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Published on January 28, 2008

"If we can meet the requirements and list our subsidiary here, we can tap the capital market to facilitate our expansion, not just in the construction sector but also property development with landowners," executive chairman Feisal Ibrahim said last week.

Having secured another condominium project worth 81 million ringgit (Bt790 million) in Bangkok, the company is planning to list its Thai subsidiary to tap the vibrant real-estate market and infrastructure projects in the Kingdom, Bernama news agency reported.

The company plans to engage financial advisers to look into the listing requirements, including profit records and future revenue forecasts, Feisal said after a handing-over ceremony of the first phase of the Bang Phli low-cost housing project to the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Samut Prakan.

Also present were Bina Puri group managing director Tee Hock Seng, Malaysian Ambassador Shaarani Ibrahim and acting permanent secretary of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry Chanyut Kosirinond.

Bina Puri, with its joint-venture partner Deva Property, completed the first phase consisting of 22 blocks of 1,052 units.

The Bang Phli package, valued at 236.88 million ringgit, involved three phases of 118 blocks with 5,640 units. The rest will be delivered in March and April.

Feisal said the NHA had given Bina Puri and Deva Property a total of 37,447 units to build under a contract of 1.48 billion ringgit.

The company is confident of getting more contracts from the Thai government, which plans to build 600,000 low-cost units costing 42,000 ringgit each by 2010.

It has 11 project sites, among them 7,888 units in Bang Khunthien district for the Rama II project, as well as 6,024 units in Rom Klao, 5,784 units in Bang Pu and 272 units in Krasaebon.

Feisal said that while the affordable-housing project provided the company with an entry into the country, it did well to establish itself as a reliable builder and managed to secure two private condo projects.

One is the A-Space on Sukhumvit Soi 77 in Bangkok, comprising six blocks of seven-storey and two blocks of eight-storey condo buildings.

This month, it was given another condo project by CapitaLand on Sukhumvit Soi 101, consisting of 810 units worth 81 million ringgit, while talks are going on with Deva to build apartments on Sukhumvit Soi 38, he said.

The housing projects are another milestone towards the company's mission to become an international builder after getting the access road package contract for Suvarnabhumi Airport in December 2003, worth Bt1.8 billion, he said.

In September 2005, it completed the main and auxiliary building works for the proposed factory expansion for Marakot Industries as well as renovation work at the Malaysian Embassy here.

Feisal said Bina Puri was focusing on Thailand due to its robust economy and export-oriented industries, the big domestic market of 63 million people, as well as good demand for housing projects as there is a large number of young professionals aged 30-40 in Bangkok and its suburbs.

He said Bina Puri's Thailand office, headed by R Mahendran, would serve as a regional office as the company plans to venture into Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam.

The Nation