Green Technology: Australia drives viable business into SEA

Source : NST 10 October 2012| last updated at 02:10PM

It is common knowledge that Australia and Malaysia enjoy strong people links: more than 135,000 Malaysian-born people live in Australia, 20,667 students enrolled in Australia as of August this year and there are more than 21,000 students pursuing Australian qualifications in Malaysia.

The two countries have further strengthened their link through the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which is due to come into force in early next year. Both will benefit from this as an increase in trade creates more jobs and delivers more opportunities for businesses.

“The Malaysia-Australia relation-ship is long standing and underpinned by strong links in a number of sectors including defence, security, education, foreign policy, investment and trade,” says Chau Duncan, Trade Commissioner, Australian Trade Commission. “Malaysia is Australia’s third largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and our tenth largest trading partner overall.

In fact, the two-way trade of goods and services between the two countries valued at AUD$15.8 billion (RM49.7 billion) last year. Investment between Australia and Malaysia is strong, with AUD$8.2 billion (RM25.6 billion) worth of Malaysian investment in Australia, and AUD$4.4 billion (RM13.7 billion) of Australian investment in Malaysia last year.

Integration

Countries in ASEAN represent an attractive market for Australian companies across many sectors, especially as the region is right at Australia’s door.

Australia’s connectivity in the region through the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement means mutual benefits in the form of increased trade, reduced barriers to entry, increased foreign and infrastructure investment, education and skilled labour linkages, standards and innovation, transport and logistics.

The current scale and pace of Asian economic development seems to back up the emergence of the Asian Century, the projected 21st century dominance of Asian politics and culture.

The implications for Australia are profound, and the country is more than ready to contribute to the growth and development of the region, says Duncan. The Australian government is serious about the country taking its place in the Asian Century. Its White Paper on ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ will be released soon.

Australian businesses are looking at regional and integrated strategies to benefit from the growing strength of Asia’s economies, becoming part of regional supply chains, partnering and complementing their offerings through alliances with overseas companies, and looking at outward investment in Asia.

The Boston Consulting Group’s report Imagining Australia in the Asian Century, that analyses the drivers of growth in Asia and how they match Australian business capabilities,  profiled 13 leading Australian firms in the non-resource sector that have succeeded in Asia by tailoring their business models around specialisation, relationships and adaptability.

Green business and growth

Bringing green business into Malaysia has benefits for both Australia and Malaysia. Green building design and construction can be a key initiator of economic growth. This sector is one of the major lures for investment into Australia as well as one of the country’s growing exports.

The landscape of the Malaysian building and construction industry is unique. The artificially low cost of construction is somewhat of a deterrent to green building methods and systems, which is why incentives in this area are more than welcome, says Michael Halpin, Chairman of the Malaysia Australia Business Council.

Malaysia can take an example from Australia, where the Australian government’s and industry’s support of and emphasis on sustainable and low carbon growth has significantly increased the rate of green building in Australia. Initiatives at local, state and federal levels include building codes, rating tools, tax breaks and mandatory disclosure schemes.

There are now 350 Green Star certified projects covering 4,075,441 sqm, with an additional 540 projects registered for certification in Australia. 

Malaysia can certainly learn from the success of these initiatives and Australia’s green building rating tools in driving its economy forward, said C.K. Tang, Principal of Veritas Environment Sdn Bhd, speaking at the Malaysia-Australia Green Building and Sustainable Construction Forum recently.

The forum, which was jointly organised by Austrade, MATRADE and the Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia (CIDB), was an avenue through which Australian experience and success stories in green building and industrialised building systems (IBS) could be shared with Malaysian businesses.

Government commitment, enterprise and initiative will drive the green building and construction industry forward, said His Excellency Miles Kupa, the Australian High Commissioner in his opening speech.

Also at the forum, Boon Chee Wee, chairman of the Green Building Index Accreditation Panel said that localised green rating tools and initiatives, when driven by consumer demand and market forces, have the potential to increase development rapidly. Training and capacity building in this area should be an immediate priority.

CIDB is already actively encouraging contractors and other stakeholders in the construction industry to get training in using IBS and green rating certifications, said Mohammad Farris Abdul Aziz, manager of CIDB’s Industry Training Division at the forum.

Potential for success

The value of the Malaysian construction industry is forecast to rise from RM24.5 billion last year to RM41.6 billion by 2016.

The ‘green’ value, however, is unlimited. It is the value embedded in building design and construction, materials used, and the efficiency of business operations, management and know-how. It is an enabler to all industry sectors, reducing overall GHG emissions and supporting sustainable development, says Duncan.

An example of this is Boral Plasterboard (M) Sdn Bhd, an Australian company that has now based its operations in Malaysia. It is one of many companies whose practise of global sustainability standards in their operations benefits Malaysia as a whole.

Boral’s green innovations in building and construction materials — its materials are Green Labelled, and it is an IBS Status manufacturer — certainly influence the development of businesses in the same and related fields.

In return, Boral benefits from Malaysia’s welcoming tax environment, the credibility of location, and ease of communication within the Asian region, amongst others, said Rick Ogden, Chief Financial Officer of Boral Gypsum Asia, also at the forum.

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Malaysia, are certainly interested in green growth; it not only attracts investment, private capital and new technologies, but also encourages innovative approaches, collaboration, and skills development.

“Malaysia is in an advanced state of development,” says Halpin. “Education on green issues and solutions is starting to pervade into people’s lives. Green business in Malaysia has the ability to bring with it many other elements that can contribute to the development of the nation.”

Though still in its infancy as an economic and political concept, there is no doubt that green growth goes beyond energy and clean-tech. It creates sustainable living that benefits the individual citizen in terms of health, safety, and quality of life.

Encouraging sustainable building

AS part of the push towards green building design and construction, the Malaysian government established the Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia (CIDB).

The board’s job is to develop the capacity and capability of the construction industry. As part of this push forward, it has been actively encouraging the use of industrialised building systems (IBS).

There has been some buzz about IBS lately, especially after China’s Ark Hotel, which was built in 15 days, had the media spotlight trained on it for a while.

IBS is basically a building system in which structural components are manufactured in a factory, on or off site work. IBS normally lends itself to modular coordination and standardisation, speedier construction, reduction of labour requirements, improved quality and site safety.

There are proven benefits of using the system — high quality products and cheaper construction due to economies of scale are some. There is also minimum waste, as the work environment in the factory and on site becomes easier to control.

CIDB’s IBS Centre was established to provide advice, guidance and technical know-how to the IBS value chain — contractors, consultants, and manufacturers and so on — from the very beginning of an IBS project until completion. The centre conducts regular awareness seminars and technical training.

It also offers an accreditation programme called ‘The Assessment of IBS Status Manufacturers’, a scheme to assess and certify IBS manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and on site manufacturers of IBS products based on a set of certification requisite. The aim is to produce a register of certified manufacturers for the Malaysian construction industry.

Read more: Green Technology: Australia drives viable business into SEA - Extras - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/extras/green-technology-australia-drives-viable-business-into-sea-1.155062?cache=ynzfkhhlsup%3Fpage%3D0#ixzz2tZAWmtth