Malta Partners With Dubai Telecom Firm In Major ICT Investment Project

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

27 February 2006

The Government of Malta has announced that framework discussions with Tecom Investments of Dubai on the setting up a new private sector ICT development on the island are at an advanced stage.

The project, known as ‘SmartCity@Malta’ will be the island's largest ever ICT private sector project, as well as the largest ever new source of knowledge-based jobs to be secured by Malta.

Tecom Investments, a leading full service telecommunications network operator and service provider, developed and now operates the ‘Dubai Internet City’ which groups together over 700 tenant ICT companies - the world’s largest managed entity for ICT providers. It also operates the ‘Dubai Media City’ (grouping together over 900 tenant companies) and the ‘Knowledge Village’ which houses over 260 educational institutions in a single campus.

The new ‘SmartCity@Malta’ will include a new full-fledged ICT and Media Smart City on the models developed by the organisation in Dubai. This project will also be accompanied by the development of a hotel and other activities to help attract knowledge-based operations to the site. This is expected to create a cluster environment to service tenants of the site in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

Malta is rapidly gaining recognition as a regional centre of ICT excellence, as evidenced by a recent island conference hosted by Business Objects, a leading business intelligence software company, Minister for Investment, Industry and IT, Austin Gatt said earlier this month.

According to the government, SmartCity@Malta will be a first for the entire European Union and will be the ideal European outpost for global ICT/Media companies wishing to establish a presence in Europe.

SmartCity@Malta is projected to create 5,600 new jobs over eight years, around 65% of which will be new jobs in Malta’s knowledge-industry. The remaining jobs will be created in areas such as administration, hospitality, retail, maintenance, security and logistics. This will make this project the largest ever job-creator under one roof in Malta’s history.

SmartCity@Malta will be situated in the south of Malta. The government has agreed to invest the land into the project, whilst Tecom is expected to undertake an investment of approximately US$300 million over the coming 8 years. The government will also be retaining an equity interest in the project and will be benefiting from the investments carried out in the public spaces.

"The Government is satisfied that this investment will have benefits beyond those immediately obvious in terms of job-creation and foreign direct investment," a government statement explained.

"This project is bound to bring about a substantial boost to Malta’s construction, hospitality, maritime, services and retail activities. This development will also earn Malta a sharper image of partnership with private investment particularly, but not exclusively, in the knowledge sector," it added.

The Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology will be conducting a widespread consultation process over the coming months with all stakeholders, including Local Councils.

Minister Gatt said that he expects work on the project to commence during 2006, after the necessary agreements have been concluded.

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