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5 digit drops in house prices of -12% and -14% respectively.
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#4 - Clear statutory protection Malaysia is also ahead in terms of property ownership and our transparent land administration system is based on Australian Torrens System. The Government of Malaysia allows 100% foreign direct ownership for all types of property (except agriculture land) with minimum foreign investment value of US$170,000 (RM500,000) and there is clear statutory protection on ownership, which tends to be vague in most of SEA countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
INVEST IN GREATER KUALA LUMPUR How GKL envision it can achieve world’s Top 20 cities in terms of economic growth and livability? by Hazrul Izwan #1 - Opportunities abound for Greenfield projects in fastest metropolitan cities Malaysia has a relatively larger land mass to its population size and has; in fact, relatively liberal rules regarding foreign property investment within Asia. Moreover, as the nation transits from a developing to a developed status, opportunities abound for foreign companies as many new greenfield projects are being identified for development in the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the region, from Klang Valley into Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) is being transformed into Asia’s most liveable cities. Foreigners are also welcomed with either a 10-year visa through Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme or through special incentives such as lower tax rates under Talent Corporation for professionals with unique skillsets. Not surprisingly, the recent “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2013” report by Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), named Kuala Lumpur as having huge potential in city development and investment prospects too. #2 - Language and physical connectivity to the biggest, fastest and wealthiest markets As GKL is growing rapidly to be the new emerging business hubs of Southeast Asia (SEA). There is increasing demand from multi-national corporations as well as small-medium enterprise (SMEs) to set up their base for global operations here. This will enable them to expand their reach to some of the world’s biggest and fastest growing or wealthiest markets such as China, India and the Middle East. Malaysia’s competitive costs and relative ease of doing business is seen in its rankings; 14th in “IMD’s 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook” and 18 th ahead of Japan in 2012 respectively. In the
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As GKL is growing rapidly to be the
new emerging business hubs
of SEA. There is increasing demand from MNCs and SMEs to set up their base for their global operations here
Economists Intelligence Unit’s 2012 report – “Hotspots: Benchmarking Global City Competitiveness”, which ranks 120 cities globally, Kuala Lumpur is in second place as the most competitive global city in SEA. #3 - Resilient and transparent In the latest IPD ”Research Note”, Malaysia has been ranked among the Top 5 for investment location in Asia based on growth, total return and liquidity in the REITs market. Along with this ranking, Malaysia is in the third position after Hong Kong and Singapore in the “Global Real Estate Transparency Index” by Jones Lang LaSalle. Furthermore, Malaysia is more resilient to recession and it’s not a volatile market compared to those countries. This has been proven during the financial crisis between 2008 and 2009, Malaysia House Price Index (MHPI) showed a decline in growth of -2% whereas Hong Kong and Singapore experienced more than double
#5 - A world-class financial district in the making A new world-class financial district is also being planned in the city of Kuala Lumpur and by 2017, plans are underway to build a High-Speed Rail (HSR) that will connect Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and cut travelling time from six hours to 90 minutes, providing access to more than 6,000 MNCs and about 16,000 SMEs in Singapore. The next step would be the ASEAN Rail Express (ARX), which will connect Kuala Lumpur with Bangkok, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and China and it will be the best bet to increase a business traveler’s traffic from SEA countries to the GKL. These efforts will generate a stream of demand in the office, retail and industrial sectors. In other words, the vision of GKL to be among the world’s top-20 cities in economic growth and livability will be achieved. MPI matchmakes foreign investors to real estate opportunities As a conclusion, GKL is the perfect hub for MNCs, SMEs and foreign businesses to expand their businesses in SEA. To help foreigners navigate their way into Malaysian real estate, MPI connects them with the relevant parties including top Malaysian developers, Government linked companies and state players and match the appropriate opportunities to their needs. The Government of Malaysia will support foreign investors by offering various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as income tax exemption for period of five to ten years, including services and assistance provided by respective parties to facilitate a potential business’s operationalization and entry to the market.
This article first appeared in the MalaysiaGerman Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MGCCI) newsletter in January, 2013.