China's CCCC actively seeking investment opportunities in Malaysia

BEIJING: China Communications Construction (CCCC) is transforming itself from an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contractor into an investor, developer and operation service provider, says its vice-president, Sun Ziyu.
"We are actively seeking investment opportunities to help develop Malaysia. For example, we are exploring transit-oriented development along the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).
"We plan to invest in targeted industries along the ECRL and lead investments from China and other countries as well," he told a Malaysian media delegation, led by the Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, at the group's headquarters here on Saturday.
Sun said besides infrastructure development, CCCC also hopes to participate in other fields such as property development and urban development.
He said infrastructure development plays a key role in a nation's economy and serves as a major driver for economic development.
He added that CCCC's participation in mega projects in Malaysia gives particular attention to the livelihoods of the locals and localisation of its projects, while dismissing claims that mega infrastructure projects involving foreign contractors are a major strain on the local people and businesses.
Giving an example, Sun said CCCC's participation in the Mass Rapid Transit and the Light Rail Transit projects in Kuala Lumpur will help ease traffic congestion, while the Port Klang and Kuantan Port projects will lead to further development in the area.
"For ECRL, 50% of our workforce are locals and could reach up to 70 per cent%. Except for some special technicians who were from China, all other staff were locals.
"We have also launched the industrial training programme plan to train and develop 3,600 railway experts. So far, we have hired and trained 447 local graduates," he pointed out.
Sun said CCCC is committed to procuring locally as much as possible to reduce delivery time and cost, adding that local subcontracting also improves its management efficiency.
"So far, 500 local suppliers, 157 local subcontractors and 91 local consultants are working with CCCC. We only consider buying from other countries when there is no such material or equipment in the local market, such as tunnel boring machine and rolling stock.
"At the same time, we subcontract substantial work to local companies. CCCC's mega projects in Malaysia could drive economic growth, create jobs, enhance local talent, make full use of local resources and benefit the local community," he said.
Sun said Malaysia will remain as a preferred market for CCCC's overseas business and its commitment to developing partnerships with Malaysian companies remains unchanged despite previous financial crises and trade uncertainties.
"We set up our Southeastern Asia Regional Management Centre in Kuala Lumpur, which oversees CCCC marketing and project management work for Southeast Asia. So far, we have over 20 ongoing projects in Malaysia and they are proceeding well," he said. – Bernama