Foreign investors interested in Malaysia need to consider what they can contribute as well as what they might gain. The future lies in joint ventures with companies ready to share the technology and the wealth, and help to build the economy.
That is the view of Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin, president and CEO of the Sapura Group. “Gone are the days where you can just come into a market and sell,” he says. “It is important to go into the market and create value, to serve the market through partnerships. Using Malaysian talent anchors a company’s presence in the country.”
Technology transfer is already a feature of the Malaysian defence and security industry, in which Sapura is a recognised player through its Sapura Defence subsidiary. The company has made great strides in introducing cutting-edge technology to the Malaysian armed forces through the transfer of technology from international partnerships, participation in many Malaysian flagship industrial programmes and the synergy within the Sapura Group.
A diversified international business with interests in secured technologies, oil and gas, industrial and automotive manufacturing, and knowledge and education, Sapura is a wholly Malaysian technology-based operation that has taken a leading role in the acquisition and development of strategic technologies for more than three decades.
This is particularly demonstrated in the group’s oil and gas business. SapuraCrest Petroleum, a publicly-listed subsidiary, is one of the largest local oil and gas integrated service providers in Malaysia. It is involved in offshore drilling, installation of pipelines and facilities, marine services, offshore and nearshore marine engineering, the design and the manufacture and operation of remote-operated vehicles. It also undertakes maintenance activities for the oil and gas, marine and power utility industries.
One of SapuraCrest Pe-troleum’s more recent coups, as part of a consortium including Kencana Petroleum and Petrofac Energy Developments (PED), is a £500-million contract to jointly develop and operate the offshore Berantai oil and gas field for Petronas – the first time the national oil company has signed a risk-service rather than a production-sharing deal for the development and production of petroleum resources in Malaysia.
Mr Shamsuddin says the contract will mark a “step change in ascending the oil and gas value chain and developing new competencies in new areas of the oil and gas industry.”
Over the next two years, SapuraCrest Petroleum is allocating some £560 million for capital expenditure on new regional offices, assets and human resources. Regional offices are planned for Vietnam, Myanmar, Australia and South America.
The Sapura Group has joint ventures in countries such as Australia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan and China.
Mr Shamsuddin says: “When we choose to go into an area, we really study the market beforehand and look at investment in people and capital expenditures. We may have the capital and the people, but we may lack certain technologies, and that is where we go for joint ventures.”
He says the common denominator between Sapura’s businesses is the way the company trains its people.
The group was founded by Mr Shamsuddin’s father, Tan Sri Shamsuddin, on the principle of promoting knowledge and education.
Commitment to capability-building of homegrown talent and aggressive investment in R&D have positioned Sapura to be globally competitive, producing a highly-specialised and multi-skilled pool of technology experts.
“We have always been a knowledge and technology-centric organisation and put a lot of emphasis on hiring the right professionals,” says Mr Shamsuddin. “The real value is in educating your workforce and giving them the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects. You need to educate them so that they themselves, through R&D, can add value to your own original ideas.”
Sapura’s dedication to education and training extends beyond its own employees. The education element of its subsidiary Sapura Resources provides higher education information technology-related courses through the Asia Pacific University College of Tech-nology and Innovation (UCTI) and the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT). In addition to providing Malaysia with skilled technology professionals, the two institutions attract students from more than 50 countries.
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