Sunday, December 11, 2011

CMC in talks with Thales

By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on November 28 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd, an engineering, procurement and construction contractor, is in talks with France-based Thales Group and other foreign railway experts to jointly bid for railway jobs in Malaysia.

CMC is eyeing contracts for system works and the supply of trains for the mass rapid system (MRT) project, said its chairman and chief executive officer, Datuk Abdul Rahman Yusof.

Abdul Rahman said the company will focus on the system work packages involving power supply, communication, supervisory control and data acquisition, as well as signalling and ticketing systems.

"The prequalification process for the contracts are ongoing and we hope to qualify. We will be signing a joint venture agreement with Thales within the next two months to bid for the jobs," he told Business Times in an interview.

CMC Engineering, a low-profile company founded by Abdul Rahman, formerly general manager of Sapura's Uniphone business, is not new to the railway business in Malaysia.

In 2000, it won a RM130 million contract for the Ipoh-Padang Besar electrified double tracking project in a consortium with Japan's Tomen.

In June this year, CMC and its French partner Colas Rail won a RM674 million contract for electro-mechanical (E&M) system for the Kelana Jaya light rail transit (LRT) extension line.

The pact has also bid for E&M works for the Ampang LRT extensi-on line. The government is expected to award the contract in early 2012. There are eight bidders for the job.

Abdul Rahman said CMC is also eyeing several contracts for the Gemas-Johor Baru electrified double-tracking project and is in the midst of finding a foreign partner to bid for several packages.

On the E&M contract for the Kelana Jaya line, Abdul Rahman said CMC-Colas expects to start construction by the middle of next year and complete it in 2014.

"We will invest in fresh talent as we need some 150 professionals for the job. We are hiring from Malaysia, France, Australia and the UK," he said.

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