A sister art museum to the Louvre in Paris, France, will reportedly be built in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

French culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has signed a 991m euro (£673m, US$1.3bn) deal with the head of Abu Dhabi’s tourism authority, Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, to build the 260,000sq ft (24,000sq m) Louvre Abu Dhabi.

French architect Jean Nouvel has designed the facility, which will display classical European, Indian and Middle Eastern, Islamic and Oriental art.

The international deal includes a 30-year loan of art works from the Louvre, Georges Pompidou Center, Musee d’Orsay and Versailles in France. In the first year, 300 pieces will be loaned, with ever decreasing numbers in consecutive years until the new museum builds up its own collection.

As part of the arrangement, the French government has also agreed to name a wing of the Louvre in Paris after UAE’s ruler, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The Sheik Zayed gallery will be renovated courtesy of the Sheik to house Islamic works of art.

Louvre Abu Dhabi is expected to take at least six years to develop.