Glomac in talks to venture into waste-to-energy business

• Glomac group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor: "Let me put it very clearly that we are still very much a property and real estate firm. If there's anything synergistic to the property and real estate industry, yes, we are always open."

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): Glomac Bhd (KL:GLOMAC) is currently in talks with respective parties to venture into the waste-to-energy business, as part of its plan to seek new sources of revenue, according to group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor.

"We also have to get the buy-in from the respective councils because at the end of the day, this waste is collected by councils. So, if they don't send it to you, you won't get it. But as the Malaysian economy is growing, our landfills cannot accommodate it much longer. How many more landfills are you going to open? One of the ways to eliminate this is waste-to-energy. Yes, we are looking at it, but we are still in the talking stages," said FD Iskandar.

While the group is open to consider any new business ventures, he assured that the company will still stay true to its core business as a property developer.

"Let me put it very clearly that we are still very much a property and real estate firm. If there's anything synergistic to the property and real estate industry, yes, we are always open," he told reporters after Glomac's 40th annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Glomac first revealed that it is considering diversifying into new businesses in an interview with The Edge Malaysia weekly, published earlier this month, saying that the new venture must be within areas that have synergies with its core business in property development. One of the businesses that the group is considering is green energy.

FD Iskandar is also the chairman of GreenRE Sdn Bhd, which was set up by the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia in 2013 to drive sustainable real estate in Malaysia's property industry by providing green building certification and rating, green building training and awareness programmes, and by funding research and development into related areas.

Notably, Naza Corp Holdings Sdn Bhd, another property developer, in May completed the acquisition of a 100% stake in Berjaya Enviro Holdings Sdn Bhd (BEnviro) from Berjaya Corp Bhd (KL:BJCORP) for RM700 million in cash, marking its entry into the green economy with a focus on municipal and scheduled waste, as well as the waste-to-energy sector.

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