TDA confident of achieving RM68 bln procurement value via ICP by 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Technology Depository Agency Bhd ( TDA) is confident the country will be able to achieve its procurement target value of RM68 billion by 2020 via the industrial col laboration programme ( ICP).

Its chief executive officer, Datuk Zailani Safari, said the agency has completed about RM5 billion worth of procurement so far this year compared with RM1 billion last year.

“We are working with many agencies to help us achieve the target, and we are confident that if things are properly done, we will be able to achieve it,” he told reporters after the launch of Asian Rail Academy (ARA) yesterday.

During the event, TDA inked memorandumofunderstandings (MOU) with ARA and the Human Resource Development Fund to support the National Rail Centre of Excellence ( NRCOE), which caters to local railway industry’s needs via education and training.

“We foresee that the NRCOE initiative will serve the needs of the future rail development, not only in Malaysia but the ASEAN region as well,” he said.

He said the NRCOE targets to close the gap in human capital needs, adding that the current workforce in local railway was around 22,000, which was expected to increase to 68,000 by 2030.

Zai lani said ICPs would help in the development of the Malaysian rail industry towards becoming strong and sustainable businesses, capable of satisfying the demands of the national rail transportation and becoming a competitive global player.

Last year, Treasury SecretaryGeneral, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, was reported as saying that the procurement value through the offset, or ICP, stood at RM17 billion, encompassing various ongoing projects, including the Kuala Lumpur- Singapore high-speed rail and Mass Rapid Transit Line 1 and Line 2.

Zailani said these projects would help in realising the procurement value target, which would also include contributions from the localisation of parts and components, manufacturing, human capital development as wel l as market access. — Bernama