Sunsuria plans partnerships with two Chinese firms for logistics park, automotive centre

KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): Sunsuria Bhd is planning to work with two Chinese firms to explore business opportunities in smart logistics park, and set-up an automotive centre that will undertake product research and design, talent development and more to improve operational efficiency of the automotive industries in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

It has inked two separate agreements, namely a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese logistics provider Sinotrans Ltd, and a strategic cooperation agreement (SCA) with Chinese automotive design and engineering firm, IAT Automobile Technology Co Ltd (IAT), for the proposed tie-ups.

Sunsuria executive chairman, Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap, signed the agreements on the sidelines of the Second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China.

Under the MoU, Sunsuria will collaborate with Sinotrans to establish and operate a logistics-related business in Malaysia, in line with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Sinotrans, it said, is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai A-Share Market, is one of China’s largest third-party logistics providers that is primarilly engaged in freight forwarding.

“The proposed joint venture (JV) stands to benefit from Malaysia’s strategic geographical location as a regional logistics hub, as well as the upcoming projects such as the Malaysian-China Kuantan Industrial Park, Regional Logistic Hub, East-Coast Rail Link Project Logistic and E-Commerce Business,” Sunsuria said in a statement.

As for the SCA, Sunsuria aims to form a JV company together with IAT — one of China’s leading independent automotive design and engineering entities that has designed and developed cars for almost every major Chinese automaker there — to establish the Asean Automotive Design and Innovation Centre (Aadic).

“The Aadic [that will be set up] is to be the main operation centre to import electric vehicles that have been legally modified in China, and to obtain a car-sharing operations licence in Malaysia. Sunsuria’s flagship integrated development, Sunsuria City, will be the launch pad of the first fleet of 100 imported electric vehicles,” Sunsuria said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 29, 2019.

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