Kuala Lumpur, January 18th, 2001 - Aseania Industries Sdn. Bhd. today signed a joint venture agreement with Linear Cooling Industries Sdn. Bhd., for the construction, development and operations of an ice district cooling facility at the Bandar Perda - an integrated township development in central Seberang Perai, Penang currently being developed by Aseania Development Sdn. Bhd.

A member of the Aseania Group of Companies, Aseania Industries will hold a 60% stake in the joint venture company, Aseania Linear District Cooling System Sdn. Bhd., while a subsidiary of main board listed Linear Corporation Berhad, Linear Cooling Industries would hold the balance of 40%.

Construction of the ice district cooling plant is expected to cost RM72 million and will commence by mid year.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dato' Musa Sheikh Fadzir, the Chairman of Aseania Development Sdn. Bhd. said, "The first phase will take 12 months to complete. The plant will be commissioned and ready for operation by the third quarter of 2002 in time to meet the requirements of the first batch of major institutional customers."

Dato' Musa also said the present venture is a stepping stone for Aseania and Linear to establish similar plants on a joint venture basis, in different parts of the country.

Linear Corporation Berhad, with over 20-year track record in cooling technology is one of Malaysia's leading producer and marketer of an extensive range of heat transfer products and systems for air conditioning, refrigeration and industrial process cooling with exports to over 30 countries worldwide.

Thermal ice district cooling is a technology to centrally generate and provide the air-conditioning requirements of major customers in a given area, in an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner.

"Linear's expertise is in the manufacture of an extensive line of cooling towers, evaporative condensers, industrial fluid coolers, heat exchanges and thermal storage equipment used in applications such as district, critical and industrial cooling" said Jerry Chin, Chief Executive Officer of Linear Corporation Berhad.

"We believe this state-of-the-art thermal ice storage district cooling facility here in Bandar Perda is the largest of its kind in Malaysia and possibly the ASEAN region" added Lum Weng Loy, Group Managing Director of Linear Corporation Berhad.

The Linear Group has technical and joint venture alliances with Baltimore Aircoil Company of America - a pioneer cooling technology, and a market leader in the design, development and manufacture of evaporative condensers, cooling towers and total package cooling systems and technologies.

Bandar Perda's ice district cooling plant will ensure a steady uninterrupted supply of cool, clean air at desired temperatures within the premises it serves at a lower cost in the long run.

This technology is especially relevant to large integrated townships such as Bandar Perda, which features a myriad of commercial facilities, and amenities such as banks, hospitals, government offices, shopping complexes and hotels.

District cooling is a technology that has been successfully implemented in many parts of the world.

The Baltimore Aircoil Company of America of which Linear Corporation Berhad enjoys exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute closed circuit cooling towers, evaporative condensers, industrial fluid coolers as well as thermal ice storage coils and modules are the worlds largest producers of coil products and cooling tower manufacturers.

In partnership with the Linear Group through its 30% owned equity in BAC Cooling Technology Sdn. Bhd., (balance of 70% of which is held by Linear) Baltimore Aircoil Company has the experience and expertise to provide cutting edge cooling solutions in cooling technology, having successfully implemented over 3,000 district cooling installations worldwide.

"District cooling is a concept that has grown in popularity over the recent years as building owners see the advantage of purchasing chilled water directly from a district cooling system rather then operating their own chillers which are not cost effective and occupy valuable commercial space. Further, the energy conserving nature of the business of the joint venture company would rank it for various tax incentives as proposed by the 2001 Budget announced in October last year" explained Lum Weng Loy.

"In Europe and America, district cooling is widely used in downtown central business districts and are ideally suited to institutional setting such as hospitals, universities, shopping malls, convention centers and basically any large installations that has leverage on economies of scale and require reliable, cost efficient cooling" added Jerry Chin.

Building on their success at Bandar Perda, and the growing popularity and demand for state-of-the-art cooling technology, the Linear Group is projecting 700 million ringgit in projects over the next 3 years.

In consonance with the state government's vision to make Penang the major regional center, Aseania developments has meticulously planned and is committed to develop the 456 acre Bandar Perda into an ultra modern northern regional center dubbed "City of the 21st Century".

When fully developed the RM2.5 billion Bandar Perda township will feature advanced telecommunications systems comparable to Putra Jaya in the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

Bandar Perda will be installed with a fixed fiber network by Celcom to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications such as computer banking, distance learning, cable TV, video conferencing, internet and many more.

"Bandar Perda will be a garden city township with magnificent fountains as well as lush landscapes, while at sundown, Bandar Perda will turn into a dazzling city of lights" said Dato' Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

The Bandar Perda township will be serviced by the regions first electro-magnetic monorail system in a move to ease traffic congestion and ensure a pollution free environment aligned with its aim to be the new administrative financial center for Seberang Perai.

Today, over 3,824 houses from a total of 8,000 units have been developed with infrastructure in various stages; namely 2,000 units of Mutiara Permata Low Cost Condominiums and 1,824 units of Mutiara Aseania Condominiums.

On-going developments in Bandar Perda include a RM30 million 5-storey wet and dry bazaar and up-coming 38 units of 2-storey shop-offices known as De'Rendezvous, the soon to be launched food and entertainment center.

Future planned developments at Bandar Perda include a 23-storey mixed development complex know as Aseania Mall, 2 units of 14-storey office blocks, a private medical center, a 3-storey bus and taxi terminal, four international hotels, a convention cum exhibition center, an integrated shopping mall with theme park an a hypermarket in addition to conventional shop offices and residential units.