Genting plans Iskandar hub

The Johor hub is expected to help facilitate two-way visitor flow between its Resorts World Genting development in Pahang and its soon-to-open integrated Resorts World Sentosa.

Gaming group Genting plans to set up a hub in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, that will feature a mall with premium outlets in the first phase and, later, hotels and a theme park, its chief said.

"Under (our leisure unit) Genting Malaysia Bhd, we are working on how we can invest in Iskandar in terms of creating a hub," Genting Bhd chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay told reporters after launching the group's 45th anniversary logo in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The hub in Johor is expected to be a mid-way point to help facilitate two-way visitor flow between its Resorts World Genting development in Pahang and its soon-to-open integrated resort in Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa.

The proposed project in Iskandar has been approved by both the state and federal governments, Lim said.
The mall, to be known as Chelsea Premium Outlet, will be operated jointly with US firm Simon Property Group and will be the anchor of the whole project. It is expected to open next year.

"If we can attract tens of millions of visitors to the outlet, then all the supporting facilities (like hotels and theme park) can be built and be profitable. We plan to build a whole resort experience around the anchor," Lim said.

Genting unit Genting Plantations Bhd has some 4,050ha in Kulai on which the group can expand, he said.

Genting Plantations last September formed an equal partnership with Simon Property, the US' largest mall operator, to establish the mall comprising designer brand discount outlets in Kulai.

Genting's initial share of investment in the project is small, at RM200 million, said Lim.

He said the group had already signed up some 60 outlets for the first phase of the mall, which is the first of its kind in this region.

Similar malls in Japan and South Korea, located outside of the city, have been very successful, Lim noted.

By Business Times (by Adeline Paul Raj)