The Malaysia government is backing 12 of its private engineering companies in seeking to strengthen its foothold in the Philippine railway development projects.
In a statement, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (MATRADE) through its Manila Office said a total of 12 Malaysian companies including one technical education institution of diverse engineering expertise such as signalling and telecommunication, power and rail electrification, track works, rolling stock engineering, overhaul, refurbishment and maintenance as well as simulation and rail-related education are keen in participating the rail infrastructure projects in the country.
MATRADE Manila Trade Commissioner Siti Azlina said they are organizing the Malaysia-Philippine Rail Webinar on Oct. 20, 2021 to be followed by business matching on Oct. 21 to drum up Malaysian firms interest in the Philippines.
“I hope Philippine rail industry players will make time to attend this webinar and register for B2B,” said Azlina.
According to Azlina, the webinar program is designed to provide a platform for Malaysia to showcase its current rail development and technical expertise in rail system engineering. This event is supported by the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, along with Malaysia Rail Industry Corporation (MARIC) and National Rail Centre of Excellence (NRCOE).
Commenting on Malaysian rail industry players, Azlina said “Our companies have developed necessary engineering excellence, meeting the international standards and recognition.”
She cited the Greater Kuala Lumpur Integrated Rail System Project as the backbone of seamless connectivity in the Klang Valley region, is an important testament of capabilities of our very own local players. Numerous packages of the projects were awarded based on merits of Malaysian railway companies together with their respective local and foreign rail partners”.
Through involvement in local projects, Malaysian railway companies have managed to expand their engineering proficiency through knowledge transfer, involvement in after sales as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). It has also raised their profiles and credibility as engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning partners to the international original equipment manufacturer, enabling smart-partnership between various parties, locally and abroad.
In terms of system engineering work, Malaysian railway companies can be considered having the highest competencies in the areas of Automated Collection Fares, Communications and Track Works; through which some of the companies in these sub-specialties have penetrated the overseas markets, namely Vietnam for communication systems and Indonesia for track work projects as well as most of the South East Asian countries for electrification systems.
“Malaysian rail companies are looking forward to partner and collaborate with Philippines and other foreign rail companies here in undertaking various rail projects and urban transportation infrastructure in the Philippines,” said Azlina.