PM NAJIB SHARES RECIPE FOR SUCCESS WITH MALAYSIAN COMPANIES

From Abdul Muin Majid

ABU DHABI, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Najib Tun Razak said Malaysian
companies, including those involved in construction, must continue to improve
and adopt best practices towards delivering world-class products and services.

" We must continue to show that we can adopt the best practices whether
in terms of quality of work done, pricing, being very competitive, whether in
terms of being able to deliver according to the time line given to us," the
Malaysian Prime Minister said.

Najib was speaking at a ceremony on Sunday in conjunction with the handing
over of buildings constructed by Malaysian companies at Marina Square on Reem
Island to Tamouh Investments, an Abu-Dhabi based property development company.

" The main thing that I would like to convey at this ceremony is that I'm
truly proud of the work done by our Malaysian companies here.

" I hope this will be a beginning of many more involvements by Malaysian
companies in this part of the world and beyond," said Najib, who is on a
four-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates(UAE).

Witnessing the handing over ceremony was part of Najib's itinerary in Abu
Dhabi which also included his visit to the stunning Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The Prime Minister and his entourage also took a spin on the 5.554
kilometre
Yas Marina Circuit which hosted Abu Dhabi's inaugural Formula One car race at
the end of last year.

Najib reckoned that Malaysian companies were known to be good builders but
"we cannot rest on our laurels".

ISZL Consortium, comprising IJM Construction Sdn Bhd, Sunway Builders Sdn
Bhd, Zelan Holdings Sdn Bhd and LFE Engineering Sdn Bhd, were awarded the
design-build contract for Packages C and E1 on Plot 1 of the Reem Island
development scheme.

Package C includes five residential towers, a podium, villas and car parks.
The contract is valued at 1.5 billion dirhams (US$408.3 million) and the project
started in 2006.

With the towers serving as the backdrop, Najib said: "I hope Malaysian
companies will take heart that we're able to compete against other companies,
we're able to deliver such fine buildings."

" Looking at the buildings, at least from the outside, they really look like
world-class buildings to me. Congratulations to all the companies here for
producing such world-class buildings," he said.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that Malaysian firms would continue to
make the country proud in the future.

The first project developed by Tamouh in Reem Island, Marina Square, is an
integrated development comprising 14 residential towers, an office building, a
retail centre, a hotel, a serviced apartment block and a marina.

With a total of 3,440 residential units, Marina Square will have a
population of 8,500 when fully occupied by the third-quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile, SPK Bina Puri Joint Venture said it had completed the design and
build contract for Package B at a contract sum of 490.7 million dirhams
(US$133.5 million).

It consists of residential apartments, associated podium, car parks as well
as town houses.

SPK Bina Puri Joint Venture is made up of Pembinaan SPK Sdn Bhd and Bina
Puri Holdings Bhd, with SPK taking the lead in construction with a 70 per cent
participating interest.

-- BERNAMA