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DUBAI: Interior fit-out (IFO) group LCL Corp Bhd will be looking at strategic partnerships with both local and foreign parties to financially support the sustainability of its future projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to group managing director Datuk Low Chin Meng.
He said LCL expected to finalise a strategic partnership with a public-listed Malaysian construction company with on-going projects in Abu Dhabi by the end of the month.
At the same time, the group was negotiating with parties from Abu Dhabi for other strategic partnerships, Low told Malaysian media in Dubai recently.
LCL is a well-known group in the UAE, especially in Dubai, for its IFO projects such as the newly-launched RM28bil Dubai Metro, dubbed the world’s longest fully-automated driverless metro system, the Dubai Mall Hotel and Dubai Marina Hotel.
The group was also involved in the IFO works in Dubai’s latest and luxury Atlantis The Palm Hotel.
To date, LCL has five major contracts in Dubai with the size of RM50mil each.
“We still have confidence in the property market in Dubai but given the current slowdown and slow recovery rate possibly in another one-year period as anticipated by industry experts, LCL will now focus on IFO projects in Abu Dhabi. Our interest will be in government-funded projects, such as hospitals, universities and clinics,” said Low.
On the group’s operation in Dubai, Low said: “We will not be taking many new jobs in Dubai.
“Despite the tough market conditions, we still have confidence that Dubai will recover and we will not throw in our towel just yet. Unlike some other contractors, we have a good track record of completing our jobs in Dubai.”
Low admitted that the group’s cashflow was heavily affected by the tight liquidity situation in Dubai, resulting in losses to the group.
However, he said: “We are currently in the process of recovering our claims and entitlements from property developers in Dubai estimated at not less than RM200mil.
“We have a strong case to make these claims as we have completed our jobs and expect these claims to materialise within the next eight to 10 months. This will lead to a substantial reduction in our high borrowings.”
Currently, the group gearing ratio is about three times.
PETALING JAYA: AWC Bhd, an integrated facility management and engineering solutions provider, has secured a contract worth RM177.4mil in Abu Dhabi from Aldar Properties PJSC.
AWC via its subsidiary Nexaldes Sdn Bhd is to design, supply and install its proprietary Stream automatic pneumatic waste collection system at the eastern precinct of the Al-Raha Beach Development.
Aldar Properties is a real estate development, management and investment company.
AWC group chief executive and managing director Azmir Merican said the contract would cover the period of 2009 to 2011 and included an infrastructure package for eight waste transport pipe networks of about 20km and four collection stations to serve more than 100 development plots, many of which would be built over the next five years.
“The contract also includes some in-plot works like Aldar’s iconic headquarters building, the upscale island development of Al Bandar and the Garden City of Al Zeina,” he said in statement yesterday.
The US$18bil Al-Raha Beach Development is a mixed development, consisting of 11 precincts sprawling across an 11km coastline that include residential, commercial, retail, entertainment, hospitality and canal components draped around an impressive marina.
PEMBINAAN SPK Sdn Bhd, a unit of SPK-Sentosa Bhd, has entered into a Arab Emirates Dirham 950 million (AED100 = RM98.15) deal with Aldar Properties PJSC to build 730 units of villas in Al Falah, Abu Dhabi.
Al Falah is a master planned community for UAE nationals as part of the Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 directive, which was launched early this year at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi exhibition. The project will provide 5,000 homes for UAE families as part of the Abu Dhabi goverment’s housing initiative.
Apart from Pembinaan SPK, a spokesman said contracts have also been inked with Al Jaber Building LLC Abu Dhabi and El Seif Engineering Contracting Abu Dhabi for the construction of the 5,000 villas in Al Falah.
“However, Aldar Properties would not want to disclose the details of the contract at this stage.
It is anticipated that the project will be completed by the third quarter of 2012,” the spokesman told Business Times. Meanwhile, SPK-Sentosa said its subsidiary, Pembinaan SPK had sealed a contract on July 15 with Aldar Properties for the construction and completion of 730 units villas in Al Falah.
In a statement, SPK-Sentosa said Aldar Properties has revised and reduced the contract sum and the scope of work from AED2.7 billion for the proposed construction and completion of 2,080 villas in Al Falah commmunity in Abu Dhabi to AED950 million for 730 villas under the revised Al Falah project.
Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s leading property company, was listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities market in 2004.
The joint venture between IJM Corp Bhd and LFE Corp Bhd has received a AED318.38 million (AED100 = RM99.28) contract from Tamouh Investments LLC of United Arab Emirates for reinforced concrete substructure and superstructure works.
The project, under the first phase of Plot 1, Zone E2 hotel development at Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, is expected to be completed on February 28 next year.
The joint-venture company is 70 per cent owned by IJM Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary, IJM Construction Sdn Bhd (Abu Dhabi Branch), and 30-per cent owned by LFE Corp's wholly owned subsidiary, LFE Engineering Sdn Bhd (Abu Dhabi Branch).
KUALA LUMPUR: IJM Corp Bhd said its joint venture has won a RM303mil contract from Tamouh Investments LLC to help build a hotel at Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
The contract, awarded to a company owned by IJM and LFE Corp Bhd, involves the construction and completion of one block of 34-storey five-star hotel tower on three-storey podium, a 24-storey hotel apartment on a three-storey podium, two levels basement carpark and other associated foundation and external works.
The package one project is expected to be completed on Feb 28, 2010.
The joint-venture company is 70:30 owned by IJM Construction Sdn Bhd and LFE Engineering Sdn Bhd, which are wholly owned units of IJM and LFE Corp respectively.
IJM Corp, Malaysia’s second biggest construction company, rose for the first time in seven days after OSK Research Sdn Bhd raised the stock rating on the builder’s RM303 million (US$86 million) Abu Dhabi project.
The shares added 1.8 per cent to RM5.55 at midday break, bound for the largest increase since June 10.
The “Middle Eastern delight” led Jeremy Goh, an analyst at OSK Research, to upgrade IJM to “trading buy” from “neutral” and raised the stock’s target price to 6.10 ringgit from 6.0 ringgit.
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia-based IJM said yesterday a joint venture owned by the company and LFE Corp won the contract to build a hotel in Abu Dhabi from Tamouh Investments LLC. The project is expected to be completed by the end of February next year, IJM said.
“We expect subsequent awards to flow over the coming months” following this contract, said Goh, who also raised his forecast for IJM’s 2010 and 2011 profits to RM318.9 million and RM353 million, respectively, on the expectation that the builder will secure more projects worth about RM1.7 billion by the end of the year.
“This amount is expected to include two contracts that could be substantial in value,” Goh said. He also expects IJM to participate in the Light Rail Transit extension project in Kuala Lumpur.
BINA Puri Holdings Bhd, a construction group in which tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary holds a minority stake, is increasingly looking towards the Middle East to replenish its order book amid the global slowdown.
Already, it has bid for some RM2.5 billion worth of jobs including the construction of high-rise residential and office towers there.
Founder and group managing director Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng said the group is looking to replenish its order book and believes that the Middle East in particular the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will provide the support.
Its order book stands at nearly RM3 billion, which will keep it busy for the five years. "We are bidding for jobs, especially in Abu Dhabi, to build medium- to high-end residential towers. Abu Dhabi is where the money is," Tee told Business Times in an interview.
Its biggest achievement in the Middle East has been in Abu Dhabi, where the group, as part of a larger consortium, won a RM444 million contract from the Tamouh Group to build two 45-storey residential towers.
The contract was awarded in 2007 and the consortium is expected to finish building the towers by December this year.
Tee also said Bina Puri is focused on growth this year to ride out the current slump.
"Business has to go on so the group could be the top runner when the economic recovers. It is all not that bad or gloomy. There are still plenty of jobs in Malaysia and overseas, but you need the right people to look for them," Tee said.
For the first four months of 2009, Bina Puri has managed to secure close to RM1 billion worth of projects in Brunei and Malaysia.
These projects include some RM300 million worth of government projects in Sabah to build houses and offices, and the construction of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
In Brunei, it was given a contract in February by the Brunei Economic Development Board to build 2,000 houses for RM693 million.
Tee said Bina Puri is looking for more residential and infrastructure projects in Brunei.
He said the group is also sourcing for new opportunities in Thailand, although it has RM1.7 billion worth of contracts in hand to build houses over the next three years.
The construction group's net profit fell by 38.6 per cent to RM4.3 million in the year-ended December 2008, although revenue was up by 11.4 per cent to RM677.3 million, attributed by higher building material costs and losses incurred by an associate company.
DUBAI: Construction group Bina Puri Holdings Bhd is bidding for RM2 billion worth of jobs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Bina Puri general manager (projects) Lee Seng Fong said projects include villas and high-rise buildings in Dubai as well as Abu Dhabi, which will be a good platform for the company to capture the Gulf of Corporation Council countries.
They are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
"We are also eyeing projects in Syria, but will venture cautiously due to the unpredictable movement of building material prices," Lee told reporters at the sidelines of the Malaysia Services Exhibition 2009. Bina Puri is fresh from bagging a RM693 million project in Brunei earlier this month to build 2,000 homes for the Brunei Economic Development Board.
The firm, which currently has an order book of RM2.7 billion, has completed roads, highways, bridgeworks, airport works, water works, residential and offices, hotels, government complexes and hospitals in six countries.
CONSTRUCTION company Bina Puri Holdings Bhd is aggressively pursuing projects in the Middle East with the group bidding for about RM2bil worth of potential projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Projects general manager Lee Seng Fong said despite the global economic slowdown, prospects in the Middle East were still good although one must be more cautious when expanding in the region.
“Currently, we are present in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Bahrian and Syria,” Lee told reporters during the Malaysia Services Exhibition 2009 which ended here last Thursday.
Currently, the group has a total order book worth RM2.7bil.
ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi property developer Al Maabar International Investments said yesterday that it plans to build a US$10 billion (US$1 = RM3.67) development in Jordan to help create jobs and develop the local economy.
The joint venture, which includes Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate, said the waterfront real estate and tourism development, one of the biggest private sector investments in United Arab Emirates (UAE), would be in Aqaba on the Red Sea coast.
The group, which last April announced it would build a US$5 billion project in Jordan, said it would begin construction on the residential, tourism and commercial project in the first half of 2010 and aimed to create 15,000 jobs.
Al Maabar said it signed the deal with Jordan to acquire 3.2 million sq m of land in Aqaba for US$500 million for the development. During the six-year boom in oil prices that ended in mid-2008, the capital of the UAE amassed hundreds of billions of dollars in surplus revenues from oil exports.
Abu Dhabi, facing a slowdown as oil prices slump, his week launched a US$500 million takeover bid for Canada's Nova Chemicals.
Aldar and Sorouh each own a 30-per cent stake in Al Maabar. Reem Investments, Reem International, Al Qudra Holdings and investment firm Mubadala Development Co hold the remaining stakes.
DUBAI: Investors and home buyers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may default on payments for properties that have yet to be completed, creating a liability for developers of as much as US$25 billion (US$1 = RM3.63) over the next two years, UBS AG said.
"We believe delinquencies on payment terms will be a growing concern over the next few years," Dubai-based UBS real estate and construction analyst Saud Masud said in an interview.
"In our view, investors are and will continue to default as per individual risk profile," Saud Masud said.
Dubai property prices have dropped 25 per cent from their September peak as banks reduced lending and speculators left the market because of the global financial crisis, Morgan Stanley said. Dubai opened its property market to foreign investors in 2002, and Abu Dhabi followed three years later, fuelling a boom that was boosted by low interest rates.
"Our assessment of leverage in Dubai's residential property market is based on the cost to developers to finish properties should investors default on the upcoming supply of 140,000 units," Saud Masud said in a Sunday interview.
"We estimate this liability to be roughly US$20 billion to US$25 billion over the next two years," he added.
GADANG Holdings Bhd, a construction and property firm, may win two contracts worth RM500 million to build residential towers in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates by the middle of next year.
It will soon sign a pact with a local party, believed to be from the royal family of Abu Dhabi, to form a joint-venture company.
Gadang's partner will hold a majority stake in the venture, which will source for local funds in Abu Dhabi for the project, managing director and chief executive officer Tan Sri Kok Onn said.
KOK: There is big demand for properties in Abu Dhabi
Besides residential, it will also build office and commercial blocks, Kok said after the company's shareholders meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. "There is great demand for housing and commercial. There are areas in Abu Dhabi where foreigners can own properties, so there are a lot of investors coming here to buy," he said.
The two contracts are part of the over RM2 billion jobs Gadang is bidding for in Abu Dhabi.
In addition, Gadang is gearing to launch condominiums, semi-detached homes and bungalows worth over RM100 million in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, by the middle of next next year.
It is also waiting for the final results of a tender it submitted two years ago to build a RM200 million sewerage treatment plant in Malacca, Kok said.
"We have a lot in the pipeline. Earnings-wise, we hope to do better next year, driven by current projects and also because construction material prices have dropped. This will improve the situation for us," Kok said.
For the year to May 2007, the company posted a net profit of RM7.5 million on the back of RM172 million revenue.
Gadang expects to benefit from projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan that the government will call for next year.
DUBAI: Two of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) largest mortgage lenders, already on track to merge, will be brought under a government-owned bank, the UAE finance ministry said yesterday, in the first sign of federal government intervention in Dubai's troubled property sector.
Trading in both Amlak and Tamweel, which have been struggling amid the global credit crunch, was suspended after the finance ministry said it will supervise their merger under the government's Real Estate Bank to ensure a fair valuation and protect shareholders.
"For Amlak and Tamweel it was always clear that some level of government support was necessary," said Raj Madha, a banking analyst at EFG-Hermes. "There were three problems that Amlak and Tamweel were facing: funding, liquidity and solvency.
"A merger between the two would have made no difference to those problems but an integration with Real Estate Bank effectively addresses all three of those issues," he said.
The combined market value of the firms is 2.5 billion dirhams, or US$681 million (US$1 = RM3.63) roughly one-third of their worth since October 4 when the two Dubai-based firms first announced merger plans.
Little-known Real Estate Bank, which comes under the finance ministry, is a government-owned entity aimed at supporting the real estate sector and provide housing for UAE nationals, according to its website.
Earlier this month, Tamweel said it was in talks with the central bank and the finance ministry about their "short-term requirements facility", and long-term funding options once its merger with Amlak had gone through.
A finance ministry official said yesterday that more details would be announced in coming weeks while an Amlak official declined to comment. Tamweel was not immediately available.
The companies will be combined as the UAE Real Estate Bank to create the largest real estate finance institution in the country, the state news agency WAM said.
Lenders and developers in the UAE have been battered by the credit crisis as market financing evaporated, property values plunged and buyers fled a market where land values have ballooned during a five-year boom.
Speculation has grown, as the financial crisis squeezes credit and hits stocks and real estate markets, that the federal government may step in to help shore up confidence in Dubai. Becoming a licensed bank would enable the two mortgage lenders to take deposits and access emergency federal funds.
BIGGER PRESENCE: (From right) Silver Coast managing director Shaher Awartani, Capitala acting CEO Heang Fine Wong and SunCon managing director Kwan Foh Kwal pose next to a model of Rihan Heights.
Sunway Holdings Bhd has bagged a RM1.8 billion contract to build part of a mixed development project in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The contract marks its second job in the Middle East as the group seeks to expand abroad. It has already carried out projects in Singapore, India and Trinidad and Tobago.
In recent years, Malaysian builders have been expanding overseas as large construction projects become scarce at home.
Sunway Holdings' latest project involves works at Rihan Heights, phase one of the Arzanah mixed use integrated development.
It will be carried out by the Silver Coast-Sunway Innopave joint venture.
The joint venture is a 60:40 partnership between Sunway Innopave Sdn Bhd and the Abu Dhabi-based Silver Coast Construction and Boring LLC.
Sunway Innopave is a subsidiary of Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd (SunCon), which in turn is wholly owned by Sunway Holdings.
The contract will boost SunCon's order book to about RM3.3 billion and keep the group busy for the next three years.
"This project represents another step in Sunway group's globalisation plans under which SunCon is expanding our business interests and construction expertise to more countries," SunCon senior managing director Datuk Tan Kia Loke said.
It will also pave the way to more jobs in Abu Dhabi in future.
The contract was awarded by Mubadala CapitaLand Real Estate LLC (Capitala).
Capitala is a joint-venture company between Mubadala, a business development and investment company in Abu Dhabi, and Singapore's CapitaLand.
Mubadala holds the majority 51 per cent stake in Capitala, with the balance held by CapitaLand.
Tan said the project, to be led by Sunway Innopave, is strategically located at the gateway on Abu Dhabi island and is part of the fully integrated, mixed use development surrounding Zayed Stadium.
"Our contract will involve the construction of five residential towers, a three-level podium, 14 townhouses, a clubhouse and 1,208 parking bays together with associated landscaping, external works and services," he said.
SunCon had first ventured into Abu Dhabi to build five towers on Al Reem Island under a group.
However, the Arzanah Development-Rihan Heights project is the first that the company is spearheading with a local partner.
Tan said the Abu Dhabi government is committed to non-oil economic diversification, which is expected to reach 60 per cent in 2013, through investments and projects in the agriculture, industry, real estate and service sectors.
"This provides excellent opportunities for SunCon to further build our brand reputation in the international construction market," he added.
Some 60 per cent of the RM3.3 billion order book is from overseas, and 40 per cent of it comes from jobs in the Middle East.
Putrajaya Perdana has the experience in building zero-energy office for Malaysia Energy Centre and now working on similar concept for Malaysian Energy Commission headquarter in Putrajaya.
KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya Perdana Bhd is confident of securing this year at least 20% of the total RM2bil projects it has tendered for.
Chief executive officer Wie Hock Kiong said the amount represented only Malaysia-based construction projects that comprised retail offices and condominiums for the Government and private sector.
“Later this year, supported by our new major shareholder Swan Symphony Sdn Bhd, we are looking forward to bidding for projects in Iskandar Malaysia and Abu Dhabi,” he said after the company AGM yesterday.
Swan Symphony, which holds 49.13% in Putrajaya Perdana, will open the door for the construction company to expand its wings to lucrative Middle East and Iskandar Malaysia markets.
This is because Swan Symphony is a 51%-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Kuwait Malaysia Investment Corp.
Wie said the company was in the midst of setting up a branch office in Abu Dhabi that would be ready by the next quarter.
Some of the projects Putrajaya Perdana can bid for in the Middle East are the US$27bil Saadiyat Island Development and the “zero carbon, zero-waste and car-free” city being planned by the Abu Dhabi government.
The company, with assistance from Swan Symphony, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties PJSC to undertake the construction, design and consultancy works of node 1 of Iskandar Malaysia.
Additionally, Putrajaya Perdana will continue to focus on the construction of energy-efficient building.
Currently, Putrajaya Perdana's order book stands at RM2.2bil, of which half has been completed.
The outstanding RM1.1bil will last the company more than 18 months.
On the rising raw materials costs, Wie said the company was trying its best to mitigate the impact through hedging and securing flexible contracts for its future projects.
“The prices of steel bars and cement have moved up significantly and going forward, we are proposing a sharing of the fluctuating raw materials costs with customers for our new tenders,” he said.
For the nine months ended Dec 31, 2007, Putrajaya Perdana reported a pre-tax profit of RM37.9mil on revenue of RM336.1mil.
Last year, the company changed its financial year-end to Dec 31 from March 31 previously.
CONSTRUCTION company Putrajaya Perdana Bhd (PPB) is hopeful that its branch in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will open soon, after which plans to go big in the Gulf state can easily take off, its chief said yesterday.
Chief executive officer Wie Hock Kiong said PPB will make UAE its first overseas venture, taking advantage of the company being controlled by shareholders from Abu Dhabi.
According to PPB's latest annual report, the firm is "prospecting some potential projects in Abu Dhabi" such as the US$27 billion (RM85 billion) mixed commercial, residential and leisure Saadiyat Island development.
It is also eyeing an environment-friendly city known as Masdar City, and said "the securing of work" in the city will put the group on the global stage of energy-efficient technology.
Locally, PPB is already one of the few players in the construction of energy-efficient buildings. Wie said it will continue to play a significant role in this area.
"Naturally, we want to have a big presence in Abu Dhabi and we expect our few major projects this year will come from Abu Dhabi and Iskandar Malaysia (Iskandar)," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after PPB's annual general meeting yesterday.
Meanwhile, chairman Krishnan Menon said PPB has tendered for some RM2 billion of local projects, excluding the ones in Iskandar, and it hopes to have an order book of RM3 billion this year.
MENON: Putrajaya Perdana has tendered for some RM2 billion of local projects
"We currently have an order book of RM2.2 billion and the outstanding projects are worth RM1.1 billion," he said.
Menon said despite PPB's optimism of its business this year, it is still cautious of the uncertainty in the raw material prices, especially steel bars and cement.
PPB for the nine-month period ended December 2007 registered a net profit of RM30 million against a revenue of RM336.1 million. (The group changed its financial year from March to December last year).
The digital age and pressing environmental issues are shaping the way we will be living
Next year, two Asian cities situated miles apart from each other will showcase to the rest of the world their new epicentres for the 21st century. One will be along the Incheon waterfront in South Korea; the other in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
^The Songdo development has taken the digital route with its high-tech backbone
Masdar City sees the future as requiring green and clean living
In the former, 2,000 residents will soon be moving into homes currently being built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land overlooking the Yellow Sea.
They won’t be “ordinary” homes – not at their price of US$500,000 (RM1.62 million). Instead, they will be “smart” and wired to facilities such as a medical station that can measure the vital health signs of the residents. And if residents so desire, their blood pressures and pulse rates can be transmitted securely to the Seoul National University Hospital, where doctors can provide personalised recommendations for daily exercise and diet.
That’s not all: Residents will also be able to receive traffic reports via their computers on what alternative roads to take should there be congestion in the city.
Digital city Parents in this South Korean community can also monitor their children’s whereabouts via a mobile device, while teachers will be able to know if a student has completed an assignment via smart-card readers.
When the US$30 billion (RM96 billion) Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD) ultimately becomes home to 65,000 residents (as well as another 300,000 made up of daily commuters, business people and visitors), it will be among the world’s most environmentally sustainable and technologically advanced cities.
Songdo IBD, South Korea
Its developer, New Songdo International City Development, LLC (NSIC) – a joint venture formed by Korean-based Posco E&C and United States-based Gale International – envisions Songdo to be the ideal 21st century city.
Master-planned as a “U” city (which is the abbreviation for “ubiquitous”, the local term for a digital city), it will boast the most advanced digital infrastructure imaginable, from blanket wireless Internet coverage and automated recycling to universal smart cards that can pay bills, access medical records and open doors.
The U-lifestyle The city, designated a Free Economic Zone, will consist of some 50 million square feet of commercial space, 35 million square feet of residential accommodation, 15 million square feet of retail lots as well as hotels and schools.
To give room to breathe, 40 per cent of its space will be open, within which will be a 100-acre Central Park.
In Songdo’s business district, its architectural centrepiece will be the 65-storey, 1.3 million square feet Northeast Asia Trade Tower (NEATT) that will be annexed to a 400,000sq ft Convention Centre and 1.25 million square feet Retail Mall.
All the offices and residential units in the development will incorporate computers that will collect data from swipe cards and sensors and channel them to its “U-life” management centre, a facility to be operated by Songdo U-Life LLC, a joint venture between Gale International and LG Electronics’ subsidiary LGCNS – the creator of the city’s digital backbone.
Despite all the intelligence, NSIC is counting on success to come from Songdo’s location 20 minutes drive from Seoul’s international airport at Incheon.
Currently ranked number one in Asia and the world, this gateway to South Korea and indeed, Northeast Asia, is just a three-hour flight time from 60 of Asia’s largest cities and in a region holding 35 per cent of the world’s population with a combined gross domestic product worth an estimated US$1.3 trillion (RM4.2 trillion).
Carbon-neutral city With Songdo aiming to be Northeast Asia’s financial and economic hub and Singapore and Hong Kong already anchoring Southeast Asia, it seems only obvious that either Dubai or Abu Dhabi in the Middle East be the hub for Northwest Asia.
Come 2009, Abu Dhabi, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, will have a new “Green Community” development covering six square kilometres called Masdar City.
The brainchild of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Zayed Al Nahyan, it is part of the US$15 billion (RM48 billion) “Masdar Initiative” programme that seeks to position the capital as the global leader in clean energy and sustainable development.
Masdar City, which will be slightly larger than Songdo, has been master-planned by British architectural firm Foster & Partners to initially accommodate 50,000 people though the eventual population will be double.
In keeping with its green theme, it will be a carbonneutral city leveraging on the most modern innovations in energy efficiency, sustainable practices, resource recycling, biodiversity, transportation and green building standards.
Entirely self-sustaining Even before it is completed, Masdar City will be a green development with a large photovoltaic power plant powering its construction. Later in its life, the land surrounding it will be used as wind and photovoltaic farms, research fields and plantations to ensure self-sustainability.
To encourage walking, it will also be car free and have a compact network of shaded pedestrian-friendly streets, where the maximum distance to the nearest transport link and amenities will be only 200m.
Living examples Within the walled city will be a Special Free Zone (SFZ), an economic area with a minimum carbon footprint where 1,500 companies will enjoy special incentives such as onestop access to government services, full foreign ownership, no taxes and intellectual property protection.
Supporting the SFZ will be facilities and services such as the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the Research Network, light industries, laboratories and selected international tenants.
Both South Korea’s Songdo and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City are two innovative initiatives responding to today’s most pressing issues: Energy crisis, environmental threats and the sustainability of developments.
Both carry the mission of being living examples of the urban conurbations of the future and the hope that one day, all cities in the world will be built like them.
By New Straits Times (by Lim Lay Ying)
Lim Lay Ying is managing director of Research Inc. (Asia), a company specialising in market research and consultancy for all facets of real estate development.
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