Prasarana to reduce O&M supplies from foreign firms by 20 pct in five years

KUALA LUMPUR: Prasarana Malaysia Bhd aims to reduce the purchase from foreign suppliers for operation and maintenance (O&M) by 20 per cent in five years by increasing the participation of local vendors in the railway industry.

President/ group chief executive officer (CEO), Masnizam Hisham, said currently the ratio was 80 per cent foreign and 20 per cent local suppliers.

“In our tenders we have already made it compulsory for suppliers to have 30 per cent of local contents and on top of that we are also encouraging localisation to have more technology transfers and for them to get local partners for some of the supplies,” she told reporters at the signing of agreements with strategic local rail industry partners yesterday.

Prasarana signed the agreements with two local vendors Amantronic Sdn Bhd and LCE Resources Sdn Bhd, a landmark collaborations in the development of local talents in the country’s rail business.

Chief infra services officer, Ahmad Nizam Mohd Amin, signed for Prasarana, Amantronic was represented by CEO, Mohd Izwan Shah Mohd Sabri Daniel and LCE Resources by its director Thai Kam Weng.

She said Malaysia, which did not have an industry that supplied trains, was dependent on foreigners.

More local players must come up and seek the opportunities in the booming industry by keeping up with the standard requirements and be competent enough to receive the technology, she said.

“With the Industrial Collaboration Programme ( ICP) incorporated in the the tenders in collaboration with Technology Depository Agency (TDA), we have put a condition of five per cent additional bonds to ensure that the suppliers make all possible efforts to cooperate with local vendors in technology transfers as well as for market access overseas. — Bernama