Auctioneers Bonhams will hold its first Middle Eastern art auction sale in Dubai this March.

The auction will feature some works from some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian, Indian and Pakistani art.

This will include India's Francis Newton Souza, Syria's Louay Kayyali and Iran's Nasser Ovissi. Fine jewellery and watches will also be included in the sale.

"We have a well-established reputation in sales of Indian and Pakistani art in London, where we recently achieved a world-record of £602,400 for the auction of an historic Raj painting by Raja Ravi Varma," said Claire Penhallurick, Bonhams' director of Islamic and Indian Art.

"We are expecting an encouraging and positive response from our first auction in the region. It is early days for the local art scene and difficult to predict the potential of the market, however the opportunity for development is vast."

Founder of India’s Progressive Artists' movement in 1947, Souza is internationally-renowned as an articulate genius, augmenting his disturbing and powerful canvases with his sharp, stylish and provocative prose. His 1955 work 'The Elder' - with an estimated value of about $270,000 - will be a highlight of the Bonhams Dubai auction, which will run at the Royal Mirage Hotel from March 3-4.

Matthew Girling, Bonhams: "The UAE is definitely destined to become one of the world's leading art markets, which is why we're here."

"Souza's paintings express defiance and impatience with convention and with the banality of everyday life, and reflect the influence of various schools of art - the folk art of his native Goa, the full-blooded paintings of the Renaissance and the path-breaking paintings of the moderns," explained Penhallurick.

In the 1950s, Souza shot to fame with his one-man show at London's Gallery One and in 1967 he migrated to New York where he received the Guggenheim International Award. Souza's works have been exhibited all over the world, including the Tate Gallery, London and New Delhi’s National Gallery of Modern Art.

Respected Syrian artist Kayyali will be represented in the auction with a 93 x 73.5cm oil on canvas, titled 'The Lottery Boy', which has an estimated value of between $50,000 and $70,000.

'The Dream', with an estimated value of $30,000, by award-winning Iranian artist Ovissi will be another auction highlight. Ovissi perpetually merges his passion and admiration for his Persian heritage on canvas. His works can be seen in both private and public collections across Europe, Asia and the US.

Bonhams' says the auction comes as the Middle East's arts scene begins to evolve with increasing interest in long-term investment in artistic assets.

"We've noticed a worldwide trend in emerging markets with booming economies, with first-time collectors wishing to purchase contemporary art from their own indigenous regions," says Penhallurick.

"We wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a rising trend here in the UAE with local buyers' interest in contemporary Islamic and modern Arab art becoming a key growth market."

Additional contemporary Arab artists featured in the Bonhams auction include Ahmed Moustafa, Adam Henein, Muddares, Hadi, Guiragossian and from Iran, Farhad Moshiri, Tanavoli, Zendroudi and Sepehri. India is well represented by B Prabha, Avinash Chandra and Swaminathan, with Sadequain, Chughtai, Shakir Ali and Jamil Naqsh from Pakistan also being shown.

The auction event will begin with open viewings at the Royal Mirage Ballroom on February 29 and March 1.

"The UAE is definitely destined to become one of the world's leading art markets, which is why we're here. We've studied the market intensely before entering the region, and believe we’ll have something special to add in the arena of contemporary Islamic and modern Arab art," said Matthew Girling, Bonhams' European and Middle East chief executive.

Bonhams, established in the UK since 1793, is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing auction houses. With 2006 worldwide gross sales of nearly $500m, Bonhams is a clear number three in the global market. Only Christie's and Sotheby's generated higher revenues.