A lease agreement that will flag off the development of SmartCity Kochi, an IT infrastructure project jointly promoted by TECOM Investments and the state government of Kerala in India, has been signed between Abdullatif AlMulla, TECOM Group CEO who is also the vice-chairman of SmartCity Kochi, and Suresh Kumar, IT secretary of the Kerala government.

The lease agreement for 246 acres of land will set the momentum for the development of a self-sustained knowledge-based industry township in Kochi. It will also bring TECOM Investments a step closer to its international expansion strategy of creating successful prototypes of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City at various locations worldwide.

Construction on SmartCity Kochi is expected to begin soon after the Special Economic Zone notification is received for 131 acres, which has already been cleared by the Board of Approval of India’s Union Commerce Ministry.

The first European outpost of the global SmartCity network, SmartCity Malta is set to become the leading ICT and media destination in the Mediterranean. SmartCity Malta received the ‘Best Investment in Europe’ award in 2009, recognising the project as the largest foreign direct investment in a European country.