Hungary’s government said it is planning to channel €6bn into a “Dubai-style” hub around a partly disused railway station in Budapest, local media reported yesterday.
Janos Lazar, the country’s construction minister, told journalists that an 130ha landfill area around the Rakosrendezo station in the northeast of the city would be turned into a financial and commercial area that could elevate Budapest to the premier league of world cities.
He said the government would spend €1bn upgrading the site’s infrastructure, and that an unnamed foreign developer would invest €5bn on the buildings.
The infrastructure would include extending the M1 metro and building several public transport hubs.
Lazar did not say who the potential investor was, other than that it was one of the biggest in the world and that the deal would be subject to an intergovernmental agreement.
Local news reports said the investor is based in the UAE.
Lazar said the site would be divided into two parts. About 65ha would be developed by the investor with office buildings, apartments, and commercial properties, while some 35ha would be turned into a public park.
Lazar said details of the project will be worked out in the next half year.
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