SmartCity Dubai has decided to capitalise SmartCity Malta with €31 million rather than lending it the money to build the city.

Welcoming the decision, the Infrastructure and IT Ministry said in a statement this afternoon that SmartCity (Malta) Ltd was now being given a very strong base even before embarking on commercial activity.

Moreover, as had been agreed when the agreement was signed, the government’s shares in SmartCity (Malta) increased for the government to retain a nine per cent holding. The additional shares were paid by SmartCity Dubai.

The ministry said that SmartCity Dubai’s decision was confirmation of the investor’s confidence in the Malta project. The decision was even more significant considering the current global financial situation.

Earlier, SmartCity Malta said its board has approved the project's strategic marketing plan and the augmented head-count for 2009. In a meeting held last week, the 2009 budget and increased equity were also discussed and approved, SmartCity said.

The board has also reviewed the operations of the company during the last quarter of 2008, noting with satisfaction the results achieved to date.

Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of SmartCity said: “We are happy with the operational plan and budgets set and approved for 2009. We are ready for the challenging role of attracting business partners and to support them for their prosperity while operating from Malta. We will continue to engage in our international marketing programme, disseminating the value proposition of Malta and SmartCity Malta as the prime investment destination in the region for knowledge-based operations.”

Referring to the planned operations for 2009, Claudio Grech, CEO, said that 2009 would be a crucial year for SmartCity Malta during which Phase One would start taking shape in preparation to host the first ICT and media partners in 2010.

To date, SmartCity Malta has demolished all the factories in the previous industrial estate, cleaned the site, constructed an administrative block for its operations and in November 2008 commenced the construction of SCM-01 which is expected to be handed over to the first tenants in SmartCity Malta in 2010.

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