Developers: Rebrand KL as Islamic finance leader

PROPERTY developers said Malaysia should rebrand itself not just as a pioneer, but as a leader in Islamic finance in building the local property market.

"We should market and position Kuala Lumpur and establish it as the international Islamic financial hub. The city must also be "live-able"," said Glomac Bhd group managing director, Datuk Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor at The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2008 in Petaling Jaya on Saturday.


Fateh: We should attract global investors, issuers and high net-worth individuals

"We should focus our efforts and attention as the preferred destination to attract global investors, issuers and high net-worth individuals to take advantage of their surplus private and sovereign funds. With them coming in, demand for residences would increase," he said.

Other speakers at the forum were Glomac group executive vice-chairman Datuk Richard Fong, Bandar Raya Developments Bhd (BRDB) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Jagan Sabapathy, Beneton Properties Group executive chairman Datuk Chan Sau Lai, Zerin Properties Sdn Bhd CEO Previndran Singhe, Hall Chadwick Asia Sdn Bhd chairman Kumar Tharmalingam, and Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd director Ho Chin Soon.

Fateh suggested that the private sector work with the government to promote Malaysia, adding that Malaysian My Second Home (MM2H) should be placed under the Prime Minister's Department to ensure efficiency, speedier approvals and seamless inter-ministry coordination instead of Tourism Malaysia.

On prices of condominiums in Kuala Lumpur, Fateh said a shortage of land would drive the prices higher, adding that properties have gone above RM2,000 per sq ft in the Golden Triangle.

"(For instance,) when we launched Suria Stonor in 2004, we sold the units at RM650 per sq ft. Now they are going for RM1,600 per sq ft.

"(In addition,) YTL Corp Bhd recently paid a record RM2,000 per sq ft for a piece of land in Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur," he added.

Jagan concurs.

He said the company's The Troika condominium project in KLCC, which started at an average price of RM950 per sq ft, is now selling at RM2,500 per sq ft.

Meanwhile, Chan cautioned investors who buy properties in the KLCC area for yield or capital gains, to consider the state of the rental market.

"We are targeting expatriates with housing allowance of RM8,000 to RM16,000 per month for the properties but there's only a small group here.

"But now we have buyers who work in Kuala Lumpur moving into the city to avoid traffic congestions," said Chan.

By New Straits Times (by Sharen Kaur)