KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has roped in several local and international consultant companies to help in its plan to develop its Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) project.

The appointments cover different fields such as sustainability, infrastructure engineering, landscape, planning, and traffic management. These appointments are additional to the Master Planners named recently — Akitek Jururancang Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Machado Silvetti & Associates — following an international design competition.

“We wanted to be very thorough and transparent in the selection process. We engaged potential vendors in continuous dialogues to ensure seamless synergy with the team,” said 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd (1MDB Real Estate) COO Datuk Azmar Talib.

KLIFD is slated for a 75-acre (30.3ha) plot in the Imbi area fronting Jalan Tun Razak.

Azmar added that the consultants for Bandar Malaysia, a KLIFD twin development in Sungai Besi will undergo similar process.

The successful consultants are infrastructure engineers EDP Consulting Group Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and Buro Happold Consulting Engineers (UK & USA);traffic management consultant Perunding Trafik Klasik Sdn Bhd (Malaysia); quantity surveyors Perunding NFL Sdn Bhd (Malaysia); landscape architects Akitek Jururancang Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and Grant Associates (UK); land surveyors Jurukur Perpaduan Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and Jurukur ESA Sdn Bhd (Malaysia); security and risks engineers ARUP Jururunding Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and ARUP Group International  (Hong Kong); sustainability consultant bureau appold Consulting Engineers (UK & USA); and programme management advisor, KEO International Consultants (Qatar).

KLIFD is currently at the masterplanning phase and is on track for construction to commence early next year.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, August 18, 2011.