News

Above: BBCC Partners Mitsui for RM1.6 Billion Mall.

Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport, the joint venture (JV) project between Japan-based Mitsui Fudosan (Asia) Pte Ltd and BBCC Development Bhd, is set to commence operations by end-2020 or early 2021.

According to CEO Datuk Richard Ong, the retail mall is slated for completion in four and half-years’ time, with works starting in January 2017.

With a built up area of 1.4 million sq ft, the RM1.6 billion mall at the Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) will be a hybrid as it combines indoor shopping mall with an outdoor lifestyle street featuring cafes, restaurant and high-end brands.

Above: The retail mall is slated for completion in four and half-years’ time, with works starting in January 2017.

“The mall will have 350 stores. Mitsui Asia will bring a very unique concept, and with it, the aspiration of having something different in terms of design service quality, maintenance and uniqueness,” he said after the signing of definitive agreements with Mitsui Fudosan Asia.

“We will bring a lot of new brands from Japan, the Far East and other international labels.”

The agreement involve the management, establishment, operation and ownership of a JV firm which will operate and own the RM1.6 billion mall.

Above: The mall will have 350 stores. Mitsui Asia will bring a very unique concept, and with it.

Also present were Mitsui Fudosan Asia deputy managing director and chief regional officer (Malaysia) Takehito Fukui, Eco World Development Group Bhd chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin and UDA Holdings Bhd chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Shafei Abdullah.

Ong revealed that three tunnels from Jalan Galloway, Jalan Hang Tuah and Changkat Thambi Dollah will be constructed to connect roads to the underground parking, which features more than 2,400 parking bays.

Above: Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport, the joint venture (JV) project between Japan-based Mitsui Fudosan (Asia) Pte Ltd and BBCC Development Bhd.

Source: Property Guru

Claims that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) sold the majority of Bandar Malaysia land to Chinese firms are misleading and inaccurate, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said today.

“In terms of equity, Malaysians still own 76 per cent of Bandar Malaysia even after the sale. So to say 60 per cent of the equity was sold to Chinese firms is misleading,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament.

Abdul Rahman was responding to claims by former Umno vice president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal that the sale meant relinquishing control of prime land in Kuala Lumpur to Chinese firms.

The RM7.41 billion deal saw 1MDB dispose of a 60-per cent stake in Bandar Malaysia to Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC).

But Abdul Rahman argued that IWH, which holds a 36 per cent stake in the consortium with CREC, is controlled by a Malaysian businessman and the Johor state government.

“I am disappointed that (Shafie’s) arguments are based on emotion and not facts,” Abdul Rahman said.

He also said that the decision by 1MDB to allow the buying consortium to only make payments for the sale in 2020 as a “willing buyer, willing seller” situation.

He also said that fears that the deal might go sour before the payments are made are merely “assumptions”.

Source: Malaysia Mail Onilne

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) yesterday announced that the Overnight Policy Pate (OPR) has been maintained at 3% following its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.No change also was made to the statutory reserve requirement ratio for banks, which currently stands at 3.5%.

The central bank said in a statement that at the current level of the OPR, the degree of monetary accommodativeness is consistent with the policy stance to ensure that the domestic economy continues on a steady growth path amid stable inflation, supported by continued healthy financial intermediation in the economy.

“The MPC will continue to monitor and assess the balance of risks surrounding the outlook for domestic growth and inflation,” it noted.

BNM said growth in the Malaysian economy moderated slightly in the second quarter of the year, following weaker net exports and a drawdown in stocks. Domestic demand, however, remained the key driver of growth, with private consumption and private investment growing at a faster pace.

“Going forward, private consumption will remain supported by wage and employment growth, with additional impetus coming from announced government measures to increase disposable income,” it noted.

BNM opined that investment activity will continue to be anchored by the ongoing implementation of infrastructure projects and capital spending in the manufacturing and services sectors.

On the external front, the central bank said, export growth is expected to remain weak following subdued demand from Malaysia’s key trading partners.

“Overall, the economy is projected to expand within expectations in 2016, and to remain on a steady growth path in 2017,” it added.

Malaysia’s headline inflation moderated to 1.1% in July, with the central bank expecting it to be at the lower end of the 2% to 3% range for 2016 and to remain relatively stable in 2017 given the environment of low global energy and commodity prices, and generally subdued global inflation.

BNM said domestic financial conditions have remained stable since the previous MPC meeting with financial markets continuing to function in an orderly manner.

“Financial institutions continue to operate with strong capital and liquidity buffers and the growth of financing to the private sector is consistent with the pace of economic activity. Banking system liquidity remains ample,” it added.

Meanwhile, BNM said the global economy continues to expand at a moderate pace and growth across the advanced economies has been modest.

Source:thesundaily

China’s car and truck maker Beiqi Foton Motor has made a foray into the Thai automotive market by setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary to handle sales and production of Foton’s pickup trucks, passenger pickup vehicles (PPVs) and passenger cars in Thailand.

According to Geng Chao, president of Foton Automobile (Thailand), the Beijing-based company has recently established Foton Automobile (Thailand) Co with registered capital of 102 million baht and headquarters at On Nut Road to take control both of sales and vehicle production in Thailand.

Earlier, Foton’s sales were handled by Thai authorised distributor, United Motors Co, formerly DFSK Thailand.

United Motors, however, will remain one of Foton’s dealer and a local assembler for Foton’s light-duty trucks. United Motor sold 400-500 Foton trucks during 2014-16.

According to Mr Chao, the parent firm has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangchan General Assembly Co (BGAC) to produce Foton’s pickup trucks, PPVs and passenger cars to be sold to domestically.

BGAC is a subsidiary of Phra Nakorn Automobile Co, a Thai car distributor and parts maker. It used to be the assembler for Daihatsu, Holden and Opel.Production is scheduled to begin next month with a maximum capacity of 10,000 units a year.

Foton has already applied for Board of Investment privileges, with company pledging to utilise 40% local content in its production.Mr Chao said the first Thailand-made pickup trucks will be launched by the end of November and Foton will join the Thailand International Motor Expo that runs from Dec 1-12.He said the company is upbeat about the Thai market because of the country’s geographic location and its position as a car production base in the region.

Although the Thai car market is dominated by Japanese carmakers, Mr Chao said Foton remained confident about its product quality and technology, as well as its world-class components. Foton works with partners from the US and Germany such as Cummins, Dana, ZF and Continental to develop technology, he said.At present, Toyota controls 30.5% of Thailand’s car market, while Isuzu and Honda account for 19.1% and 14.7%, respectively.

The automotive industry club of the Federation of Thai Industries forecast that domestic sales will stay at 750,000-780,000 units this year, down by a range of 2.5% to 6.2%, with exports rising 1-3% to 1.22-1.25 million units.The country’s car production in 2016 is expected to increase by 2-4% to 1.95-2 million units.Mr Chao expects to sell 3,500 vehicles in 2017 and 6,000 in 2018.

The company also plans to increase Foton’s dealers and service centres from 17 at present to 26 by the year-end and up to 70 in 2017.

Source:Bangkok Post

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) is scheduled to begin construction in 2018, cutting travelling time between both cities to 90 minutes.  Meanwhile, the Malaysian Ringgit has weakened 30% against the Hong Kong Dollar in the past three years, making it a most opportune moment to invest in Kuala Lumpur properties.  To make use of this opportunity, local Malaysian banks are offering attractive financing of up to 80% for Hong Kong investors and 90% for Malaysians living abroad*.

Partnered with one of Malaysia’s top developer Hap Seng Land Berhad, Golden Emperor hosted a Kuala Lumpur Property Investment Seminar. During the seminar, we presented to our attendees the latest trend of Kuala Lumpur’s real estate market as well as tips on investing in Kuala Lumpur. Apart from that, we introduced Hap Seng’s superior condominium project Aria Luxury Residence which is located near KLCC Twin Towers, with down-payment as low as HKD110,000. The two-day exhibition was attended by over 400 investors.

Above: Kuala Lumpur Property Investment Seminar hosted by Golden Emperor was attended by more than 400 investors.

Above: Terence Chan, Managing Director of Golden Emperor, explained to attendees the investment potential of Kuala Lumpur and the unique features of the quality condo project Aria.

Above: Located in the Embassy Row of KL city centre, units enjoy views of KLCC Twin Tower.

Above: Investors attended the event enjoyed priority to pick premium units.

Above: Golden Emperor hosted a Kuala Lumpur property exhibition during the last weekend.