Whole Ampang Park Mall needs to be demolished for safety reasons
MRT Corp has said that the entire Ampang Park mall has to be demolished for the construction of the MRT station due to safety reasons. This was to ensure safe construction because the mall was built with pad footing foundation and not piling foundation, therefore it was not feasible to only demolish two-thirds of the building and leaving one-third standing. The safety of the remaining structure will be affected if a major portion of the building is taken down, as is typical of buildings built during that era (1973). Furthermore, services for the building, such as the power supply system, air conditioning system, water sewerage, toilets and emergency exit locations were designed for the building as a whole. The Ampang Park Station is vital since its line would be integrated with the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Kelana Jaya line. (Bernama)

Texchem unit to repurchase Wisma Texchem and land
Texchem Corporation Sdn Bhd, a partially-owned subsidiary of Texchem Resources Bhd, will repurchase Wisma Texchem and the land it occupies in Subang Jaya from Amanah Raya Bhd for RM19.95 million. The 2.03ha land houses a three-storey office building, three blocks of single-storey warehouse and other ancillary buildings. Texchem Corp owned the properties and sold them to Amanah Raya in June 2005 with a leaseback arrangement coupled with an option to buy back at the purchase price. The acquisition will be satisfied in cash, and expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year. (The Edge Markets)

Malaysia ranks 18 in ease of doing business
According to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2015 report, Malaysia is ranked 18 for ease of doing business among 189 economies in the world, falling one spot from 17 in 2014. This makes Malaysia globablly recognised as one of the 20 best economies in the world for business development and to do business. Singapore ranked first for the 10th consecutive year, followed by New Zealand (2nd), South Korea (4th), Hong Kong (5th), Taiwan (11th) and Australia (13th). (The Sun Daily)

EPF mulls disposal of UK property
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is considering disposing of one of its properties in the United Kingdom (UK), the Reading International Business Park. CEO Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said the fund frequently received offers for its assets in the country, and will consider disposing of the one of its assets if it get the right offer and right pricing that it deems worthwhile. It is reported that EPF has made an offer of £150 million for the luxury property, and could raise more than RM250 million based on capital gains and foreign exchange if the deal is closed in the near term. (The Malaysian Insider)