NAIM VENTURES INTO AFRICA

Naim Holdings Berhad (Naim), through its wholly-owned subsidiary NCSB Engineering Sdn Bhd today entered into a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the General Board of Privatization & Investment (GBPI) of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with the aim to working together to come up with a concept for the development of a property in Libya.

GBPI owns a parcel of land containing around 100 hectares situated about 30km from the Tripoli City Centre in Libya. They are desirous to construct various facilities and amenities of the project known as Solar Oasis which will include an exhibition centre, conference centre, workshops, research centre, recreation/golf course/club house, hotels & guest houses, detached houses & apartments, transportation lines with solar applications, public parks, restaurants and a business centre.

They are keen to appoint Naim to develop a concept for development of the facilities and amenities within Solar Oasis which if acceptable to them may be implemented over a period of five to ten years. It is envisaged that the eventual value of the project may be in excess of US$3.5 billion (RM12.8 billion), subject to detailed feasibility studies.

The MOU was signed by Naim’s Managing Director Datuk Hasmi Hasnan representing the Naim Group and Board Chairman Dr. Gamal. N.AL Lamushe representing GBPI. Dr. Gamal Lamushe is also the Minister of Privatization & Investment for Libya. He is currently visiting Malaysia.

The signing ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur today and was witnessed by the Chairman of Naim Holdings Berhad, Datuk Abdul Hamed Sepawi and the Libyan charge d affaires His Excellency, Mohamed A. A Alnfati.

“I am happy that GPBI has chosen Naim to undertake the task as I am given to understand that the other parties interested in developing the concept for them include well known firms from Korea, United Kingdom, South Africa, Dubai and UAE”, said Datuk Hasmi.

He added, “This is a proud moment for Naim and, I am sure, for all its stakeholders in that this signing of the MOU reaffirms Naim’s plan of venturing into the international arena to seek opportunities in the property and construction sectors. I hope this MOU will lead to something concrete for us in Libya some time soon. We recently secured construction contracts in Fiji and hopefully we will be venturing into Africa!”

The Solar Oasis Science & Business Park development will be the first of its kind in Libya and in the world. Situated some 30km from the Tripoli City Centre (population of Tripoli, 2.5 million, population of Libya 5.5 million), it aims to be the hub of alternative and renewable energy and their applications, especially solar energy to create all the necessary environment for research and applications for the new era. Amongst the key features in this Oasis will be a centre of excellence in energy specialization with business applications.