also feature a nursing college.

Al Qasim disclosed that the investment provided for the expansive project amounts to $970 million (3.52 billion Dirhams). The land for its construction has also been purchased.

As many as 1,000 medical, technical and administrative staff will be employed for the project by MBF, which will also provide medical equipment and beds. The staff will all be Pakistani nationals, the group's founder said.