An investment programme aimed at "raising the prestige of the city" was approved at a meeting of officials on Tuesday, the Vremya Novostei newspaper said.

The spending plan includes hosting more parties for foreign diplomats and sending officials on trips abroad to promote the city, the paper said.

A cruise will be organised on the Moskva River for journalists as part of measures to increase openness and transparency, the newspaper said.

There will also be funding for concrete measures aimed at attracting more tourism, including development of budget hotels, which are currently almost inexistent.

The planned make-over follows praise here for the glossy promotional campaign that surrounded Russia's hosting of the G8 (Group of Eight) summit in the second city, Saint Petersburg, last weekend.

The Kremlin hired a major US publicity firm, Ketchum, to lead the PR effort.

About two thirds of the money earmarked by Moscow authorities will come from city funds and one third from commercial organisations, the newspaper said.

The authorities are hoping for a pay-back in the form of increased investment.

Reporting on a speech by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov at Tuesday's meeting, the English-language Moscow Times newspaper referred to it as "rambling, sometimes incoherent".