In a statement Tuesday, Nasim said the all-new 408 would be available in two variants with one variant fitted with an enhanced fuel-efficient engine that produces the most power in its segment. Additionally, both variants will feature class-leading cabin space and 562-litres of boot space, it said. Naza group of companies  joint group executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin said the Peugeot 408 was locally-assembled at Naza Automotive Manufacturing (NAM) in Gurun, Keda, and was ready to be launched for both the Malaysian and regional markets.   "We are targeting to produce 60,000 units of the all-new 408 over a five-year period beginning 2012 and we plan to export 60% of that total to markets in the region," he said. He said Peugeot distributors from Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Brunei, the Philippines and Bangladesh visited NAM last week to get a closer look and test drive the all-new 408.   "The distributors were both impressed and excited over the all-new 408 and will soon place orders to launch the Malaysian-made 408 in their respective countries in the coming months," he said. Nasim COO Datuk Samson Anand George said the 408 would contribute significantly to the company’s sales target of 9,300 units this year, which will represent a 72% jump from its sales in 2011.   He said the all-new 408 will come with Nasim’s recently introduced five-year warranty with unlimited mileage. Together with Nasim’s existing lifetime 24-hours Peugeot Assistance service and its exclusive Peugeot Privilege membership, he said the company aims to provide the best ownership experience for its customers. Source: The Edge Malaysia

A Malaysian-French Seminar on Railways and Public Transport organised by UBIFRANCE, French Trade Commission in Malaysia in partnership with the Malaysian Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), have attracted much interest from the Malaysian public and private sector, which had mobilized senior level officials to attend the presentations and discussions: SPAD, MRT Co., Prasarana, KTMB, RapidKL, Scomi, MMC Gamuda, etc. The delegation of French companies highlighted the excellent skills of its rail and urban transport sector, which included the engineering technical aspects, track laying, maintenance, security, etc. Nine French companies, many of which have already started their current successful business in Malaysia, comprised of: ALCATEL-LUCENT, ALSTOM TRANSPORT, CATU S.A, COLAS RAIL, EGIS RAIL, ETF Eurovia Travaux Ferroviaires, SYSTRA, THALES, and VOSSLOH COGIFER. This event is a continuation of similar meetings held in Singapore the day before. For reference, Malaysia has embarked on numerous projects and urban rail line as part of its program of economic transformation. The country is preparing a complete restructure of public transport of Grand Kuala Lumpur, including among others 2 extensions and 3 new subway lines (100 stations for 150 km, for an approximate total amount of 10 billion €). In addition, the renovation and a second track of its national rail network should be completed around 2015 and the creation of a new high speed line is being seriously studied to connect Kuala Lumpur to the Malaysian border with Singapore.

The Ambassador of France brought together the International Volunteers community in Malaysia for a meeting with representatives of the French business community, during a reception organised at the Residence on February 29. There are approximately 50 International Volunteers in Malaysia working for nearly 40 French companies at the moment. The volunteers are employed by the company’s Malaysian subsidiaries or their local business partners; some work at business centre of the Malaysian-French Chamber of Commerce, and others within the various departments attached to the embassy. For the first time since the launch of this annual meeting, trainees and Volunteers for International Solidarity were associated with the event. Companies interested in the concept of volunteers are invited to contact Ubifrance Malaysia: kualalumpur@ubifrance.fr  

Alstom and its consortium partners have signed a contract worth globally over €1 billion with Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer Bhd , the wholly owned subsidiary of Malakoff Corporation Berhad, to provide a 1000 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant at Tanjung Bin, Johor, Malaysia. Alstom’s share in this contract amounts to €830 million. Alstom will supply all key power generation equipment and will be in charge of the overall engineering, project management and commissioning. Alstom will execute the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract together with its consortium partners Mudajaya and Shin Eversendai. Alstom will engineer, supply, construct and commission the 1000 MW supercritical steam turbine and generator, the supercritical boiler, power plant auxiliaries such as mills and air-preheaters as well as proprietary environmental control systems. The emissions at the plant will be significantly reduced through the use of low NOx burners, a highly efficient seawater flue gas desulphurisation facility and Fabric Filters to lower nitrous oxide, sulphur oxide and dust emissions. Additionally, Alstom will also supply and install its latest ALSPA® Series 6 Distributed Control System. Supercritical power plants operate at a higher temperature than regular coal-fired power plants. The high temperature improves their efficiency, increasing the amount of power output and decreasing emissions, particularly CO2 per unit of fuel burned. The Tanjung Bin power plant is to be commissioned in 2016. Combined with the new Manjung power plant also being constructed by Alstom and due to come online in 2015, the power plants will jointly provide an additional capacity of 2000 MW for Peninsular Malaysia. The Tanjung Bin power plant is Alstom’s second contract for a supercritical coal-fired unit in Malaysia, following the order to build the 1000 MW Manjung power plant in March 2011. Andreas Lusch, Senior Vice President of Alstom’s Steam business said that “ This success, following close on the heels of the contract to build the Manjung power plant, is a reinforcement of our Malaysian customers’ confidence in our supercritical technology as well as in our execution capabilities. Our market-leading technology will deliver additional capacity, while at the same time substantially reducing emissions, thus delivering cheaper, cleaner power to Malaysian consumers and businesses.” This contract further strengthens Alstom’s position as the largest original equipment manufacturer in Malaysia, having supplied key equipment for nearly 7.5 GW of the installed power generation capacity of the country. This includes the engineering, procurement and construction of the Malakoff owned 1,300 MW Segari and 650MW GB3 combined cycle power plants in Lumut, and the 3 x 700 MW coal fired plant at Manjung. The air quality control equipment installed at the existing 3 x 700 MW coal-fired plant at Tanjung Bin and the 2 x 700 MW Jimah plant were also supplied by Alstom in the past. Source: Asltom Press Center

On last   November, the 23 rd and and 24 th , the French company Egis Avia and the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) organized a Malaysian-French session on Collaborative Decision Making (CDM), under the kind auspices of the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia. France and Malaysia already enjoy an intense partnership in the field of aeronautics, be it for manufacturing of airplane components, MRO or training. And this trend will definitely grow bigger in the coming years with further involvement of our key players like EADS and SAFRAN Groups, and all their subsidiaries. France has been a pioneer in the implementation of CDM in Europe. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, which is now the main European airport, is the only major airport having implemented CDM in full operations. This was completed one year ago, in November 2010. This event can be the first step in a series of meetings and actions in this new field of cooperation between France and Malaysia.

Thales has been awarded a contract of 13.5 million euros, to upgrade Kuala Lumpur’s Monorail signalling system. For this change, Scomi Engineering Bhd, which is delivering this upgrade to the operator Prasarana, has selected Thales to supply a turnkey Signalling Solution. The Monorail, operating since 2003 in Malaysia’s capital, is now expanding its passenger transportation capacity by the introduction of new rolling stock with four- carriage trains and by the replacement of the existing signalling along the eleven-stations of the Monorail. The scope of this contract includes a new signaling system for the main line section and a depot, based on an ETCS Level 1 solution, interlocking systems and a new Operational Control Centre.  Thales, will also install on-board ETCS level 1 computers on 12 new vehicles. Thales proven solutions and expertise on rail and urban domains allowed the delivery of an innovative solution that was integrated to address this type of networks. This project represents a particular challenge for Thales since the system has to be implemented in a short timeframe and without impacting the daily operation of this vital infrastructure.   The execution of the contract will be concluded by August 2012, and the new structure is expected to be inaugurated in November 2012. “Thales Malaysia is very proud to have been chosen by Scomi and Prasarana for this project. The decision demonstrates our understanding of the customer’s requirements and the challenges of developing its public transportation system, an understanding based on our long-standing involvement in the Malaysian market and our partnership with local actors. This new endorsement is further encouragement for Thales not only to continue delivering signalling solutions that achieve full customer satisfaction, but also to support Prasarana in its future programmes by steadily increasing local content and teaming with trusted, professional local partners” said Jean-Philippe Durieux, Thales  Country Director for Malaysia. Source: Thales press room

05/10/2011 KUALA LUMPUR: Sales of Peugeot-brand cars in Malaysia is expected to continue growing with the launch of Peugeot 508 by Nasim Sdn Bhd, later this month. In a statement today, Nasim said sales, thus far, has been overwhelming. "As at end-September, we have sold over 4,000 units which is a new record for the Peugeot brand in Malaysia. "This is double our sales in the same period in 2010 and surpasses our all-time record of 3,773 units sold in 2009," said Nasim Chief Executive Officer and Joint Group Executive Chairman of Naza Group SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin. He said the all-new 508 would further increase the company’s sales volume this year. "This premium luxury sedan will be targeted at executives and professionals that want a car with class, character and panache," Nasaruddin said. He added the highly-anticipated new launch for this year would feature the French carmaker’s latest design and technology to offer an exhilarating experience in ride and comfort. Source: Bernama