Moscow mayor unveils new investment opportunities

The Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, has announced several investment projects in transport infrastructure to help develop the peripheries of the city and improve the capital’s investment opportunities.

Speaking today, to almost 3,000 delegates at the Moscow Urban Forum, Sobyanin said that total spending on public transport would become the largest in Europe, with US$6 billion to be spent on one new metro line alone.

“Thirty metro stations are now under construction,” he said. “We will build 14 new transport hubs and new metro lines to integrate these periphery areas. We welcome investors in this area and for the first time invite them to build toll roads.”

The mayor later announced to the international audience that 900 new metro cars would be open for tender to leading global manufacturers. As well as seeking private investments the city will be utilising 70 percent of its own resources to develop the peripheral areas as it moves to become a polycentric city. Sobyanin said that specific terms of the concessions would be available by the end of the year.

As a backdrop to the announcement a special report was prepared for the forum by business advisory firm PwC. The report, From Moscow to São Paulo; Emerging seven cities report 2013, compared seven emerging cities on social and economic strengths in which Moscow was ranked second, after Beijing and ahead of Mexico City. The Russian capital came out top in intellectual capital, education, technology, demography and liveability. According to the report, Moscow compares favourably with other emerging cities from the perspective of building a booming and vibrant city for the future.

Although Moscow won praise in the report for its sustainable development and environmental protection, more is needed in ease of doing business, with the city coming last in shareholder protection and in costs.

“It’s not a cheap location,” said Roel Spee, Global Leader, Plant Location, IBM, during a session on city investment. “You can see that in two ways. From the cost perspective it may be less competitive but on the other side, the types of investment that Moscow should really go for are not the ones that are looking at low-cost.”

Spee added that Moscow needs to focus more on quality of investment opportunities. “Nowadays Moscow is in the middle with regard to quality and price, but needs to move in the direction of quality,” he said. “Moscow is a strong and large market, but it’s necessary to improve the investment attractiveness of the city, because the potential of the Russian capital is very high.”

The three-day forum drew debate not only on Moscow but on all megacities. Delegates from 35 countries exchanged practical experience and ideas in developing solutions for the forum’s theme of ‘success beyond the city centre’.