THE MOST STRATEGIC LOCATION IN THE WORLD
First is its strong geographical location. “Malaysia has its own unique propositions that other countries in the region don’t have. For one, it is located at the centre of Asean,” Cai says. Historically, he continues, the Strait of Malacca is known for its strategic oceanic trade route, connecting the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, as one of the world’s most important shipping channels.
Even now, Malaysia has potential to leverage its ports for logistics Listed on the flow. “Singapore used to be strong in its seaway logistics because other Shanghai and Hong Kong parts of the region had yet to offer such extensive services. But now that Stock Exchange
Malaysia has developed its port infrastructure, the TEU [20-foot equiv-
alent unit, used to measure a ship’s cargo carrying capacity] traffic in
Singapore is decreasing,” Cai says.
“With the North Port expansion, Malaysia’s TEU traffic will go up since
it can utilise the maritime silk route to India and other parts of the world.”
The second reason is, of course, that the country is a melting pot of cultures.
“Malaysia is incredibly diverse. It is multiracial with many religions
yet it remains peaceful. It has a vibrant culture and everyone here is multilingual,”
Cai says. Malaysians being able to speak Mandarin and other
Chinese dialects makes it easy for mainland Chinese to feel at home here.
“I have even met Indian people who speak fluent Mandarin and it is
very impressive!” Cai says. “I believe no matter who comes to Malaysia,
whether it is to visit or do business, they will feel at home. The Middle
Easterners who come to Malaysia feel at home, business people from
India also feel welcome and we Chinese feel that too.”
Malaysians’ strong command of English meets international business
standards, making it easy for CREC to conduct business from its future
regional hub in Malaysia.
STRONG INTERNATIONAL TIES
Thirdly, says Cai, the country has strong socioeconomic and political ties
with most parts of the world. “It will be very easy for us to do business
from Malaysia because of its strong trade relations and the free trade
agreement within Asean.”
In addition, the country being a member of the Commonwealth
also helps with CREC’s global expansion plans. “Since Malaysia has
good relationships with other Commonwealth countries, this is highly
beneficial to a Chinese company like us. We also like that the business
ecosystem here follows the British legal system. This makes it internationally
acceptable.”
Malaysia also has strong ties with the Muslim world. This is particularly
important to CREC because much of its business is with the Middle
East. “We feel that Malaysia is respected by other Muslim countries,
which makes these markets very accessible to us.”
A CONDUCIVE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
The fourth reason, Cai says, is that the country is still seen as stable
in its political and economic development. Singapore’s currency may
be strong, but Malaysia has the most potential to develop, he says.
His fifth reason is that since CREC deals mainly in construction, it
is important that the country’s infrastructure supports this business in
order for it to scale. “We can see the investment in Malaysia growing.
In the past, many investors were pumping large sums of money into
Singapore, but we see a changing landscape now and foreign direct
investment is flowing into Malaysia.”
The country has the liquidity, infrastructure and ecosystem CREC is
looking for, he adds. It is becoming more competitive because of its
thriving engineering, procurement and construction industry. Since
there are plenty of EPC companies in Malaysia, CREC believes it can
can build a close relationship with them to help them expand their
business faster.
Sixth, Cai says Malaysia has many other strong industries, including
tourism and manufacturing. Not to mention that he believes the
country has the right talent to fit CREC’s plans. Through the Bandar
Malaysia project and future endeavours, he hopes CREC will be able
to create more than 10,000 jobs.
HOW CREC HOPES TO BENEFIT MALAYSIA
CREC is a full turnkey EPC company that provides solutions for its clients
that encompass even the financing aspect. “Whether it is public-private
partnership or build-operate-transfer, we have done everything from
helping to raise capital to being guarantors for projects while also being
the operator,” Cai says.
CREC is different from other infrastructure players because it is
versatile. It builds entire townships with a balanced ecosystem. “We
are able to do this because we are in control of the project from start
to finish,” Cai says.
What CREC hopes to bring to Malaysia, in addition to foreign direct
investment and job creation, is the transfer of technological know-how.
“We have been in this industry for many years now and we have made
mistakes and learnt from them. That is why we are able to deliver our
projects so quickly,” he says.
Furthermore, with Western businesses entering the Chinese market
in the 1980s, Chinese companies have also picked up a lot of their
methods and best practices. “We hope that we can do the same for
Malaysia, bringing in our best practices so Malaysians can take this
opportunity to adapt and even improve on them,” Cai says.
Once the Bandar Malaysia project is up, Cai believes it will benefit
the country, as it will be a world-class destination that will attract worldclass
talent that local talent can work with.
Cai hopes China Railway Dongfang Group’s contribution to the
overall CREC Group will reach at least 5% a year in three to five years.
CREC Group’s gross revenue was US$100 billion last year.
“I foresee that we are going to be very proud of the contribution
that comes from Malaysia and this region,” he says.
INVESTKL’S INDISPENSABLE HELP
When asked what kind of advice Cai would offer to other Chinese companies
looking to set up offices in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area, he
had one thing to say, “Find your partner in InvestKL.”
He believes the work that InvestKL has done with CREC was absolutely
essential in ensuring everything was smooth sailing from the
start. “InvestKL made it so easy for us to bring the necessary personnel
into Malaysia as expatriates by providing us with the network to local
authorities and government agencies,” Cai says.
“We believe that what we have achieved so far was only possible
with its help,” he says.
Source: The Edge Malaysia