The vision to be a developing country by the year 2020 may look impossible to achieve if the country's growth of 7 percent could not be maintained consistently.

According to statistics released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the economy is said to strengthen at 5.8 percent in the third quarter of 2011 after a 4.3 percent increase in the last quarter which is expected to rapidly grow in the next year based on the various approaches taken by the government to stimulate the economy through a number of planned development plan and during the last October budget announcement.

Strategies

There is no doubt that the government is committed and work collectively to ensure that the goal to synergize Malaysia as the center point among industrial countries and known in the world after year 2020, can be realized.

However, seeing that the current world economy is more competitive and difficult to predict, it is desirable for the government to arrange for a more strategic planning to keep it on the right track.

According to the Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB), Dato' Sri Ir. Dr. Judin Abdul Karim when launching the Asset and Facility Management (AFM) Implementation Manual Seminar in Kuala Lumpur on 16 November 2011, Malaysia has succeeded in expanding the value of assets and facilities to reach more than half a trillion over the last 10 years.

In which until the end of 2011 alone, the overall development project in the country reached the value of RM85 billion and is expected to increase to RM92 billion by next year.

Initiatives

The government's commitment to develop the assets and infrastructure in this country must not only a thing to be proud of, but the society must also give full support on their efforts to manage and maintain the assets and facilities.

In a way to empower the efforts, CIDB has taken proactive measures to gather all the leaders in the Malaysian construction industry at an international seminar themed Enhancing Asset Value through Efficient Asset and Facility Management so that the industry leaders understand what AFM exactly is and its function as a change catalyst the construction sector.

The one-day seminar also aims to increase productivity and strengthen the aesthetics and professionalism in the construction industry in this country. 

Definitions of AFM

For ease of understanding, AFM is a systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating physical assets the cost effective way. This process combines engineering principles with good business practices and a number of economic theory to ensure that plans made ​​by an organization able to produce outstanding results.

AFM in very simple words related to maintenance as well as consistently creating added value with the objective of ensuring customer needs and their requirements are met.

The use of AFM system in the context of construction is closely related to asset management culture within an organization, the quality of data on the asset portfolio, the link between asset management goals and mission of the organization, and the skill levels of individuals involved in the management system.

In which, to implement AFM in an organization, it must be equipped with facilities for staff with appropriate training so that future employees can propose recommendations to senior managers for the purpose of improvement.

Advantages

According to Director of Manchester Facilities Management, United Kingdom, Professor Keith Alexander, also a speaker at the AFM seminar organized by CIDB, a more systematic asset management and facilities in a country will contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of its public service.

In which he said, England's own experience in the management of public facilities have been through a 30-year development phase.

"England has gone through some evolutions in enhancing the quality of management, business processes, cooperation chain, stability and administrations of services.

"And the change was encouraged by the global economic instability, rising costs in financial management, increased deficit in England itself, the level of unemployment and so on," he said.

Malaysia, for example, he said, did not escape the global economic crisis that struck in 2009 that lead the development of overall performance during the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9) was affected.

"It is known that Malaysia's economy contracted by 1.7 per cent to last year despite the growth in the first three years of the RMK-9 which began in 2006 remained strong at an annual rate of 5.7 percent. Contraction in the following year has witnessed the decline of the overall growth during the plan period recorded an average growth of 4.2 percent.

"Therefore it is desirable for Malaysia to fully optimize the implementation of first generation of AFM to ensure that the country can be ready to face the global crisis as well as improving the quality of service to the people at the same time," he said.

Towards Synergizing AFM

Meanwhile, according to Deputy Director General of Public-Private Partnership Unit, Prime Minister Department, Datuk Zohari Akob, in an effort to strengthen public-private partnership, AFM is an important foundation for ensuring the development of assets and facilities are able to meet the needs of users as well as a ability to provide support and provide efficient services to them.

"AFM should be viewed from various perspectives and not merely as a catalyst. This is because AFM also provides services to customers while increasing the level of service delivery," he said.

CIDB Initiatives

In the meantime, to ensure that the desire to maximize the use of AFM in this country is reached, CIDB has taken steps to introduce Asset and Facility Management (AFM) Implementation Manual to assist asset owners to manage their assets in order to achieve higher value through value chain operations and maintenance.

Through the construction value chain, CIDB has also introduced a Partnering Implementation Guidelines to facilitate the use of partnership strategies in construction projects.

Similarly, through the value chain acquisition, CIDB introduced the Malaysian Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement (MyCESSM).

For more information on the AFM manuals, interested parties may communicate directly to the Business Environment Development Sector CIDB at 03-2617 0249 / 0376. 

-- CIDB 1BINA.my