Gitex is the name of an annual trade conference focusing on IT and related sectors which is once again being held at the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre all through this week.

There are thousands of companies represented at Gitex, all offering the latest in IT technology, coming from as far away as China and the US but with a predominance coming from nearby India and, naturally from the conglomeration of IT and related companies housed in Dubai’s Smart City.

It was here, in the midst of all the attractive confusion of the exhibition that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi launched the master plan of SmartCity Malta.

For the first time, a full-scale model of what SmartCity at Ricasoli will look like could be seen, with all buildings completed and the laguna in the middle appearing as the focal point of the whole development, with the mix between residential and office buildings and with the whole area redeveloped from the neglected wasteland it is today.

The unveiling of the master plan also provided more information on what will be done next. In around two weeks’ time, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is due to discuss and hopefully approve the final details of the demolition of the existing factories and it is hoped that demolition can begin by next month. Construction of the first units should begin in the first half of next year, Tecom chairman Ahmed Bin Byatt told the media.

Mr Bin Byatt told how he had become entranced with Malta when he visited it on Emirates’ first flight in 1998. He had immediately understood there was a resemblance between Dubai and Malta (they also have the same number of inhabitants, though in a vastly different area) and he saw that a synergy between the two could yield great results.

The trade relations between two peoples long devoted to trade took off and have led to SmartCity. Mr Bin Byatt said the marketing programme to attract IT and related companies to Malta and its SmartCity has already started and has already had very positive feedback. SmartCity Malta’s presence at Gitex can only enhance Malta’s reputation. Meanwhile, Tecom is targeting its own clients present in Dubai and is offering them Malta as an added venue. After that, there will be a global launch of SmartCity Malta.

Mr Bin Byatt also said that, as Tecom does wherever it exists, it may be that the first clients of SmartCity Malta will be temporarily housed outside the SmartCity area at Ricasoli because, though as said, construction is due to start in the first half of next year, the very high environmental standards that Smart City sets itself may lead to a slight delay in the completion of the first buildings which have to be handed over and operational by the end of next year.

Interestingly but equally mysteriously, Mr Bin Byatt also hinted that Tecom was exploring other areas where Malta could be used as a site for further business between the two countries. Pressed by the media, he then somewhat retracted and said Tecom keeps its doors open for whatever opportunities may arise.

Prime Minister Gonzi, who is accompanied by Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt, was profuse in his thanks to Mr Bin Byatt and Tecom and reiterated that his government was committed to deliver the project on time and up to Dubai’s excellent standards. He also repeated that the country was doing all it could to provide enough training so that when SmartCity Malta came to full fruition, it would find enough homegrown talent to service it.

There were, in conclusion, two small episodes to enliven the small media component’s day: while waiting for the prime ministerial delegation to arrive, there was much mirth obtained by sticking small pieces of paper with “Princess Charlene” written on them to the small models of boats on the full-scale model of Smart City, sailing off the coast, until they were stopped by the stand’s attendance.

Then, during a whirlwind tour of the rest of the exhibition, no sooner had Dr Gonzi sat down to watch the extremely interesting offer by Du, Tecom’s mobile network which is also a cable television network, than the screen started showing scenes from One Television, not the Malta one of course, but the Dubai one.