KUALA LUMPUR: Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd unit Ahmad Zaki Sdn Bhd and UDA Holdings Bhd are among 23 bumiputera companies chosen for the second round of bidding to develop a residential portion of Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd’s RM7 billion Kwasa Damansara township.

The other pre-qualified developers are Apex Communication Sdn Bhd, Ark Resources Bhd, Dwitasik Sdn Bhd, Faber Union Sdn Bhd, Fairview Development Sdn Bhd, Impiana Land Development Sdn Bhd, ISY Sdn Bhd, Johawaki Development Sdn Bhd, Getrahome Sdn Bhd, Prima Nova Sdn Bhd, Purplestar Land (M) Sdn Bhd, Kinta Berkat Sdn Bhd, Lebar Daun Development Sdn Bhd, Selia Selenggara Sdn Bhd, Sensatimur Sdn Bhd, Seri Meraga Properties Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Permodalan Kebangsaan Bhd, Swasta Setia Holdings Sdn Bhd, Triplc Bhd, Tujuan Gemilang Sdn Bhd and Zikay Group Sdn Bhd.

In a statement yesterday, Kwasa Land, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Employees Provident Fund, said 152 companies had participated in a pre-qualification exercise last year, of which 70 submissions were received for the bumiputera category.

The 23 developers who have been selected are said to be “the best potential partners to work with Kwasa Land”.

The selection is part of the company’s first bumiputera initiative known as R3-2, in which 8.79 acres (3.56ha) of land in the northern part of Kwasa Damansara next to a mass rapid transit station have been allocated for residential development by bumiputera developers.

This tract of land is part of the 35% of land in Kwasa Damansara which has been slated for bumiputera developers, Kwasa Land said.

“Bumiputera initiatives form a significant part in the development of our proposed Kwasa Damansara township. Kwasa Land is pursuing this pathway in the interest of developing bumiputera equity ownership in the corporate sector as well as asset ownership from strength to strength,” said Kwasa Land managing director Mohd Lotfy Mohd Noh (pic).

“We are committed to supporting the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda call by targeting more than a third of our land allocation to bumiputera companies,” he added.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 16, 2014.