The signing of the documents by the government and Tecom Investments last Monday brought to an end the first – and perhaps most laborious – part of the agreement that will lead to the construction of what will be known as SmartCity Malta.
Months of negotiations have now been concluded positively with the signatures of Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt and the executive chairman of the Dubai-based firm, Ahmad Bin Byat, and the ball has now been set rolling for the actual work that will transform the Ricasoli area into an ICT city and media business park over the next few years.
The figures are, by now, well-known to all, but they are worth repeating to highlight the magnitude of a project that will become one of the pillars of the local economy, and which therefore needs constant attention as from day one to be able to result in the success everyone expects it to be.
The project is expected to generate a four per cent growth in the Maltese job market, with a minimum of 5,600 new places to be created following an investment of around $300 million, making SmartCity the largest ever foreign investment initiative. At today’s prices, by 2014 SmartCity Malta is expected to be making an annual contribution of some e534 million to Malta’s GDP. The government has agreed to make available nearly 358,000 square metres of land to develop the knowledge-based township.
The figures are staggering, and it is no wonder that when he addressed journalists during Monday’s signing ceremony, Minister Gatt proudly said that the project is “a very big feather in Malta’s cap”.
The fruits of such a signing will also be in evidence when the first clients are announcing their presence within SmartCity and, in the words of Mr Bin Byat, “the project would need to make a big impact and gain a certain level of credibility, so the first client would definitely be a multinational client”.
All this is encouraging, as it goes to prove the level of commitment there is for SmartCity to quickly become a centre of excellence in the area of ICT.
Now that the documents have been signed, other factors come into the equation, the first among which is the approval of the designs of the project by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. It is hoped that Mepa will process the applications in the shortest time possible to enable the actual development to start without a hitch.
Later on, when the city starts taking shape and the first firms move in, the benefits of such a project will start to be reaped. In this sense, and in particular if the jobs available are to be taken up by Maltese nationals, there should be a lot of forward-planning to be able to provide enough local personnel with the required skills who will be able to fill in the positions needed.
As such, the government is doing well to insist on offering specialised courses through institutions such as the university and MCAST. These will no doubt give Maltese youngsters a better chance of finding employment within SmartCity, not only in the ICT sector but also in other jobs that will be created indirectly.
Dr Gatt is confident that the educational institutions will train enough qualified staff who will be able to work at SmartCity. He is right to say that Malta wants to prove it deserves the confidence shown in the country by Tecom.
The SmartCity project, big as it is, could open up further avenues in a sector that is growing. It has given the country “so much visibility on the world’s ICT map” – in Minister Gatt’s words – that SmartCity could be just the first of similar projects that could be attracted to Malta in the future.