KUALA LUMPUR, 28 February – Prasarana Malaysia Berhad – operator of the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Southern Line (MMMSL) rail services in Makkah, today formalized its collaboration with Saudi Group Investment Group & Marketing Co. Ltd (SIGMAC) for further cooperation in venturing into public transport-related business opportunities in the Kingdom.In a symbolic gesture to mark the collaboration, Prasarana and SIGMAC exchanged documents on their Memorandum of Understanding at the high-powered Malaysia-Saudi Business Forum, which was held at JM Marriot Hotel here and witnessed by Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industries, Dato’ Sri Mustapha Mohamed and HE Dr Ghassan Ahmed Al-Sulaiman, who is Governor of Small and Medium Enterprise Authority of Saudi Arabia.
At the ceremony, Prasarana was represented by its Chairman Tan Sri Ismail Adam and President & Group Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sri Azmi Abdul Aziz while SIGMAC was represented by its Chairman, Dr Talal A. Ghazzawi and Adnan T. Ghazzawi, who is its Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Tan Sri Ismail Adam said that the Group was happy to be working with SIGMA, which had proved to be very effective in supporting Prasarana for its current MMMSL project in Makkah.
Tan Sri Ismail expressed confidence that with Prasarana’s proven track record in operating the MMMSL services since 2015 and SIGMAC’s strong networking in Saudi Arabia, the Group would be able to have a bigger and stronger presence in the Kingdom including extension of the MMMSL contract, which has entered its third and final year.
Apart from Prasarana-SIGMAC, Dato’ Sri Mustapha and Dr Hassan witnessed six other B-2-B MoUs that included Dewina Holdings Sdn Bhd and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) with Ghazzawi Business Group; Halal Industry Development Corporation with AJ Pharma Holdings Sdn Bhd; Silvertech Global Sdn Bhd with Alternative Technology Commercial Limited; Nikkon Industrial Lighting Sdn Bhd and National Solutions for Modern Lighting; and between Gading Kencana and March Global Co.
For all seven B-2-B MoUs, the total value is estimated at RM9.74 billion (SAR8.23 billion).
Speaking at the opening of the Forum, Dato’ Sri Mustapha said the formalization of the MoUs shows the growing interest from both countries to leverage on the mutual strengths in achieving business goals and for mutual benefit.
“As Saudi Arabia is moving away from its reliance on oil revenue, we would like to encourage Saudi investors to explore the business potentials in new growth areas particularly advanced technological products.
“We also urge multinational companies (MNCs) from Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of other MNCs and take advantage of our Principal Hub Scheme. This would enable them to use Malaysia as a base to increase their key strategic value-adding functions towards becoming more cost efficient,” the minister added.