Editorial

Information Technology and Investments Minister Austin Gatt had good reason, last Monday, to describe the deal which he had just signed with SmartCity that morning as "historic" for Malta, and the date of the agreement "a special day" for the island.

The SmartCity project, which is set to transform the landscape of the Ricasoli area, and indeed of Malta's economy, has rightly been hailed as the biggest single foreign investment in the island's history. The Dubai investors (SmartCity is a joint venture between two Dubai companies, TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai, with the Maltese government retaining a nine per cent interest) are pumping $300 million (around Lm95 million) into the project to set up an ICT and media business "town", set to create at least 5,600 jobs in the next few years.

The deal comes after about two years of intense negotiations, which at one point appeared to have reached a stalemate, but the Dubai investors, headed by Ahmad bin Byat, executive chairman of TECOM Investments, were obviously keen on the project - their first venture in Europe, modelled on Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City - which they are banking on to repeat, eventually, in other parts of the world.

The Emirate of Dubai is in itself an amazing success story, which the discovery of oil in the 1960s changed from a sleepy backwater noted mainly for its pearl fishing into a wealthy, boom-driven metropolis, home to multinational corporations, financial services companies, ICT giants, five- and even seven-star hotels, a mecca for tourists, shoppers, businessmen and investors. It is a huge diversification success story, since oil - which made this transformation possible - today contributes just over three per cent to Dubai's GDP.

As Dr Gatt remarked, it was thanks to the vision of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Makhtoum, that this amazing transformation has taken place. Dubai has truly become a place of superlatives, thanks to this vision. Now, thanks to SmartCity, Malta too can embark on a vision, namely to stake its future on the growing information and communications technology sector, to serve as a base for multinational and other operators for their operations in Europe and North Africa.

There is no doubt that Malta's membership of the European Union, which will be three years old on Tuesday, was a deciding factor in the Dubai investors' decision to choose the island to replicate the success they had with Dubai Internet City. The island's strategic location, its highly skilled and English-speaking workforce, and its relative similarity to Dubai, also played a part.

Already, SmartCity at Malta has generated a lot of interest from prospective investors, Mr bin Byat assured us. He also expressed confidence that Malta would be able to deliver too in terms of human resources qualified in ICT. The prospects for a brilliant and remunerative career for ICT graduates are going to be there: the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and the University of Malta are gearing themselves to meet demand for qualified personnel in this sector. However, SmartCity will also generate hundreds of jobs in other sectors, and the multiplier effect on the rest of the economy promises to be quite substantial.

Not coincidentally, the project will regenerate the southern part of the island, which has not benefited from the investment in tourism, say, which has been made in other parts of the island. This, coupled with the gradual regeneration of the Three Cities (thanks to the Vittoriosa waterfront, the Casino, the marina, the conversion of No. 1 Dock and other projects), should spread wealth more evenly around the island.

It should also create opportunities for young people in the Cottonera area, which has hitherto been plagued by the island's highest rates of illiteracy and lowest rates of participation in tertiary education. Indeed, the employment opportunities offered by SmartCity not only in ICT but also in other occupations should be an incentive for young people, especially those in the Cottonera, to study and learn skills and other trades and to keep the most susceptible among them away from the dangers of drugs and its attendant criminal way of life.

It is important, if SmartCity is to take off as quickly as possible, that it does not come across bureaucratic obstacles, and to expedite the ground-breaking and infrastructural phases of the project. Malta is living in an intensely competitive world; SmartCity should give us a distinct advantage in keeping up with the competition. The project's success should be a matter of personal pride for every one of us.