MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew kicked off his week-long visit of three Gulf nations on Saturday at one of the Arabian Coast's most impressive and ambitious projects - the Palm Islands.

The islands are the largest land reclamation development in the world and its villas are already picked up by the rich and famous, including sports superstars Tiger Woods and David Beckham.

Mr Lee, accompanied by Mrs Lee, was given a tour of one of the three islands - the Palm Jumeirah - which is larger than 800 football fields, with its own hotels, resorts, aquarium and monorail.

When launched in 2004, Palm Jumeirah's first phase of 4,000 units of apartments and villas were sold out in just 72 hours.

The cheapest villa went for 4.6 dirhams and is believed to be worth at least three times that now.

Mr Lee toured one of the signature villas, which has its access to a private beach, overlooking the blue waters of the Arabian Gulf.

The Palm Islands were created to help solve Dubai's beach shortage and its shape and design came about when Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum drew a traditional palm tree and realised its fronds would add beach frontage to Dubai.

Mr Lee, who leads a delegation that includes Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar and Mrs Jayakumar, and Council of Presidential Advisers member Yong Pung How and Mrs Yong, was invited here by Sheikh Mohammed.

It is Mr Lee's third visit to Dubai, and the first since 2005.

During the briefing by government-owned Nakheel, the property development company behind the islands, Mr Lee heard that the new Dubai airport will be located near the islands.

But aircraft pilots won't be the only ones who will get a good view of the self-styled Eighth Wonder of the World.

Astronauts can also see it, as the Palm Islands, along with the Great Wall of China, are the only two man-made structures that can be seen from space.