A SmartCity board member has been appointed chief executive officer of the 360,000 square metre project.

Mr Padmanabhan will lead the SmartCity project.Mr Padmanabhan will lead the SmartCity project.

Deepak Padmanabhan, who spent more than a decade leading telecoms provider GO plc, will be tasked with guiding the Kalkara business and technology park project through the next phases of its development. He has been a SmartCity board member since the project's inception.

In a statement announcing his appointment, SmartCity chairman Khalid AL Malik praised Mr Padmanabhan as being one of the company's "most experienced and accomplished executives" and noted he would bring a wealth of experience in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, strategy and business development, transformation and long-term value creation.

The SmartCity project is a collaboration between Dubai Holding and the Maltese government.

Dubai Holding is an investment conglomerate employing more than 22,000 people across 14 countries. Its portfolio includes TECOM Group, which manages 11 business communities in Dubai; Jumeirah Group, which owns and runs 21 hotels in eight countries; Dubai Properties Group; and Family Entertainment and New Media.

The conglomerate also has plans to develop a waterfront city at Dubai's The Lagoons in partnership with Emaar Properties, among other projects in the pipeline.

Mr Al Malik.Mr Al Malik.

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