VALLETTA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Malta will spend some 130 million euros (179 million U.S. dollars) on Valletta organizing the "European Capital of Culture" in 2018, a senior official said on Wednesday.

　　Addressing a public consultation, Malta's Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and Local Government Jose Herrera said that "Valletta 2018" legacy would be tied to large infrastructural refurbishment.

　　The projects include the rehabilitation of an old power house which will cost some 20 million euros, the revival of an old commercial street and an indoor market in Valletta, said Herrera.

　　The estimate of 48 million euros given by Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella earlier did not include the large infrastructural projects.

　　Valletta was unanimously named the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) for 2018, by a jury of experts, following a presentation by the Valletta 2018 Foundation in October, 2012.

　　The Valletta 2018 vision is to set in motion a process of culture-led regeneration of Valletta and its surrounding harbor area in which the whole Maltese archipelago can engage.

　　It calls for new infrastructure for the cultural sector, both physical buildings and spaces and the training of human recources, as well as a truly virtual network to support 2018.

　　The prestige of the title of ECoC is given to cities which are rich in heritage, but would also have a great potential of cultural and socio-economic regeneration. (1 euro = 1.37 U.S. dollars)