A Carbon-neutral city in Malaysia possible in the near future.

ABU DHABI: Following the signing of a cooperation agreement between the 1Malaysia Development Bhd and the Masdar company of the United Arab Emirates,Malaysia could see its first carbon-neutral city.

Masdar, a subsidiary of UAE developer Mubadala Development Company, is behind the Masdar City project here which is being promoted as the world’s first carbon-neutral city.

By entirely relying on energy from renewable sources like solar energy, and by recycling all wastes, a carbon-neutral city is supposed to have no impact on the environment.

The agreement, signed on Sunday evening by 1Malaysia Development chief executive officer Shahrol Halmi and Masdar CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, would bring the two companies together to look for carbon reduction projects and provide for clean technology venture capital.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is here to attend the World Future Energy Summit, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Zayed Ai Nahyan witnessed the signing of the agreement.

a joint statement by the two countries released during the signing ceremony said that if fully implemented, the cooperation agreement would lead to the development of new projects with an estimated value of US$100mil (RM330mil).

Earlier, Najib witnessed the commencement of the handing over process by four Malaysian construction companies to Tamouh Investment, the developer of the Marina Square project on Reem Island here.

Six Malaysian companies developed three packages of the Marina Square project, an integrated development consisting 14 blocks of residential towers, an office building, a retail centre, a five-star hotel, service apartments and a marina.

On Sunday, a consortium comprising IJM Construction Sdn Bhd, Sunway Buildings Sdn Bhd, Zelan Holdings Sdn Bhd and LFE Engineering Sdn Bhd, began handing over their two packages to Tamouh.

The packages included the construction of five tower blocks, villas and a shopping and entertainment complex worth 1.9bil dirham (RM1.7bil).

A joint venture between Pembinaan SPK Sdn Bhd and Bina Puri Holdings Bhd began handing over their 490mil-dirham (RM450mil) package on Dec 31 last year, which involved the construction of two residential towers and town houses.

TheStar news (LEONG SHEN-LI).18/01/10