Saturday January 24, 2009

Malaysian company seeks credit aid

By ROYCE CHEAH 

DUBAI: Malaysian interior design company LCL Corporation, which has made its mark in Dubai, says it needs the support of the Government if it is to weather the global economic slowdown.

The company has bagged a number of lucrative projects in the interior fit-out (IFO) business, including work on 1,539 rooms in the Atlantis Hotel here.

It has also successfully completed IFO projects in the Sapphire Hotel, Fortune Tower and Bur-Dubai Apartments here and is working on the IFO for 14 out of 27 stations in the Dubai Metro rail system.

In Malaysia, LCL has done work in the Traders Hotel, Impiana Hotel, Westin Hotel, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the Binjai Apartments.

LCL chief operating officer Abdul Hakim Asmaun said, however, that the global economic slowdown was disrupting the company?s plans as banks were tightening their credit facilities.

?If possible, we need Malaysian Government support.

?Here in Dubai, we have five or six big Malaysian companies all affected by this. I think the Government has to support us by giving advice to the banks to maintain credit facilities.?

Abdul Hakim said this would require strong government-to-government relations.

He said, in comparison, the governments of Singapore and China had aggressive policies and were able to assist their companies in getting and maintaining contracts.

Abdul Hakim said, however, that LCL would be looking to Abu Dhabi next to expand its operations.