Malaysia to be made property hub
02/07/2007 The Star By Yap Leng Kuen

RM50mil grant each from Govt and private sector for promos

THE Government, through one of its public/private sector initiatives, will be rolling out plans to make Malaysia an international property destination.

Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, told StarBiz: “The idea is to make Malaysia a destination for foreigners to buy properties. Property prices here are so much cheaper than in places such as London and Singapore. We should show that we have real value for money.''

A matching grant of RM50mil each between the Government and private sector is likely to be introduced for international promotions.

“We should go out to the world with our best projects,'' he said. “In this respect, we are careful with the kind of properties and developers we promote.

A bungalow in Mont Kiara. Property prices here are so much cheaper than in places such as London and Singapore

“We do not want cases where investors buy properties they are not satisfied with, as these will give us a bad reputation. Self-regulation is important to maintain our image,'' he stressed.

Under the plan which is expected to be implemented soon, Malaysia's premier properties will be showcased at exhibitions overseas, with targeted markets in the Middle East, South Korea and Japan.

“We've been having dialogues with Fiabci and the Real Estate Housing Developers Association (Rehda) on the ways to reform the property sector,'' he said.

The Government has taken heed to the recommendations from the private sector and liberalised many areas in the property sector, the latest being the waiver on real property gains tax. “We are now ready to take on the challenge worldwide,'' Effendi said.

The Government's international marketing plan will be coordinated with Fiabci and Rehda.

Among others, real estate agents will be the ambassadors to tell the Malaysian property story. In this respect, their skills and professionalism will be further enhanced to ensure that the message gets across effectively and foreign investors are impressed.

“Our integrated efforts will include pushing the Malaysia My Second Home programme as well as health and ecotourism. There will be no more excuses this time,'' he said.

“We talk to Rehda and have a wonderful working relationship with them. They have brought many of the issues to the National Implementation Taskforce and we have freed all the restrictions.

“We are optimistic that this plan will work because many of our properties are so undervalued,'' he said.

However, he is aware that the speculative element would be something to watch out for. “We ought to be watching this carefully and be prepared to deal with it.

“But our main priority now is to get the promotions going. There is still quite a large property overhang and we have to release it,'' he said.

The first batch of properties to be showcased will probably be those located in the Klang Valley, followed by those in the Iskandar Development Region and Penang.