IWH-CREC can bid for Bandar Malaysia again
In a surprising turn of events, the Prime Minister’s Department has said that IWH CREC Sdn Bhd is allowed to bid for the Bandar Malaysia real estate project again as long as the offer is right for the Malaysian government. It is soliciting new bids for the planned Bandar Malaysia project because the land’s value has increased. Prime Minister Najib Razak had made it clear that previous consortium players can participate in the new tender process as long as the numbers are okay. (The Edge Markets)
Country Garden set to build world’s largest IBS factory in Forest City
China-controlled Country Garden Pacific View Sdn Bhd’s industrialised building system (IBS) facility in Johor is set to become the world’s largest IBS factory. Bernama reported that the RM2.6 billion project in Forest City will feature technologies from Germany, Italy and China. Once completed, the factory would help reduce dependency on foreign labour, besides increasing productivity and efficiency, and shortening project completion time. The development is in line with Malaysia’s aspirations to become a high-income nation by adopting smart technologies and processes, including automation. (The Edge Markets)
MRT line linking to KL Sentral begins operations in July
The second phase of the Sg Buloh-Kajang (SBK) MRT Line 1 will be linked to KL Sentral, Klang Valley’s main transit hub, once it begins operations in July. Currently, phase 1 of the line, from Sungai Buloh to Semantan, is only integrated with the KTM Komuter station at Sungai Buloh. When phase 2 is open, MRT passengers can interchange easily with Kelana Jaya LRT, the Express Rail Link (ERL), the monorail and KTM Komuter by using a linkway between Muzium Negara and KL Sentral. (The Star Online)
Entrance to the MRT station at Muzium Negara (Image from The Star)
Malaysia to host Asean real estate convention in August
The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) will be hosting the Asean Real Estate Network Alliance (Arena) Convention and Exhibition 2017 from 25 to 27 August 2017. The theme this year is “Making friends and connecting businesses”. Arena is a regional grouping of eight national real estate associations across Asean. The event is being held in Kuala Lumpur for the first time and expected to host 600 real estate practitioners from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. (The Edge Markets)
Eversendai secures contracts worth RM1.3bil in 2017
Eversendai Corp Bhd said it has secured projects worth RM557.6mil to-date, bringing a total of RM1.3bil projects secured for the year 2017. One of its prominent projects secured in India for the year 2017 was a project with Piramal Realty, a real estate development arm of one of India’s leading business conglomerate, the Piramal Group. Other projects secured in India include a residential development, a start-up incubator complex for entrepreneurs and an office building project. (The Star Online)
Unemployment rate down to 3.4% due to improved domestic activities
Improved domestic and global economic activities contributed towards Malaysia‘s lower unemployment rate of 3.4%, said MIDF Research. The nation’s unemployment rate dropped 0.1% to 3.4% after three consecutive months at 3.5%. Malaysia’s employment expanded in March to 14.42 million while labour force grew closer to 15 million persons. Domestic economic activities remained upbeat as reflected in the latest data of industrial production and distributive trade. (The Edge Markets)
WannaCry ransomware attack in Malaysia confirmed
CyberSecurity Malaysia has received its first official report of the infamous WannaCry ransomware cyber attack in the country, confirming the attack has reached Malaysia. Its CEO Datuk Amirudin Abdul Wahab said the report was lodged by an academic institution. It is believed that there are more incidents which have not been reported. Amirudin urged all organisations and system administrators to patch their systems and keep their users aware of the new ransomware in order to prevent them from clicking on suspicious emails and files. (The Sun Daily)
Singapore property comeback fueled by land-hungry developers
Developers’ hunger for Singapore land is contributing to signs that the city’s housing market is making a comeback after three years of declining prices. As new home sales surge after an easing of property restrictions in mid-March, developers are becoming more aggressive in bidding at land auctions, paying up to 29% premium which is the highest level in at least five years. The general sense is that the market has bottomed out and many developers are keen to build land bank. The comeback is also said to be fueled by “pent-up demand” from buyers as developers refrained from launching projects in the final few months of 2016. (The Edge Markets)
