Malaysia Property Inc says the show must go on despite a tight budget
When it was announced last September that Malaysia Property Inc (MPI) would be set up to promote foreign investment in local real estate, the United States financial and economic smash-up had yet to spread globally. Now, the rich economies are in recession and the emerging and developing one are hurting badly.
MPI chairman Datuk Richard Fong updates NST Property in a Q&A on its branding missions. He says it’s running a very tight ship (on a RM5 million-a-year government grant) as it had to pay for advertising and promotion abroad in yen, sterling or euro … but it has to sail on.
For instance, the two-day MPI-led promotion to Tokyo last year alone cost RM700,000.
MPI has identified London, Dubai and Japan to launch its branding and promotion initiatives. Please elaborate on the on the location choices and what MPI wants to achieve?
We chose the locations based on the list of top foreign investors in Malaysia in the past two years.
The British led the pack followed closely by Singaporeans and Koreans, who also led the top 20 property buyers in Kuala Lumpur in 2007.
The others included buyers from the US, India, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan.
For now, we’ll focus on the UK, Japan and the Middle East as their people have established and interest in Malaysia. We can further tap the vast potential.
We still find a lack of awareness out there about Malaysia as a country much less Malaysian real estate. MPI will educate the markets and perform public relation for the country.
Which are the participating developers in MPI’s branding missions and what are they offering?
MPI is open to all developers offering properties of RM250,000 and above.
At first MPI-led Malaysian Property Fair held in Tokyo, Japan, last December, 11 developers (Sunway, SP Setia, IOI Properties, Mutiara Johan, Hong Bee, Country Heights, D’Tiara, YTL, Hunza, Iskandar Investment and Setia Haruman) showcased high-end condominiums and resort-themed projects.
Our partners for the event were the Japan Travel Bureau, Japan Long Stay Foundation and HSBC Bank.
What’s the feedback?
Over 70 per cent of the visitors to the fair said they are keen on long stay in Malaysia. We found that Japanese buy overseas properties for own use, as a second or retirement home, or for investment.
Our developers said the fair was an eye opener and asked when the next will be held.
What’s in the pipeline?
MPI is now planning branding missions to Tokyo and Osaka in April, Hong Kong in June, and London and Manchester in July. We’ll either go it alone or together with the developers.
How is the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme contributing to foreign direct investment (FDI) in properties?
MM2H is successful and reason for foreigners to relocate to the country for long stay. It has great potential as a significant contributor to the property market.
There are currently 12,000 approved MM2H applicants since it was introduced as the Silver Hair Programmer in 2002.
We feel the number can be increased considerably. There’re no official statistics on how many applicants have bought properties here but we can safely assume that, if every applicant buys, their contribution will be a big boost.
The Economic Planning Unit sees such FDI as one of the growth stimulants in the overall spectrum of national economic development. How can MPI contribute to that?
As international branding and promotion costs are high, developers can make use of MPI’s infrastructure and marketing collaterals so they can focus on selling their projects.
Via our database, we also pave the way for developers, estate agents and MM2H agents to establish international contacts.
Last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled incentives to bolster property investments and measures to bust red tape and lower hidden costs of doing business. How would this help MPI in branding Malaysia effectively as an international preferred investment destination for business as well as a second or even third home under MM2H?
We appreciate more measures to woo foreign investors. We’ve to remain competitive regionally and globally. We’ve to acknowledge that Singapore and Thailand have very friendly policies and that even the Philippines and Indonesia are opening up their markets. We can’t be complacent.
Source: New Straits Times, Property – 27 February, 2009
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