KUCHING: International energy services company, Serba Dinamik Holdings Berhad (SDHB), has signed a USD30 million agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) for ‘Reverse Linkage’ project in ISDB member countries.The Reverse Linkage mechanism is a technical cooperation programme championed by ISDB to provide solution to development challenges by means of triangular cooperation. Through the Reverse Linkage mechanism, ISDB matches two member countries to exchange technology, resources and expertise.
ISDB president Dr Bandar Hajjar applauded SDHB for the partnership, adding it’s the organisation’s first private sector partnership for Reverse Linkage mechanism. The agreement was signed in Jeddah last Wednesday. “Reverse Linkage has proven to be a success. In addition to working with the public sector, we are currently extending our partnerships with developers from the private sector and civil society,” he said in a posting published on ISDB website.
He acknowledged that the agreement would certainly strengthen the cooperation between ISDB and the SDHB in the transfer of proven expertise, know-how and technology in key transformational areas for the benefit of ISDB member countries. SDBH chief executive officer Datuk Dr MA Karim, when speaking during the agreement signing, said: “We are pleased to partner with ISDB. It is a win-win situation for both parties.
He said SDBH already had global collaboration with Microsoft in the frontiers of technology and another partnership in artificial intelligence with Stanford University, adding partnering with ISDB would put the company’s objectives into reality. He also said the focus of the MoU was to strengthen the development cooperation between ISDB and SDHB in the transfer of proven expertise, know-how and technology in key transformational areas for the benefit of ISDB member countries.
The areas identified include but not limited to construction, procurement of equipment, sharing or development of standard operating procedures, capacity development, human capital development (training of trainers), designing course contents and syllabus, design and development of suitable IT platforms and certification schemes.
As part of the agreement, the first phase of the project will kick-off with US $18 million TVET (energy) in Guyana, one of ISDB member countries in Latin America. The project will focus on relevant energy sectors and specifically position Guyana as a potential Hub in oil and gas in the Caricom region.
