IJM's The Light up for grabs at MIPIM Asia

HONG KONG (Nov 16): IJM Land Bhd's RM5 billion iconic waterfront project in Penang, known as The Light, is up for grabs at the ongoing MIPIM Asia 2011, the world's premier real estate exhibition and conference, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Located just off the Penang Bridge on the island's eastern coastline, The Light is an integrated project comprising commercial and residential components. Its chief executive officer and managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon said: "We are bringing it up to Hong Kong (at MIPIM Asia) where there are more international investors who are looking at it. "The residential component is on 16.8ha (42 acres) reclaimed land which we launched in 2009. Currently, we've launched four parcels of the residential projects. "We already commenced reclamation for the commercial projects. We are now ready to go into the market to look for investors," he told Bernama on the sidelines of MIPIM Asia 2011, here. MIPIM Asia 2011, which began on Tuesday, was opened by Hong Kong's Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. The three-day event will end on Thursday. In the commercial component, Soam said the total land hectarage was about 42 hectares (105 acres) comprising hotels, a business park, convention centre, shopping complex and a performing arts and cultural centre. He said the first phase of the residential component was under construction. "We've launched (the residential component) and was mostly sold to Penangites. "This project will take 10 years (to complete). This, however, depends on how fast we can go. If we can get investors to come in to partner us in some of the commercial projects, this can go very fast, may be in the next five to eight years, it will be completed, he said. Soam said IJM Land was not desperately looking for investors, however,"we are just looking for people who may be interested because we've already got a lot of interest and investors who are already there but there may be additional people who are also interested as well." Back home, he said: "We've our local and also Singaporean funds looking at investing in this place as well." "We came here to specifically network and showcase The Light project. So, we need to be more focused and today we are here to focus on The Light," he added. IJM Land, with projects in Penang, Klang Valley, Johor, Sabah (in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan) and Sarawak (Kuching), is among the Malaysian participants at MIPIM Asia 2011 being held at the Malaysian Pavilion. The Malaysian Pavilion was initiated by Malaysia Property Inc, a Malaysian government initiative that acts as a "bridge" between institutions and corporate and private investors to real estate investment opportunities in Malaysia. —Bernama