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Malaysian construction firms visit UK seeking work from compatriot developers

A delegation of Malaysian construction firms will visit the UK this week seeking work opportunities on projects owned by Malaysian developers, including London’s Battersea Power Station.

Twenty-eight companies in architecture, engineering, project management, quantity surveying, BIM consultancy and materials are represented in the delegation, which is led by the country’s Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

The move is intended to help Malaysian firms become more active outside their home market, part of a government-led industry transformation programme.

This sets a target of getting 10 more companies working globally, and upping the value of work won by Malaysian firms abroad to $2bn, from approximately $1.2bn last year.

"One of the best ways to do this is to work together with Malaysian developers who are already involved in large scale developments in the UK, particularly the Battersea Power Station Development," said CIDB chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali.

In 2012 Malaysian developers SP Setia and Sime Darby bought the 39-acre site of the decommissioned Battersea Power Station and began its long-planned, £8bn redevelopment.

As well as that mega-scheme, the delegation visited projects owned by EcoWorld, which last year agreed to acquire a 70% stake in the residential business of UK builder Willmott Dixon, giving it housing sites across the lucrative London market.

Malaysia’s IJM Land, which is building the Farrells-designed luxury apartment complex, Royal Mint Gardens, near London’s Tower Bridge, was also on the visit-list.

A third compatriot developer, YTL, the developer behind the 2,675-home Filton Airfield community near Bristol, was also due to receive the delegation.

Image: Battersea Power Station, London, with its original iconic chimneys being removed, prior to replacement, in 2016. (World Monuments Fund)

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