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This Scotsman walks the talk
Mr Martin, 49, is chief executive of Global Capital and Development, the concession holder tasked with building the 658ha Medini, the flagship development of Iskandar Malaysia. -myp
Rachel Chan
Wed, Jun 01, 2011
my paper
MR KEITH Martin is looking forward to moving into his new house in Johor Baru, and it is not just because his kids could then have a dog - they now live in an apartment - or be closer to Asia's first Legoland.
The residential district he is eyeing - and has a part in planning and building - is in Medini Living, and it is an exclusive 285ha residential and lifestyle development in southern Malaysia, about half an hour's drive from Singapore's Tuas Checkpoint.
Mr Martin, 49, is chief executive of Global Capital and Development, the concession holder tasked with building the 658ha Medini, the flagship development of Iskandar Malaysia.
Iskandar Malaysia, about three times the size of Singapore, is part of the Malaysian government's plan to develop southern Johor into a premier economic zone.
"I want to experience the infrastructure myself. I'm not here just to sell plots of land and walk away," said Mr Martin, who became CEO last September.
He has already signed up his 10-year-old daughter, Claire, and five-year-old triplets - Gregor, Euan and Christa - for Marlborough College in Iskandar's Educity, the British co-ed boarding school's first overseas branch.
This is not the Scotsman's first time managing projects of this scale, but it is his biggest project to date.
Between 2003 and 2006, he cut his teeth on the 12km, US$1.6-billion Incheon Bridge project in South Korea - his first public-private partnership (PPP) assignment.
A PPP is a long-term tie-up between the public and private sectors to develop infrastructure and services.
Such an arrangement insulates the public sector - and taxpayers - from rising construction and raw-material costs, Mr Martin said.
As for the benefits he reaps as the private party tasked with all the work, Mr Martin, a former under-21 national rugby player for Scotland, said: "Major projects are very rewarding.
I enjoy being involved in multiple teams, which reminds me of being in the changing room before the big game, where everyone has their specialist role to play, but we can win only when we play as a team."
In Singapore, where he took up permanent residency in 1998, he is known for his involvement in the $1.3-billion Sports Hub. He was lead adviser for the hub, which will rise at the site of the old National Stadium in Kallang.
Drawing on his experiences, Mr Martin has learnt that the finance sector will not be the main focus forever. That is why Medini's masterplan has been adapted, from one that depends a lot on the growth of the finance sector to a wider business plan that also taps on other sectors such as the media, health care and entertainment.
On the design he envisions for Medini, Mr Martin said: "Look at the buildings in Changi industrial park. That's a great benchmark for us. StanChart, DBS, Citi, they've created some really good buildings there.
That's the sort of buildings we should be having in Medini, not the New York skyline. "So the message is: Not pursuit of grandeur, (but) pursuit of reality."
Biodata of Keith Martin
WHO: Mr Keith Martin, 49, chief executive of Global Capital and Development (GCD), the concession holder tasked with the development of Medini, the flagship development of Iskandar Malaysia.
EDUCATION: Mr Martin took his A levels at the Inverness Royal Academy in the Scottish Highlands. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Quantity Surveying at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland.
CAREER: Before he went to university, his focus was rugby, and he represented Scotland at the under-21 level. He also took on labouring work as a junior quantity surveyor, and even shovelled concrete in between practice sessions.
He later joined Amec, a consultancy, project-management and engineering-services firm that led the construction of the Incheon Bridge, a public-private partnership (PPP) project in South Korea.
During the 20 years he was with the company, Mr Martin has been chief operating officer in Amec Group (Korea) and director and commercial manager in Amec Group (Hong Kong and Singapore).
He left in 2006 to start his own PPP advisory business, iPAc Group, and was lead adviser to the Singapore Sports Hub PPP until last year.
The iPAc Group later partnered with the Plenary Group, an Australian firm, to deliver PPP solutions throughout South-east Asia.
He was CEO of Plenary Group Infrastructure Asia in Singapore before joining GCD last September. Still an avid rugby player, Mr Martin is vice-president of the Singapore Rugby Union.
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