Asean Brief

• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 1941 Views

ASEAN’S TALLEST SKYSCRAPER PLANNED IN BANGKOK

A 125-storey office and hotel tower is planned for Bangkok which would make it home to the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia.

The US$560 million, 615-metre 320,000-sq-meter “Rama IX Super Tower” is scheduled to be completed by 2019. Developed by Grand Canal Land and designed by Architects 49 Ltd, the mixed-use project will offer 90,000 sq meters of office space and house a “six-star” hotel with 260 rooms.

There will also be an observation tower for tourists and garden on the rooftop of a lower floor.

Grand Canal Land announced that the tower will be built to the platinum-level certification of the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).

If built today, the tower would be the third-tallest in the world and the highest in the Asean region, planners said. Asean’s current tallest building is the Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur at 375 meters.

MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES $23BN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

Malaysia is hoping to stimulate economic growth by investing US$23bn in its transport infrastructure. The plan was announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak during a speech unveiling the country’s 2015 Budget.

Mr Razak said his government would build a 1,663km Pan-Borneo Highway in eastern Malaysia, which would stretch from Sabah in the north of the island to Sarawak, which is on the Indonesian border in the south. It will cost an estimated US$8.3bn.

There are also plans to upgrade the east coast railway, build a US$7bn mass-rail transit system in Kuala Lumpur, as well as four highways costing US$4.9bn and a light-rail line worth US$2.8bn.

He also announced projects aimed at boosting growth and development, including the US$21bn Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex project, which is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.

The Malaysian Ministry of Finance has said in its annual economic report that GDP will expand 5% to 6% next year.

Singapore Post (SingPost) is investing US$145 million to develop a fully integrated eCommerce Logistics Hub.

The first facility of its kind in Southeast Asia, the three-storey hub will be equipped with the latest technology that includes a fully-automated parcel sorting facility on its ground level, 150 loading bays and two modern warehousing floors above.

The hub in Tampines LogisPark will be able to handle up to 100,000 parcels per day and have parking on the roof for over 270 vehicles. The development will also include an adjoining eight-storey office block to house SingPost’s local and regional operations.

The hub including the integrated centre and office block will cover an area of 553,000 square feet. It is slated to be completed by end of January 2016 and is expected to operate from the second half of 2016.

VIETNAM AIMS TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Applying models for healthy and happy cities to ensure sustainable urban development was the theme of a conference in Hanoi on 3 October organised by the Vietnam Association of Architecture and the Vietnam Institute of Architecture under the Ministry of Construction.

Numerous international and domestic experts participated in the event, which aims to send a message to city managers and architects calling for action plans to develop sustainable cities, VAA chairman Nguyen Tan Van said.

Speaking to VNA, Construction Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said that 770 cities and towns throughout Vietnam with a combined population of nearly 35 million had made substantial contributions to economic development, accounting for approximately 72 percent of national GDP.

At the same time, the minister highlighted the shortcomings in Vietnam’s urban systems, such as traffic jams, environmental pollution, and floods due to poor planning and supervision of urban development.

MYAMAR SEEKS INVESTORS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SEZ

Myanmar is seeking local and foreign investors to bid for construction projects in a special economic zone (SEZ) in the western state of Rakhine.

Phase one of the Kyaukphyu SEZ will include three key elements – development of a a 16-meter deep port with a container-handling capacity of 8,000 20-foot equivalent units, an industrial park, and an integrated residential area with education, health care, and recreational facilities.

Tenders opened on September 15 and, according to Maung Maung Thein, a deputy finance minister and vice-chairman of the Kyaukphyu economic zone management committee, winners will be decided in December.

The Bangkok Post reported that construction of the industrial zone on 1,500 hectares of Yanbyae island would begin in early 2015 and that the project is expected to initially cost more than US$200 million. The SEZ plans to target the textiles, construction materials, food processing and general manufacturing industries for the first phase.