A consortium of South Korean construction companies are to start building an eco-friendly residential city in Kuwait by 2019, Yonhap News Agency reports. The consortium is led by POSCO A&C and Hyundai Architects and Engineers Associates Co., the news agency adds.

“It is the first export of the ‘smart city’ project which has been strongly pushed by the South Korean Ministry of Land,” reads a ministry statement.

The South Korean government voiced its plans to help form the consortium in 2018 and set up a special purpose company in 2019 to push forward the USD 4 bn project.

The project is planned to accommodate a range of 25,000 to 40,000 households, as construction is scheduled to begin in 2019.