6 September 2019, Vladivostok. — The Far East High Technology Fund (FEHTF) has made an agreement with the Government of the Primorye Territory providing for a joint implementation of the comprehensive Smart City programme in the Primorye Territory. 

The agreement was signed during the 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF-2019) by Ruslan Sarkisov, CEO of the FEHTF, and Sergey Maksimchuk, Interim Vice Governor — Director of IT Development and Telecommunications Department of the Primorye Territory. 

Vladivostok will serve as the pilot city under the joint project that will be equally implemented in the other towns of the Primorye Territory — Ussuriysk, Nakhodk, and Artyom.  

The parties have agreed that the Fund will implement the comprehensive Smart City programme under public-private partnership arrangements in Vladivostok and in the neighbouring towns, including energy-efficient technologies, urban digital infrastructure, security systems, online monitoring of the housing and utilities and communications infrastructure integrated into a common urban management system. The project provides for attracting core hi-tech businesses with leadership positions in the Internet of Things research.

The objective of the project is to create a comfortable and safe environment for the residents of the Primorye Territory, enhance the quality of urban resource management, and reduce the costs of urban infrastructure maintenance through the introduction of innovative engineering solutions.

The first phase of the comprehensive programme provides for the upgrading of the lighting system in Vladivostok and preparation of equipment for further development of the digital infrastructure in the city and surrounding grounds.

“Modern urban infrastructure is a prerequisite for the region’s technological leadership. To resolve the task of providing the cities of the Far East with state-of-the-art digital technologies, we are planning to implement a financing mechanism for regional programmes intended to develop Smart Cities based on a concessionary model when the Fund invests in the project company’s capital and engages leading developers and integrators, credit institutions and large co-investors to effectively consolidate the effort aimed at creating a smart urban environment with a wide spectrum of services offered to residents. Involvement of local companies will be a mandatory requirement for this type of joint programmes,” said Ruslan Sarkisov, CEO of the FEHTF.

“Conclusion of this agreement is extremely important for the Primorye Territory, as it will help raise extra-budgetary funds to implement the Smart City project. We are currently elaborating the project implementation plans and the agreement is the springboard for us. Next year, we will proceed to creating the Smart City. We will work together with municipalities closely,” said Sergey Maksimchuk, Interim Vice Governor — Director of IT Development and Telecommunications Department of the Primorye Territory.