A British builder of glitzy mega-malls is to break ground this year on a presidential retreat for the country of Kazakhstan.

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Locals call the $1 billion retreat "Kaz Vegas," The (London) Independent on Sunday reported.

The retreat -- a 21st-century version of the American presidential retreat, Camp David -- is being designed by Eric Kuhne, the London-based designer of Bluewater, a mega-mall in Kent considered one of England's jewels.

The Kazakh retreat will best Camp David in luxury with a surrounding racetrack, five casinos, 45 holes of golf courses and up to 70 bars, the newspaper said.

"This is nation-building," said Kuhne. "We wanted to increase the country's visibility to the rest of the world, and here you'll have a president meeting world leaders in an innovative environment."

Kazakhstan, as moviegoers will remember, was the home-base country for Borat, the fictional reporter in the satirical "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."