A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 18, 2019. Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia (SME Bank) announced on Monday to set aside 1 billion ringgit (240 million U.S. dollars) specially for local contractors, which are expected to take a significant part in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a major infrastructure project and cooperation between Malaysia and China. The development financial institution under the Malaysia Ministry of Entrepreneur Development announced the initiative following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the project's owner Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) and prime ECRL contractor China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC). (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia (SME Bank) announced on Monday to set aside 1 billion ringgit (240 million U.S. dollars) specially for local contractors, which are expected to take a significant part in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a major infrastructure project and cooperation between Malaysia and China.
The development financial institution under the Malaysia Ministry of Entrepreneur Development announced the initiative following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the project's owner Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) and prime ECRL contractor China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC).
The MoU is aimed at facilitating the provision of financial solutions to Malaysian subcontractors in the rail project.
In his speech at the ceremony, Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the collaboration, along with the construction of the ECRL, would greatly benefit locals and boost knowledge sharing between both countries.
"The ECRL project will provide new jobs for local vendors and contractors," he said. "ECRL will also provide the platform for knowledge sharing and technology transfer. This is crucial as Malaysian companies, especially the smaller ones, must urgently raise their competitiveness and improve their work and service quality."
Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said the announcement of the collaboration was timely and would provide strong support for locals bidding for civil works.
"Such a comprehensive financial package could provide them the peace of mind to focus on the foundation work for the railway that would contribute towards bridging the development gap between the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia and was designed to improve the nation's economic growth and those along the alignment," he said.
CCCC Malaysia Managing Director Bai Yinzhan said the ECRL project is an important economic and trade cooperation between Malaysia and China.
"We are going to award at least 40 percent of the civil works to local contractors," he said.
MRL had earlier said a total of 1,321 companies registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) had made submissions to prime ECRL contractor CCCC over the two-day exercise in May.
The ECRL will be an electric railway line spanning 640 km across the country, carrying passengers at high speed and freight cargo, with construction expected to be completed by 2026.
