Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), the government body responsible for the socioeconomic growth of the emirate, has announced that it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to establish the US$ 5 billion Hyderabad Economic City, an integrated financial hub and health care city.

The MoU was signed by Wahid Attalla, Member of the Board, Rakeen, the real estate development arm of Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), and APIIC Chairman and Managing Director B P Acharya, in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. The financial component of the mega project will include infrastructure facilities to support a full range of financial services, while the state-of-the-art health care city will provide complete facilities for clinical and non-clinical services. Hyderabad Economic City is part of several large-scale satellite townships being developed by RAKIA and master developer Rakeen in several key cities across India.

Commenting on the MoU, Dr Khater Massaad, CEO, RAKIA said: "The partnership with the Andhra Pradesh government for the development of the Hyderabad Economic City is in line with RAKIA's strategy to fortify its portfolio of global investments. India's fast-growing economy has opened a wide range of business opportunities, and we intend to build on this momentum to further expand our activities in the country and across the region. Furthermore, we believe that this new development will strongly support India's continued economic progress and open more opportunities for growth and prosperity.

" Hyderabad Economic City's financial sector will provide essential infrastructure to support back-office operations for banking, insurance and asset management companies. It will also provide key facilities to host corporate centres for financial services, product markets, capital market and trading operations, IT services, business processing operations, plug-and-play intelligent buildings and IT parks. The integrated health care component of the mega project will incorporate world-class hospitals, medical colleges, research services for clinical trials, a comprehensive drug delivery system, and facilities for stem cell research and genetic research, among others.

RAKIA is also developing several other townships across the country through RAKINDO, RAKIA's joint venture company in India. Over 3,000 acres of land has been earmarked for various projects in Coimbatore, Chennai, Kumarakom, Hosur and Cochin, each with a projected cost of US$ 2 billion.