KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24, 2012): The establishment of the CSR Rail Centre,
the RM400 million complex in Batu Gajah, Perak, will further strengthen
Malaysia's position as a major rail industry player, Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak said today.
He however said there was still
much room for growth and expansion in the largely untapped rail industry in
Southeast Asia and beyond. There was no reason why Malaysia together with its capable
partners could not explore those opportunities, he said.
"In 10 years, it is
anticipated that there will be a demand for another 250 units of rail cars and
locomotives in Malaysia alone and the demand from Asean and the Middle East is
expected to touch 2,900 units of new trains.
"This is a massive market.
Apart from this, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of trains is yet
another opportunity waiting to be tapped as it is estimated that in five years
about 1,350 trains will require MRO services.
"It is thus very timely for
Malaysia to have this Rail Centre set up by CSR (China's CSR Group) and the
signing of the MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) today marks another milestone in
Malaysia's fast-growing rail industry," he said at the signing ceremony of
the MOA between the Transport Ministry and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co
Ltd (CSR) here today.
Transport Ministry
Secretary-General Datuk Long See Wool represented the Malaysian government and
CSR ZELC Executive Director and President Xu Zongxiang inked on behalf of the
company.
Najib, Transport Minister Datuk
Seri Kong Cho Ha, Chinna's Ambassador to Malaysia Chai Xi and CSR
Vice-President Fu Jianguo witnessed the event.
Najib said he had been informed
that the major rail player in the world's biggest rail industry convention --
Innotrans -- which was held in Berlin, last week, had described Malaysia as the
new rail industry hotspot, growing far more robustly than any other country in
Southeast Asia.
With all the ongoing projects
that Malaysia had, namely, the construction of the Mass Rail Transit (MRT),
light rail transit (LRT) extensions and new line plans as well as the
government's study of the possibility of the High Speed Rail.
"I believe this bodes well
for Malaysia in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) potential and I hope
more companies will follow the example of the CSR ZELC in making a long-term
commitment to the country," he said.
Najib said he was certain that
not only the Rail Centre would become the impetus to enhance the development in
Batu Gajah, it would also become the catalyst for the growth of industries for
railway technology in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Kong said the
collaboration would pave the way to a better understanding of rail technology
for Malaysia and enhance positive transfer of technology and knowledge to
Malaysia.
"By being the hub in Asean
and rail transport becoming the choice mode in public transport, Malaysia will
surely mould itself into becoming a railway leader in Asean, producing trains
and locomotives for local use and export," he said.
The 20.23 hectares identified in
Batu Gajah, currently owned by the Railway Asset Corporation, will be leased to
CSR to develop the centre.
The MoA between the Malaysian
government and CSR will cover areas such as railway engineering and technology,
industrial resources on railway infrastructure, human resource development in
railway engineering and any other areas of cooperation in advanced railway
engineering and technology to be mutually agreed upon.
CSR Vice-President Fu Jianguo
said the first phase of the development, costing about RM200 million, will be
completed in two years. The RM200 million second phase, comprising maintenance,
repair and overhaul of the centre, will also take two years to complete.
"As a company experienced in
infrastructure buildings, we believe CSR ZhuZhou will be able to complete the
development of the Asean hub and provide the technology transfer as
planned," he added.
Bernama
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