theSun Property March 2017

theSun ON FRIDAY

MARCH 11, 2016

theSun ON FRIDAY

MARCH 24, 2017

Email your feedback and

queries to: propertyqs@

thesundaily.com

AVING

featured previous

articles on the uprising

of mega cities, exploring

the DNA of super cities

last week, todaywe examine

Malaysia’s very own Kuala Lumpur

and Selangor, on its way to

reaching developed nation “super

city” status.

INVESTKL

For a start, we look at Kuala Lumpur

and exmine InvestKL, a

government-established entity

created under the purviewof the

Ministry of International Trade and

Industry (Miti) and Federal

TerritoriesMinistry, tasked to steer

KL city to attain this goal.

InvestKL is established to attract

large global multinational firms like

Fortune 500 and Forbes 2000

companies, to set up their head

quarters, operational offices,

international procurement centres

and regional distribution facilities/

shared services centres in the

vicinity of the Klang Valley/Greater

Kuala Lumpur (Greater KL).

InvestKLwill promote and

position Kuala Lumpur as the ideal

location for multinational

companies to set up their

businesses in.

To garner the attention of these

multinationals, InvestKL, which is

accountable to the Performance

Management andDeliveryUnit

(Pemandu) under the Prime

Minister’s Department, set out to

workwith various government

ministries, entities and agencies to

formulate attractive fiscal packages

to help corporations identify

business opportunities and set up

high value operations to develop

their competitiveness in Southeast

Asia and globally, right here in KL

city itself.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Sitting in the CEO’s seat and

heading this gargantuan task is

InvestKL Corporation CEODatuk

Zainal Amanshahwho shares

> Super city in themaking

Modern city DNA

PART2

insights on InvestKL.

Zainal said that the idea

stemmed from the Economic

Transformation Programme (ETP)

launched in Sept 2010, which was

formulated as part of Malaysia’s

National Transformation

Programme. The ultimate aim: to

elevate the country and raise its

status to become a developed

nation by 2020. The target of the

ETP: to achieve this via identifying

12 National Key Economic Areas

(NKEAs) – sectors which had the

potential for private sector-driven

growth and economic opportunity

that could propel Malaysia to

achieve this high-income,

developed-nation, globally

competitive status. One of these

areas is Greater KL.

Once each of the 12 NKEAs were

identified, each is to offer private

sector involvement and investment

opportunities through 9 Entry Point

Projects (EPPs). EPP 1 is aimed at

attracting 100 of the world’s

dynamic firms to establish

operations in Greater KL by 2020.

To help realise the EPP 1 mission,

InvestKL Corporation, otherwise

known as InvestKL is established, a

specialised investment agency set

up by theMalaysian Government.

“InvestKL is mandated to attract

10multinational companies

(MNCs) a year, to invest in Greater

KL. Since its establishment in 2010,

we have successfully attracted

multinational companies with total

investment close to RM9million,”

shared Zainal. And these are

projected to create over 9,000

regional jobs he adds.

THE BIG PICTURE

Zainal shares the plan on how

InvestKL intends to succeed its

Herculean tasks. “Several

approaches were identified to

attract the top-tier Fortune 500 and

Forbes 2000MNCs to invest in

Greater KL. These include

deepening our existing

collaborationwith our alliance

partners and foreign embassies;

working closely with government

agencies likeMida andMatrade;

plus leveraging on existing

relationships betweenMalaysian

embassies and the local business

communities in countries these

foreign companies are based in,”

he shares.

Grateful is Zainal for the support

by InvestKL’s stakeholders and

partners in “selling Greater KL at

global level via one-on-one

meetings and focus group

investment engagements.

“We never sit on our laurels and

are never satisfiedwith just a list of

identified investments. Instead, we

constantly build and add potential

investments to our funnel to ensure

we have enough leads to achieve

our KPIs,” the CEO shares.

Serving as an ideal location to

set up one’s business hub, Greater

KL boasts:

1) a central location;

2) credible spaces;

3) an area robust withmulti-lingual

pool of talent;

4) a location that offers cultural

diversity;

5) a territory with game-changing

infrastructure development;

andmore.

THE GIANTS ARE HERE

“Over the years, there have been

many foreign companies who have

chosen Greater KL as their

investment and expansion

destination. Some of the recent

ones include German-based

industrial technology provider

Voith; Japan’s creative content

publisher Kadokawa; visul effects

studio Bandai Namco Studios; and

China Railway Group ... just to

name a few,” Zainal shares. Others

include US-based Oracle

Corporation, Swiss multinational

healthcare company Roche

Holdings AG and China-based tech

firmHuawei Technologies – “all

using Greater KL tomove up the

value chain,” Zainal adds.

Of the above, we learn that

Oracle’s recent decision to set up a

digital sales hub in Greater KLwill

create at least 200 new jobs while

Roche is reported to

spend some RM110

million over the next

two years on expansion

of its global services

centre here inMalaysia

which will serve the

APAC region. This will

also create some over

260 jobs. China Railway

will set up its regional

hub here in Bandar

Malaysia. “Greater KL is

also home to Huawei’s

customer solution

integration and

innovation experience

centre. The facility

was also designed as an

ICT hub to drive the industry’s

open eco-system and accelerate

digital transformation inMalaysia,”

added Zainal.

To date, Zainal informs that 64

MNCs have set up operations here,

with approved and committed

investments amounting to RM8.9

billion (3.2%or RM3.2 billion

already realised). These are

expected to create more than 9,335

high-skilled jobs, 5,233 or 56%

already on the payroll. While 17%

account for foreign/expat talent,

the remaining 83% are local.

SUPER CITY IN THE MAKING

All the above provide

encouragement and inspiration

for the team at InvestKL. “It also

shows that Greater KL andMalaysia

have the right ingredients to

attract MNCs. Although we

managed to secure 13MNCs last

year, we have brought our targets

down for 2017 looking at external

headwinds, including uncertainties

over US president Donald Trump’s

policies, major elections in

European countries, and the call-off

of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Agreement,” Zainal shared.

Still, he says that the agency is

looking at other regional countries

for investments.

To furnish a better picture of

what Greater KLwill look like in the

near future, we share excerpts from

Knight FrankMalaysia executive

director Judy Ong’s article.

“Malaysia is the fifth largest

recipient of foreign direct

investment (FDI) inflow in East and

Southeast Asia according to the

UNCTAD 2015World Investment

Report. By 2020, the skyline of

Greater KL is set to change

dramatically with scheduled

completions of the iconic 118-storey

Merdeka PNB118 and the 92-storey

Signature Tower in the financial

district of Tun Razak Exchange

(TRX). Morevoer, the TRX, primed

as the country’s financial and

banking district, will also house the

TRX Lifestyle Quarter which will

include a luxury hotel, six

Principle activities of

InvestKL include:

to drive;

to promote;

to attract;

to stimulate; and

to facilitate all types of

investment activities in

Greater KL and establish

links and networks for

investment activity.

Furthermore, the agency is

also responsible for

identifying appropriate

measures, resources,

programmes and incentives

to attract companies/

businesses and/or

corporations toMalaysia

and help these companies

facilitate the investment

process in a smooth and

hassle-freemanner as

possible.

Other responsibilities

include:

formulating competitive

fiscal packages;

introducing investors to

various specialised business

hubs inGreater KL;

provide post-investment

services;

propose talent management

programmes;

recommend the best

investment locations; and

help investors with the

transition and to blend in

with the local systems and

culture via familiarisation

programmes.

residential towers and a retail

destination connected to the TRX

Park and dedicatedMass Rapid

Transport (MRT) stations. Other

notable projects to change the

landscape include Bukit Bintang

City Centre, Bandar Malaysia,

rejuvenation of Damansara Town

Centre and the Pavilion Damansara

Heights project.” These, plus many

more international hotel brands

coming in, andwith the completion

of the additional 140km rail link of

theMRT and LRT lines by 2022 –

mobility and connectivity within

the regionwill be enhanced,

transforming Greater KL into a

mega city.

Follow our column next week on

the other super city in the making

and InvestSelangor, which is tasked

to take it to its greater heights.

Zainal