M'sian Entrepreneurs Urged to Take Partake in Monorail, Tram Project in Surabaya

By Noor Bakhtiar Ahmad KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 (Bernama) -- The proposed monorail and tram project estimated at US$400 million in Surabaya, Indonesia, are among the opportunities that are up for grabs for Malaysian entrepreneurs, especially Bumiputera, says West Java Minangkabau Young Merchant President Drs Subarman H.Suhaimi Suan. He said Malaysia's expertise in public transportation sector such as monorail can be used to make the two projects successful. "If there are interested parties from Malaysia who want to be involved in the project, we can take them directly to meet the Surabaya mayor," he told Bernama after a briefing on the business opportunities in Indonesia at the Malay Businessmen and Industrialist Association of Malaysia's (Perdasama) office, here on Wednesday. Subarman led a delegation of seven young entrepreneurs from West Java in the visit, which also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two parties. Elaborating, he said according to the plan, the monorail and tram project, which is 40.7 kilometres for the North-South route and 22.7 km for East-West route, was expected to start at end-2013. Subarman explained that the project, which is now at the proposal submission stage, is owned by the Indonesian government, which will also be directly involved in its implementation. "We always welcome cooperation with Malay entrepreneurs in Malaysia to get involved in the said project and indirectly empower the Malay region economy," he said. Meanwhile, Perdasama President Moehamad Izat Emir welcomed the business proposals offered by the delegation and is proud that Malaysia was chosen as a business partner. "This cooperation will strengthen the Malay economy...when this partnership is strong, there are no obstacles to success. I urged the Malay entrepreneurs to take advantage of these opportunities," he said. Besides the monorail and tram project in Surabaya, the delegation also gave a briefing on the Bandung Edutainment Square project, as well as the available opportunities in Hajj dan Umrah management. -- BERNAMA