Building Investment (Sep - Oct 2016)

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Eric Tan
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EDITOR’SNOTE
The adage “when the going gets tough,
the tough gets going,” aptly applies to
property developers these days. While the
market is soft, banks are stricter with loans and purchasers are hesitating, the
bigger developers are using the lull period to re-organise, re-define their focus
and to come out with even more attractive product offerings. The big players
in both Malaysia and Singapore continue to be resilient.
SP Setia, one of Malaysia’s top developers, is constructing an exhibition hall
in a time-frame of less than a year with a limited budget (pg 6)—just so that
they can tap into the growing demand for exhibition and banquet space.
In the southern state of Johor, another top local developer, UMLand, is
constructing a mixed integrated development in the city centre, Suasana
Iskandar (pg 8), within walking distance from the customs checkpoint and
along the Segget river that is undergoing rejuvenation to become a top tourist
attraction.
To put a long story short, developments are still going on. Just that it is not
announced with fanfare like before. You will see a lot of projects quietly “open
for registration” instead of being launched outright and that is just so that the
developers can quietly gauge interest in their projects.
On the international scene, western media has been predicting China’s
“downfall” for years which, fortunately, is not happening and unlikely to happen.
China investments in the region and around the world is too far-reaching and
complex. A total meltdown in China will mean serious repercussions for the
global economy. For over a decade, China has been driving global growth. The
investment-led boom is now slowing but in its place is growing consumption
trends among the Chinese and many of them are investing in projects around
the world, according to a recent research by McKinsey Global Institute.
Meanwhile, if you have suggestions to offer, projects to highlight or events
that you would like us to cover, do kindly drop us a note. Happy reading!
ERIC TAN, Editor
b-i@b-i.biz
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