The first general Smart City Board to meet July 3

The first general body meeting of SmartCity Kochi stakeholders here today decided to hold the third board of directors meeting here on July three to discuss various issues including SEZ status for the project and the Master Plan.

The general body meeting, a statutory requirment, was attended by Chairman of SmartCity Kochi and State Fisheries Minister S Sarma, Additional Secretary, IT Dept, Sreela, Smart City Business Development Manager Sulaiman Al-Riyami, Marketing Manager Mithun Beru and Project Director Baju George.

Smart City Kochi is a joint venture between the Kerala Government and Dubai-based TECOM Investments and SAMA Dubai. Among the issues to be discussed by the Board of Directors will be SEZ status for the project, the master plan, the lease for an 11.75 acre of land lying in the project area and the removal of a PWD Road passing through the Smart City area, sources said.

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SmartCity Kochi work will start in October 2008

The construction work of SmartCity Kochi is expected to begin by October this year, said S. Sarma, Minister for Fisheries and Registration and chairman of SmartCity Kochi.

He was briefing the media here after the annual general meeting of SmartCity.

The State government has completed formalities on its part for transferring the remaining 100 acres needed for the project from the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Now it is for the promoters Tecom to follow up the procedure, Mr. Sarma said.

Tecom was faced with the difficulty of not being able to register the 236 acres identified for the SmartCity project. While 136 acres has been given the SEZ status, Tecom is seeking the same status for the remaining 100 acres.

Failing this, the company will have to go for separate registrations.

Issues such as setting up of an office and relocating the PWD road that passes through the project area will be taken up at the next director board meeting, to be held here on July 3, Mr. Sarma said.

He presided over the annual general meeting. Baju George, acting company secretary, SmartCity Kochi; Sreela, Additional Secretary, Government of Kerala; Midhun Beeru, business development manager, SmartCity Kochi; and Sulaiman Al-Riyami, business development manager, Tecom, attended the meeting.

The meeting approved the budget and accounts.

It also ratified the appointments of Ajayakumar, State IT Secretary, and Anirudha Damkey, director of finance, Tecom, as director board members at the second director board meeting.

Tecom had earlier appointed Colin Buchanan, one of the leading United Kingdom-based multi-disciplinary consultants handling town master planning, urban design and traffic engineering, as the master planner for the project.

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Colin Buchanan appointed as SmartCity Kochi consultant

SmartCity Kochi has appointed Colin Buchanan, a noted U.K. multi-disciplinary consultancy, as the master planner for its upcoming project in Kakkanad. “We will continue to consult the State government and the local community on our joint IT/ITES vision”, said SmartCity CEO and Board Member of SmartCity , Fareed Abdulrahman.

Smart City Kochi is a joint venture company promoted by Dubai-based TECOM Investments, SAMA Dubai and the government of Kerala.

The project will come up in an area of 246 acres of which 100 acres have already been given the status of special economic zone (SEZ).

It would also see a record 90,000 jobs being created.

The decision to appoint the British firm was announced in a press release issued Sunday from Dubai by Fareed Abdulrahman, Smart City CEO and board member of Smart City Kochi.

"Smart City will develop the master plan in consultation with Colin Buchanan," said Abdulrahman.

"At the same time we will continue to actively consult the state government and the local community on our joint IT/ITES vision to ensure the success of the self-sustained business township."

State IT secretary Ajay Kumar told IANS: "Everything is going according to the plan of action that the board of directors have prepared. The board meets once every three months."

Colin Buchanan is one of the UK's leading multi-disciplinary consultancies dealing in town master planning, urban design, regeneration, economics and development, transport and traffic engineering and has extensive experience in implementing new and innovative solutions for its global clients.

Colin Buchanan, which has prepared a master plan for Smart City Malta, was recently awarded the NCE Consultants of the Year Award 2008 in recognition of its high profile projects like Crossrail, and ULTra Heathrow Terminal 5.


http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk

Smartcity Malta Masterplan

SmartCity Malta Board of Directors Eager to Start the Realisation of SmartCity

SmartCity Malta Board of Directors registered the impressive response and market interest received from Maltese, regional and international companies looking to relocate their operations to SmartCity Malta. This will, in turn, lead to the creation of quality job opportunities for ICT and media knowledge-workers and professionals. The Board emphasised that all these positive steps secured to date, were a reflection of the successful public-private partnership that is SmartCity Malta.

This was stated by the Board when it convened today to discuss the current status and subsequent steps of the project following the success of SmartCity Malta Phase One launch ceremony held in Ricasoli on Saturday (June 14).

SmartCity Malta, a joint venture between SmartCity and the Government of Malta, is part of a global network of self-sustained knowledge-based townships. SmartCity Malta is dedicated to the success of its business partners and the realisation of the knowledge-economy vision of Malta.

Following the internationally acclaimed launch of SmartCity Malta last Saturday, today the Board of Directors held extensive discussion regarding the construction of Phase One. The focus was primarily on the aspects related to the development of the infrastructure, health and safety frameworks, and the measures to be adopted to ensure that SmartCity Malta is developed in a sustainable fashion, not the least by the implementation of environment-friendly practices.

Another key decision made by the Board was the appointment of Claudio Grech as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for SmartCity Malta. On his appointment, Grech commented: "I am very privileged and honoured to be appointed to lead such a diversified and challenging project. I have today assured both shareholders that I will deliver my task to the best of my abilities, within the context of national aspirations for the ICT sector."

A new board member of SmartCity Malta was appointed. John Gatt, who is the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications, will be replacing Mr Grech as the Board Member appointed by Government.

Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of SmartCity, stressed SmartCity's commitment to the mutual long-term vision of SmartCity and the Government of Malta stating that "SmartCity Malta will not only be developed in an environmentally sustainable manner, but it will also generate sustainable investments from local, regional and international business partners".

SmartCity Malta and SmartCity Kochi are the first two projects to be part of the global network of knowledge-based industry townships that SmartCity seeks to develop. This global network will foster productive linkages and tap synergies between knowledge-industry centres worldwide, thereby contributing to economic development.

Earthrace, the world’s fastest eco-boat in Kochi(cochin)

Earthrace, the world’s fastest eco-boat, successfully underwent massive repairs in Singapore and will set off later today on the next leg of its world record attempt to Cochin, India, where it is expected to arrive on Friday 13th June.

Earthrace is a 24m tri-hull wavepiercer that runs on biofuel and is on day 42 of its attempt to break the world record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe. Despite the delays for repairs, the boat is still 1,556 miles ahead of the world record pace, set by the British Cable and Wireless team in 1998, despite sustaining significant damage in Palau and having to complete the last leg of the journey on one engine.

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