NAZA AND HELP TO SET UP COLLEGE OF AUTOMOTIVE AND TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 23 – The Naza Group and HELP International Corporation Bhd (HELP) will jointly set up a college of automotive and transportation management to increase the number of highly-skilled automotive and transportation management professionals in Malaysia, ASEAN, and in a few other selected locations.

The Naza Group and HELP signed a memorandum of understanding today to work towards establishing a joint venture company (JVCO) that will undertake and run a college that will offer a full range of courses in automotive education.

The shareholding of the JVCO will be held 50:50 by the Naza Group and HELP. Once set up, the JVCO intends to set up three campuses for the new automotive college – one in the Klang Valley, one in Gurun, Kedah and one in Seri Alam, Iskandar Malaysia, Johor. This will be phased in during the next five years.

“This joint venture with HELP will have mutual benefits for both parties and we believe it will be the perfect combination of each other’s strengths.

“As a leading player in the automotive business, we have a clear understanding of the needs and requirements of the industry while HELP has an extensive and commendable record in the field of higher learning. With our respective capabilities combined, we will be in the best position to develop the future talent for the industry,” said Mr SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, Joint Group Executive Chairman of the Naza Group.

The MoU was signed by SM Nasarudin and Datuk Dr Paul Chan, Co-Founder and President of HELP and witnessed by Mr SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin, Group Managing Director of Naza TTDI and Mr Adam Chan, Director of Corporate Planning at HELP.

Datuk Dr Paul Chan said that the establishment of the automotive college is part of HELP’s diversification plans to offer technical and vocational training for the nation.

“We plan to introduce innovative programmes in this new automotive college. The college will have a comprehensive program in technical and technology training, including automotive engineering, transportation and logistics management, operations and quality control, and car design. Other complementary competencies include customer service and HR management, marketing and export management, financial management and entrepreneurship. At a later phase we would include urban and transportation planning for cities. We do not just focus on technical skills but also nurture entrepreneurship for the automotive industry.”

“The upside of this joint venture is that Naza already has the existing training facilities and experience, this means that the new college will be able to begin operations this year. We also plan to partner with good institutions, and countries that are well known in the automotive industry such as France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Students from our automotive college will also be able to work and intern at Naza. We have already spoken to various professional bodies in this industry and they are very supportive and will collaborate with us. All standards will be benchmarked against best practices in this industry. Green technology will be a priority area,” said Datuk Dr Paul Chan.

The Naza Group has been active in automotive education since the founding of the Naza Kia Academy (NKA) in Gurun, Kedah in 2006. Initially set up as Kia Motors Corporation’s overseas training centre in Asia Pacific and as a sales and after-sales training centre for all employees of the Naza Group, NKA later expanded its curriculum to diploma courses. NKA’s facilities include 24 service bays, service training operations, management training and 45 twin-sharing hostel rooms. With this new venture, NKA’s facilities and courses will be absorbed by the JVCO as its northern campus.

SM Nasarudin said the JVCO’s primary goal will be to contribute to the development of human capital in the automotive industry. He said the JVCO will leverage on the Naza Group’s extensive experience in the industry as the distributor for Kia and Peugeot vehicles in Malaysia as well as in research and development and manufacturing capabilities at its plant in Gurun, Kedah.

The JVCO will offer both academic and technical courses to students. In the initial stages, the JVCO will offer diploma courses before expanding to degree and post-graduate programmes. These courses will be tailor-made to meet the current needs of the industry.

“We will transfer our knowledge in the automotive industry to the students of this college. They will receive first-hand experience of all the various aspects involved in the automotive industry.

“Additionally, in line with the government’s aspirations to position and brand Malaysia as a major education centre of choice in the region, it is also our aim to attract students from neighbouring countries to eventually establish this college as a regional hub for automotive education,” he said.

The JVCO is targeting to open its campuses in Gurun and the Klang Valley in the fourth quarter of the year.