NATIONAL utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is looking at a few power-related projects in the Middle East, its president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said.

"We are currently looking at a few power-related projects in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia," he said.

He said the Middle East is a good area to expand into as there is a large demand for electricity there, adding that the region is also probably the least affected by the current global credit crisis.

"I think the Middle East liquidity should be enough to provide financing for projects there," he remarked.

Its unit TNB Engineering Corp Sdn Bhd (TNEC) yesterday obtained credit facilities of about RM85.2 million from Asian Finance Bank Bhd (AFB) to part-finance a RM150 million project in the United Arab Emirates.

TNEC is building a district cooling system plant and an energy transfer station with a capacity of 30,000-ton refrigerant for Abu Dhabi's Building Materials City.

The project, undertaken as a 49 per cent joint venture with a local company there, is TNEC's first overseas project.

It was awarded the project by Manazel Real Estate PJSC, the primary investor and developer of the Building Materials City.

TNB is currently negotiating with Manazel to develop a second parcel of the district cooling system plant.

The contract's value is estimated at RM70 million to RM80 million, TNEC's managing director Mohd Sabri Zain said.

Meanwhile, AFB, one of several foreign Islamic lenders based in Malaysia, said it sees opportunities for Islamic finance to grow further globally as big conventional banks struggle to stay afloat in the current credit crisis.

"We believe there is a lot of opportunity after this meltdown for the growth of Islamic banks to play a more pivotal role in the development and reconstruction of the financial industry," its chief executive officer, Datuk Mohamed Azahari Kamil, said at the signing ceremony with TNEC yesterday.

AFB is backed by a consortium of shareholders from leading Middle Eastern financial institutions such as Qatar Islamic Bank.

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