French Minister for Urban Affairs Maurice Leroy to keynote at MIPIM Asia 2011

HONG KONG, Oct. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- French Minister for Urban Affairs, Maurice Leroy, will update MIPIM Asia delegates on the gigantic Greater Paris project during a keynote address in Hong Kong, on November 16.

When it was officially unveiled in 2009 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the 10-year, major urban renewal project included a euro 35 billion transport plan to build a 140-kilometre, driverless subway system around the exterior of Paris, 70,000 new homes per year and a complete redevelopment of the Seine river to turn it into a major transport link with the Channel, via the port of Le Havre. Projects were submitted by 10 top international architects and President Sarkozy said he wanted work on the transport system to begin in 2012.

At MIPIM Asia, Minister of Urban Affairs, Maurice Leroy, who oversees the Great Paris programme, will give delegates the latest news on what is the most ambitious redevelopment project in the French capital since Baron Haussmann redesigned the city some 150 years ago.

Maurice Leroy's keynote address is part of MIPIM Asia's conference programme targeting urban development, liveable cities and the use of eco-friendly infrastructure to ensure sustainable urban development.

"The Greater Paris project offers truly exciting investment possibilities for the public and private sector and we are honoured that the French Minister of Urban Affairs will provide MIPIM Asia delegates with a unique opportunity to learn more about this huge development programme," noted MIPIM Asia Director, Filippo Rean. "Sustainable urban development is a major concern for urban administrators around the world and the Greater Paris development provides a fascinating insight into the future of city planning," he added.

Marrying urban environmental and commercial requirements while also responding to the evolving needs of citizens, will be discussed during the MIPIM Asia conference programme by two high-profile speakers: Jason Hu, Mayor of Taichung City Government (Taiwan) and Amy Cho, Director General of Business Opportunity Bureau of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (South Korea).

For more info on this conference, click here.

Another conference session will detail the roles of the public, private and community sectors in creating resilient cities. Dr. Sujata Govada, Managing Director of Urban Design & Planning Consultants Ltd. (Hong Kong SAR) will share her expertise as an award-winning urban designer and certified town planner. John Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute (Hong Kong SAR) will moderate the best practices exchange.

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MIPIM Asia will also welcome senior public officials who will speak in conference sessions addressing finance and investment. Among the speakers are Dr. Christina Y. Liu, Minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (Taiwan) and Takuya Ishikawa, Director of Real Estate Market Division, Industry Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan).

For more info on these conferences, click here.

A whole range of local and public authorities have registered for MIPIM Asia, some of them being present on the exhibition zone, such as the Development Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Shanghai Huangpu River Bank Development Construction (China), Gold Coast City Council (Australia), Jeollanam-Do Provincial Government (South Korea), Malaysia Property Incorporated (Malaysia) and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine).

MIPIM Asia delegates will also discover some of the ground-breaking construction projects from across the region which will be on display as winners of the 2011 MIPIM Asia Awards.  Frank Krueger, Creative Director of logon urban.architecture.design (Berlin/Shanghai) which designed the Shanghai Museum of Glass – one of the winners in the "urban regeneration" category, explained why he's looking forward to this year's event: "MIPIM Asia does provide a unique opportunity for us as it stimulates the exchange of knowledge and latest trends in urban development, planning and sustainable design. We did not only established new business relations (and acquired new project opportunities), but we were also able to boost the quality and competitiveness of our work through the gain of knowledge at MIPIM Asia."

For more info on the awards competition, click here.

To access the updated list of MIPIM Asia exhibiting and participating companies and learn more about the complete schedule of MIPIM Asia 2011 official conference programme, please click here.

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