GE Oil & Gas In Alliance With Sime Darby Industrial

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) - GE Oil & Gas' PII Pipeline Solutions division has signed a pipeline integrity alliance with TPS, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd (SDI) as part of GEs strategy to strengthen its pipeline integrity services in Southeast Asia.In a statement, GE said TPS/SDI will act as distributor for PII services in Malaysia, providing local inspection crew, project management and logistics.PII will continue to support TPS/SDI by supplying state-of-the-art inspection technology, data analysis and its pipeline integrity management expertise, it added.GEs PII Pipeline Solutions is a leading provider of pipeline inspection technology and integrity management services for the oil and gas industry.TPS/SDIs expertise lies in managing turnkey projects, including the financing, supply, maintenance and repair of vital components of the petroleum industry.

Tabung Haji Targets 50 Percent Muslim Depositors

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) - The Pilgrims Fund Board (Tabung Haji) aims to have 50 per cent of Muslims in the country as its depositors compared with the current 35 per cent, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.He said would use all his experience to help Tabung Haji achieve the target."About 4.2 million Muslims in thes country are Tabung Haji depositors. Agressive measures and actions will be taken to increase the number," he told reporters after visiting the Tabung Haji headquarters here.Earlier, Zahid, who is in charge of Islamic Affairs, met Tabung Haji senior officers and was briefed on the operations of the organisation.Ahmad Zahid also said that he would ensure that Tabung Haji continued to offer the best service and become the one and only national organisation for pilgrims.At the same time, he said, it would also continue to help the poor." Although it is not Tabung Haji's responsibility as there are other agencies and departments to help the poor, I think it is possible for Tabung Haji's profits to be shared with the poor," he said.Ahmad Zahid said, he was satisfied and impressed with the management of the organisation which showed an excellent performance and recorded a revenue of RM1.8 billion for 2007.

Bank Negara international reserves up RM8billion

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara Malaysia’s international reserves rose RM9.06bil to RM393.21bil (US$119.08bil) as at March 14 from RM384.15bil on Feb 29.
The central bank said the RM393.21bil was sufficient to finance 9.8 months of retained imports and was 7.2 times the short-term external debt.
Economists said the increase in international reserves could be due to foreign portfolio funds shifting their money into the bond market from equities, especially early last week following political uncertainties and external factors.
They said these funds were awaiting the ringgit to strengthen against the US dollar.www.thestar.com.my

Ferrari Appoints Naza As Sole Importer For Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Naza Italia Sdn Bhd, a unit of the Naza group of companies, was today appointed as the sole importer for Ferrari cars in Malaysia.The company is scheduled to begin operations early next month.Naza Italia, which signed an agreement with Ferrari today, is expected to launch a flagship showroom with service centre by the third quarter of this year.Its chief executive officer S. M. Faisal Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin said as Ferrari's representative, Naza Italia aimed to make a greater contribution to the brand image."Investment will include showrooms equipped with 4S -- sales, service, system and spare parts -- and Ferrari merchandise," said Faisal, who is also executive vice president of the Naza group."A substantial amount of the investment will be allocated for customer relationship management, sales and after-sales services, training, branding and marketing activities," he said at a media conference here.Naza Italia will be bringing to local customers the whole Ferrari line-up, ranging from the F430 range to the 599 GTB Fiorano and the flagship 612 Scaglietti, Faisal said."Our existing automotive business has enabled us to build significant relationship with the niche market which is demanding access to high quality automobiles," he said.Asked about target sales, Faisal said the luxury car market in Malaysia was experiencing strong growth, adding that there was always a strong demand for such niche market cars."Our mission is to provide an experience to the Malaysian market. We plan further enhancements with new additions, innovative facilities and services, all of which will significantly contribute to the success of Ferrari in Malaysia," he said.Commenting on the partnership, Ferrari's communication director, Asia Pacific, Matteo Bonciani, said the company started the relationship because Naza has proven to be the premier distributor in Malaysia.He said Ferrari sold 1,054 units in the Asia Pacific last year, adding that the company considered Malaysia as an important market.

Kencana Petroleum sees stronger marine business

LUMUT: Kencana Petroleum Bhd expects its marine engineering business, which includes rig fabrication, vessel operation and charter activities to contribute 20% to group turnover by 2011, executive chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir said.
Other works in the segment include refurbishment and conversion of rigs and it is also expected to carry out drilling works and repair and maintenance in the near future.
Contribution from the marine side in the long term would hopefully also come from the charter of the tender-assisted drilling rig, Mokhzani said.
“That will stabilise our income,” he told reporters after handing over the Maari wellhead platform it co-built to OMV New Zealand Ltd.
The Kencana Mermaid1 tender-assisted rig is being built by the group's unit Kencana HL.
Mokhzani said to beef up the marine business, the group would source for support vessels over the longer term.
“We are looking at other small vessels like tug boats to assist in marine operations, costing around US$10mil,” he said.
He said the group had identified a few clients for the chartering of the rig.
“We need to get clients to ensure it goes to work as soon as it leaves here. We have identified a few clients but have not inked anything yet,” he said.
Kencana Petroleum is also ready to kick up its drilling works, but that would “come hand in hand with the tender rig which rolls out end of next year,” he said.
Going forward, he said the group planned to grow its business by entering smart partnerships as it was difficult to find assets and expert manpower.
“This is how we are going to build our businesses,” he said. -Bernama

Scomi consortium shortlisted for project

PENANG: The consortium comprising Scomi Engineering Bhd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd is one of the three shortlisted for the RM5bil monorail project in Mumbai, India.
The two others are Bombardier-Transportation India and Reliance Energy-Hitachi.
In a letter dated March 17, the Scomi-Larsen consortium was informed that it would receive a request for a proposal document soon.
Sources said the consortium would submit a proposal complete with financial and technical details to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority by mid-May.
The Scomi-Larsen consortium was among seven international consortia that submitted pre-qualification bids, which closed on Jan 25, for the Mumbai project.
The others were Reliance Engineering-Siemens, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd-JMC-Intimin, Gammon India-Metrail Swiss and Videocon-Aerospace.
The 70km monorail project, stretching over four corridors in the city and suburbs, would be implemented on a build, operate and transfer basis for at least 30 years.
The estimated cost of building one kilometre of monorail track is RM85mil.
The monorail system, which is designed to accommodate some 10,000 passengers per hour during peak traffic, is expected to complement the existing railways in easing traffic congestion in the city, which is home to about 15 million people. www.thestar.com.my

Ho Wah Genting unit seeks to raise RM90m

COMMERCE Venture Magnesium (CVM) Sdn Bhd, a unit of Ho Wah Genting Bhd (HWGB), plans to raise some RM90 million from an initial public offering to fund working capital and expansion, its top official said.CVM, which makes magnesium ingots and mines for dolomite (a formation of limestone that contains magnesium), will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's main board in the second quarter.Magnesium is used as a major component of die-casting alloys, which are used to make car parts and even computers.CVM is setting up a RM180 million magnesium smelting plant in Sg Siput, Perak, on 26ha owned by Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak (PKNP).
It has exclusive rights from PKNP's unit, Harta Perak Corp Sdn Bhd, to mine and extract dolomite from two limestone hills in Sg Siput for 20 years.PKNP holds 10 per cent of CVM. HWGB and Tsorng Shin Machinery (M) Sdn Bhd own 55 per cent and 10 per cent respectively."The plant, which will commence in December, will have an initial production capacity of 15,000 tonnes of magnesium metal a year, which will be doubled in 2010 to full capacity," HWGB chief executive officer and managing director William Teo said."We expect HWGB's net profit to double in 2009 as we can equity account the earnings from CVM when the plant rolls out the production," he added.CVM will earn revenue of US$60 million (about RM191 million) a year based on the current price of US$4,000 (RM12,720) a tonne. This will double in 2010 when the plant reaches its full capacity.It has five agreements with independent third parties from the UK, the US, South Korea, Japan and Singapore to sell its entire output.Teo did not rule out establishing a second plant in China, which produces more than 70 per cent of the world's total magnesium output.Global demand for magnesium metal is expected to increase to 900,000 tonnes a year in 2010 from 700,000 tonnes in 2006.CVM's magnesium plant in Sg Siput is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and will make the company a leading exporter of the metal in the region.www.btimes.com.my