Date: 28 February 2017
Company Name: Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) Institute
The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) Institute organised a one-day conference, Economic and Business Outlook Conference 2017, on 28 February 2017 at Wisma REHDA. More than 300 participants attended this event. The conference was conducted by a total of 13 speakers and moderators, and aimed to review the key industry sectors in Malaysia.
The first section of the conference started with the topics: “Trumpism and Bank Interest Rates: How will it impact major economies in the region, investment flows and business sector in 2017” by Alan Tan, Chief Economist of Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad; and “Outlook for Malaysia’s Major Business Sectors for 2017, focus on end financing for home buyers: should measures affecting the property sectors be eased to stimulate growth?” by Lee Heng Guie, Executive Director of Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC), former Head of Economic Research of CIMB Investment Bank and former Senior Economist of Bank Negara Malaysia.
The panel discussion in the first section covered the topic of Macroeconomic Outlook and Economic Issues, which was moderated by Datuk Haji Muztaza Mohamad, REHDA National Treasurer and REHDA Institute Trustee, with panellists that included Datuk Haji Hamirullah Boorhan, Association of Banks in Malaysia; Jacob Lee Chor Kok, Vice President of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers; and Foo Chek Lee, President of Master Builders Association Malaysia.
The second section focused on the topic Investment Outlook: China Factor, whereby some of the largest Chinese companies were invited to speak. Jason Fu Jinling, Regional President of Country Garden Group Malaysia discussed on the topic “International Investments from China into Malaysia: How can your company attract buyers and leverage on such capital investments in a slower market condition?” Speakers Robin Yang, Managing Director of MCC Overseas (M) Sdn Bhd; and Danny Tsen, Deputy Managing Director of MCC Overseas (M) Sdn Bhd, shared their insights on “Why Are Chinese Capital Investments Coming Into Malaysia? How can your company leverage on capital investments in a slower market condition? Impact on infrastructure developments, real estate developments” and “What real estate and property development JV partnerships are China and Japan companies looking for in Malaysia?” A Q&A panel discussion in this section was moderated by Chris Tan Chur Pim, Founder of Chur Associates.
The third section of this conference featured Real Estate Trends and Outlook. The topics covered in this section were: International Real Estate Consumer Investors Demand Trends: How to attract foreign buyers and what products are buyers looking for?” by Haresh Khoobchandani, CEO of iProperty.com Malaysia and Singapore; “What is in demand now: What to build in 2017?” by Datuk Christopher Boyd, Executive Chairman of Savills; “Investment hotspots & growth areas: Where to build and buy in 2017?” by Foo Gee Jen, Managing Director of CBRE | WTW; and “How to sell & market creatively in current market conditions?” by Sarkunan Subramaniam, Managing Director of Knight Frank Malaysia. Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen, REHDA Patron, REHDA Institute Trustee and President of Building Management Association of Malaysia (BMAM) moderated the third Q&A panel discussion along with the four speakers.
