President Minnikhanov Meets with First Investor & Resident of Kazan Smart City

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov met with the CEO of Radiance Hospitality Group Leong Yew Poh and Principal & Deputy CEO of Advanced Tertiary College Dr. Danny Choong Ewe Leong yesterday in the Government House of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Among those also in attendance at the meeting were Tatarstan Investment Development Agency (TIDA) Chief Executive Linar Yakupov, Tatarstan Development Corporation CEO Bulat Gayanov, Tatarstan Minister of Education and Science Engel Fattakhov, Tatarstan Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing Irek Fayzullin, Director of Special Economic Zone Innopolis Igor Nosov, Tatarstan First Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism Azat Sharapov, and Head of the State Department for Education of the Tatarstan Cabinet Office Renat Zamanov.

Radiance Hospitality Group and the Tatarstan Development Corporation (TDC) signed a agreement in March 2013, making the Singapore company the first investor and resident of Kazan Smart City. Radiance Hospitality Group will build a transit hotel, Hospitality and Management University and block of service apartments in Kazan Smart City. Advanced Tertiary College will be the operator of the Hospitality and Management University.

Leong Yew Poh and Dr. Danny Choong Ewe Leong arrived to Kazan several days before the meeting with President Minnikhanov to work out details and issues regarding the three projects. Over the course of these days, TIDA and TDC organized a range of meetings with respective ministries, architectural and construction companies, Sberbank Russia, and Ak Bars Bank, among others.

During the meeting with President Minnikhanov, Leong Yew Poh and Dr. Danny Choong Ewe Leong explained the latest developments regarding the three projects. The Hospitality and Management School will lie on 1.89 hectares of land and form the part of a multi-varsity campus that will be based in Kazan Smart City. The first stage of investment into the university is 300 million rubles ($9.5 million). The university will have two faculties: a hospitality faculty and a business management faculty. Instruction in both faculties will be entirely in English.

The curriculum of the business management faculty will be designed jointly with the London School of Economics, a branch of the University of London. As Dr. Danny Choong explained, Advanced Tertiary Collage is an accredited affiliate of the University of London, which has already given approval to the use of its curricula in Kazan Smart City.

The Hospitality and Management University will have 500 students in the first stage of development, with a potential future studentbody size of 5,000. It is expected that these students will hail from the Volga region and internationally. Graduates of the faculty of business managementwill have a diploma issued by the London School of Economics.

Advanced Tertiary College is currently considering thepossibility of initially launching its educational programs on the campus of an existing university in Kazan, until their university facility is built. TheInstitute of Management, Economics and Law is currently being considered inthis capacity. Advanced Tertiary College is planning to begin such courses in September 2014.

During the meeting, Dr. Danny Choong told President Minnikhanov that he saw a real need for improving the level of the service industry in Tatarstan. Graduates of the hospitality faculty will have two degrees: one from the Hospitality and Management University, and second from one of their partner institutions in Great Britain, Switzerland, or Australia.

“The Hospitality and Management University will help make the Republic of Tatarstan the leading educational center of Russia in services and hospitality», noted TIDA Chief Executive Linar Yakupov.

Radiance Hospitality Group will also build a 4-star transit hotel with 140 rooms in the Central Business Precinct of Kazan Smart City. The transit hotel will be close to the Stolbishe station of the Aeroexpress line. Its projected completion date is the end of 2015. Total investment into thetransit hotel is 500 million rubles. During the meeting, President Minnikhanov underscored the fact that its close proximity to Kazan International Airport puts the hotel in a prime location to accommodate arriving passengers.

Radiance Hospitality Group is also intending to build a complex of 120 service apartments on 1.1 hectares of land in the Central Business Precinct. These service apartments can be purchased and leased back to a management company that would then be able to rent them out. The total amount of investment in the service apartments is 600 million rubles.

Leong Yew Poh stated that Radiance Hospitality Group believes that Kazan Smart City has enormous development potential and is eager to help play its part in raising the level of the service industry. “We are happy to be working in Tatarstan, especially in Kazan Smart City», he said. «Kazan Smart City will transform Tatarstan’s status».

During the meeting, Leong Yew Poh and Dr. Danny Choong also expressed their hope that the Government of Tatarstan would help them navigate the process of getting licenses and permits, the plots of land, and consider providing tax incentives.

“We need to map out a plan of cooperation with you in regards to developing the infrastructure,” added Leong Yew Poh. “When the infrastructure ready, we will be able to launch our project. The Tatarstan Investment Development Agency has been extraordinarily helpful in coordinating our meetings in Tatarstan and supporting us, and we hope that by mapping out this plan this support will continue».

“We are prepared to provide you with all the necessary support for these three facilities,” responded President Minnikhanov,instructing TIDA to work together with the Ministry of Construction, Architecture and Housing to develop a road map for preparing the infrastructure of Kazan Smart City. President Minnikhanov also asked that a working group be formed to discuss the matter of expediting the issuance of licenses and permits for investors and residents of Kazan Smart City.

Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Press Service