Fr i d ay, Decemb er 1 5, 2 0 17 PAGE 1NEW STRAITS

GLOBAL consultancy busi-ness Arcadis continues tomake positive contribu-tions towards Malaysia’s

vision of becoming a high-incomenation by 2020.

Arcadis is listed on the Amster-dam Stock Exchange and, throughits affiliates and related companies,has been established here since1948.

Next year will mark the 70th an-niversary of the company‘s pres-ence in Malaysia.

Arcadis provides professionalservices such as cost managementand quantity surveying, programmeand project management as well asbusiness advisory services in awide range of sectors, namely,building, infrastructure, water, en-vironment and energy.

Arcadis has successfully deliv-ered numerous projects acrossMalaysia over the last sevendecades and continues to steadilyincrease its investment here, ac-cording to Arcadis country headJustin Teoh.

He said Arcadis, in collaborationwith its local affiliate JUBM SdnBhd, currently provides profession-al services for the Klang ValleyMass Rapid Transit Lines, KualaLumpur Eco City and Tun RazakExchange projects, among others.

Notable completed projects thatthe company has been involved withinclude the Grand Hyatt Hotel,Damansara City, Pavilion KualaLumpur and Ritz Carlton, Langkawi.

Ever since 2015, the companyhas published the Arcadis Sustain-able Cities Index, which ranks 100global cities on three dimensionsof sustainability — people, planetand profit.

“As far as future investment is con-cerned, Arcadis is working towardsgrowing the Southeast Asian Hub(SEA Hub) in Greater Kuala Lumpur(GKL) to serve as both a centre ofexcellence for its business activitiesas well as a shared services admin-istrative office” said Teoh.

“At present, one of the major ini-tiatives of the SEA Hub involves de-veloping and enhancing softwaretools to address the growing andimmense impact that digital tech-nologies will have on the sectors in

which we operate in.“A good example of this is the

work we are doing on ‘a u g m e n te dre a l i t y ’ for use with BIM (BuildingInformation Modelling) models forreal-time interactive sensory expe-rience on construction projects,” hesaid.

When looking toset up the SEA Hub,Arcadis sought theadvice and assis-tance of InvestKL inthe restructuring ofits local business en-tities so as to realisegreater operationale f f i c i e n c y.

“ I n v e s t K L h a sbeen of tremendoushelp with the settingup of our SEA Hubever since we firstmooted the idea in2014. They have pro-vided great network-ing opportunities forus here in Malaysiaand connected thecompany to the rightpeople. They have al-so facilitated place-ment of foreign ex-pertise into our Malaysian busi-n e ss ,” he said.

Teoh said the primary drivers forthe company’s decision to establisha SEA Hub here were geographical

location and the depth and qualityof the labour force.

“GKL is centrally located inSoutheast Asia. The infrastructureand connectivity within and aroundGKL, as well as between GKL andother major cities in the region,

means that we arewell-positioned toefficiently and ef-fectively providesupport to our re-g i o n a l o f f i c e s ,whether they be lo-cated in neighbour-ing countries suchas Brunei or Singa-pore, or even fur-ther afar in HongKong or China” hesaid.

T e o h s a i dMalaysia also pro-vides a large pool ofhighly educated andmost ly Engl ish-speaking graduateswith multi-lingualcapabilities to se-lect from, whetherthey be for the com-p a ny ’s core busi-ness activities or

for its enabling functions.“Our operations in Malaysia are

predominantly managed and sup-ported by locals, which make thingsvery cost-effective. In situations

where we do have foreign col-leagues working out of the SEAHub, they are able to fit right in asKuala Lumpur is a modern and cos-mopolitan city, with rich cultural di-ve rs i t y,” he said.

Teoh also said the costs asso-ciated with relocation are manage-able, largely due to the lower cost ofliving and housing when comparedwith neighbouring countries.

Global Strategy 2018-2020

On Arcadis’ overall globalstrategy and plans for the future,Teoh said: “In November 2017 welaunched our new global strategy2018-2020. The three pillars ofthis strategy are People and Cul-ture, Innovation and Growth, andFocus and Performance.

“There are several aspects tothis. We want to be the employer ofchoice through continued invest-ment in our people.

“We also want to step up invest-ment in digitisation to become adigital forerunner in our industry.We will continue to leverage ourglobal experience and deep client

relationships to drive organicg row t h .

“Finally, we will focus on wherewe can lead based on relevance forclients, local markets and globalpositions.

“Insofar as our business inMalaysia is concerned, we are well-aligned with the strategy. We hopeto be a role model for a locallyMalaysian managed professionalservices firm operating under theumbrella of a global organisation,”said Teoh.

SHAREN KAURKUALA LUMPURsharen@nst.c om.my

Ar c adisc ountryhe adJustinTe oh( four thfrom right)and thecomp any’sr egionalle adershipte ambased inGr e aterKu a l aL u m p u r.

Some of Arcadis’s notableprojects are Ritz Carlton,Langkawi, (top) andDamansara City, KualaL u m p u r.

InvestKL hasbeen of

tremendous helpwith the setting upof our SEA Hubever since we firstmooted the idea in2014. They haveprovided greatn e t w o rk i n gopportunities for ushere in Malaysiaand connected thecompany to theright people.

JUSTIN TEOHArcadis country head

Arcadis aims togrow SEA Hubin Greater KL