This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 13, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd said both the company and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft of Germany and Singapore-based Siemens Pte Ltd (collectively referred to as Siemens) will now work with Alstom, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and PORR AG to prepare a joint offer to bid for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, George Kent said the companies will work to prepare a joint offer encompassing engineering, procurement and construction and operations and maintenance for the purpose of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR tender.

In a separate statement, George Kent said the partnership will result in a powerful team combining European technology and project experience with the best local expertise.

“This consortium brings together the two manufacturers, Siemens and Alstom, with decades of technology leadership and excellence in delivering complex cross-border high-speed railway projects.

“In the past, both companies have worked on similar complex private public partnership projects across the globe,” it said.

PORR, meanwhile, is an experienced track work provider, offering a state-of-the-art slab track technology proven in operation on high-speed railways.

“The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project is one of the most prominent projects in the region. George Kent has assembled a strong team and will be working with experienced partners to deliver and maintain the safest and most reliable high-speed rail systems in the world,” George Kent chairman Tan Sri Datuk Tan Kay Hock said in the statement.

“We aim to facilitate technology transfer and maximise the local content, resources and human capital in line with Malaysia’s aspiration of developing a resilient and vibrant rail industry,” Tan added.

Alstom senior vice-president for Asia-Pacific Jean-Francois Beaudoin said the company has been keenly looking at this tender and seeking the best partnerships — locally and internationally to offer the finest solution to Singapore and Malaysia.

The HSR is expected to cut travel time to 90 minutes from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.