'Tecom to announce SmartCity next month'

Tecom International will make a formal announcement on the launch of SmartCity in Malta next month, according to a top official in Dubai quoted in the Gulf News yesterday. Tecom International executive director Fareed Abdul Rahman told the newspaper that his company would invest billions in two smart cities in Kochi, India, and Malta in the coming months.

SmartCity will invest Dh1.46 billion in Kochi (Lm133 million) and another Dh1.1 billion (Lm100 million) in Malta, he said.

When contacted by The Times, a spokesman for the Investments Ministry said he had no comment to make on Mr Rahman's remarks.

A recent statement in Parliament by Investments Minister Austin Gatt had raised concerns about whether Malta's biggest ever potential foreign investment would actually materialise. Dr Gatt had said he informed Tecom's chief negotiator that Malta would withdraw from the project if talks continue to drag on without agreement. Discussions about the earmarked project in Ricasoli have been going on for over seven months.

In a statement following Dr Gatt's comments, Tecom had said it was keen to reach agreement, adding that there were some remaining issues that needed to be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.

Yesterday, Mr Rahman was quoted as saying that Tecom will be officially signing up two Smart Cities, in Malta and in India, and four more are in the pipeline in South Asia and Africa.

Tecom's SmartCity project in Kochi ran into trouble in recent months when a new government raised certain issues to block the project but Tecom expects the outstanding issues to be resolved soon.