PROPERTY player PRG Holdings Bhd and a unit of China-based Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Ltd will jointly undertake development of affordable houses in Malaysia.
PRG and Jiangsu Provincial Construction (M) Sdn Bhd (JPC) have set up a 51:49 joint venture entity — Premier JPC Sdn Bhd — and will conduct feasibility studies on 23 potential affordable homes project sites nationwide, including in Sabah and Sarawak.
PRG group managing director Datuk Lua Choon Hann said the cross-border collaboration with China was vital to achieve the government’s ambition of buildling more affordable homes for the benefit of the low-income earners in the country.
“We will begin our first affordable homes project on an 18ha site in Batu Gajah, Perak, whereby 213 units of houses will be built.
“Each unit will cost about RM190,000. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2018 and will be completed end 2019,” he said after the PRG-JPC collaboration ceremony that was officiated by deputy Finance Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong.
“Today’s ceremony signifies a kickstart for the development of affordable housing projects, which includes but not limited to the development projects by SPNB Aspirasi Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd, with a total gross development value of approximately RM5 billion,” said Lee.
JPC, one of the pioneers in China’s construction and installation industry, was founded in 1956 and is based in Nanjing. It is active in more than 30 countries and in Asia, America, Africa, and Oceania.
The group had developed more than 30 projects, including residential buildings, affordable houses and urban complexes in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui, among others.
JPC recently completed a 32-storey condominium project at Benteng 8 in Klang.
Under the collaboration, PRG will source for infrastructure, construction, project financing, and property development projects while JPC will invest, finance and complete projects based on agreed terms and condition of the projects/contract works procured by PRG.
Additionally, the partnership will also bid for infrastructure construction projects such as highways, bridges and ports.
“Our partnership with JPC will enhance and accelerate PRG’s capabilities to take on large-scale infrastructure construction projects and we look forward towards participating in tender of such projects in the near future,” said Lua.