SmartCity planning more knowledge centres
Tuesday, Jun 02, 2009
KOCHI: The Dubai-based SmartCity is holding talks with two governments outside the subcontinent to set up knowledge cities along the lines of its upcoming projects in Kochi and Malta.In a chat with business reporters here on Monday, Fareed Abdulrahman, Chief Executive Officer of SmartCity and SmartCity Kochi, said the announcements in this regard would be made at an appropriate time shortly. Mr. Abdulrahman said that SmartCity aimed at creating a mark for Kochi on the Information Technology map of India. Kochi has all the resources to become one of the three top cities in the county. In order to achieve this, it should be promoted among foreign director investors as a destination for investment. He said that SmartCity would make an initial investment of $500 million in its Kochi project. He denied that SmartCity was resorting to pressure tactics for implementation of the project. SmartCity is very positive about the project, he added. Mr. Abdulrahman said that since the SmartCity Kochi project was a huge one, its master plan would be drawn up in a phased manner. Later in the day, Mr. Abdulrahman visited the project site at Edachira near here. He will be in India till Wednesday.