Iris To Cooperate With Swaziland On Housing, Agriculture

BUKIT JALIL (Malaysia), July 4 (Bernama) -- Iris Corp Bhd, a global solutions provider with core expertise in digital identity, business, farming and environmental solutions, is interested to cooperate with Swaziland in housing. Its group managing director, Tan Say Jim, said Iris was ready to invest and build a factory if there was an opportunity to build at least 3,000 homes in Swaziland and other parts of Africa as housing was one of the most important issues. "We should go to the country and see the potentials," he told reporters after receiving a visit from Head of State of the Kingdom of Swaziland, King Mswati III, here Wednesday. Tan said the king was interested in Iris' Koto industrialised building system, which built faster and safer homes that were both green and energy-efficient like the Rimbunan Kaseh project. Rimbunan Kaseh is a model community consisting of 100 affordable homes and a creative, closed-loop agricultural system designed to provide both food and supplementary income for villagers in Pahang (Malaysia's east coast state). Swaziland is a landlocked country in southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The country's economy is diversified, comprising agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing of textiles and sugar-related processing as well as services. Beside Iris' housing solution, the king was also about the company's food and environment security initiative. The king arrived at the Iris headquarters at the Technology Park Malaysia at 11.00am and spent over an hour visiting Iris' high-tech integrated farming at the rooftop of the building and was briefed on the company's operation, including microchip technologies. "His Majesty went up to the rooftop and saw how we grow paddy, fruits and vegetables using good agriculture practices as well as fish farming. "He was interested in the project because within such a limited space and land we still can do it," Tan said. -- BERNAMA